Gerrard Scored at Birthday

30 May 2006 England 3-1 Hungary - International Friendly

BBC - Steven Gerrard and John Terry both headed home free-kicks from David Beckham in the space of four minutes early in the second half. Pal Dardai pulled a goal back with a brilliant long-range shot before Peter Crouch's excellent low strike late on. Theo Walcott came on to become England's youngest ever international, while in the first half Gabor Kiraly saved a penalty from Frank Lampard.
Sven-Goran Eriksson had promised that the line-up for this match would start against Paraguay in England's opening World Cup match. Gerrard played as the advanced midfielder, supporting Michael Owen, while Jamie Carragher played as a holding midfield role with Beckham, Lampard and Joe Cole across the middle of the park.
Interesting formation, Sven! Carra, the holding role? That one was brilliant, but I'm afraid he will do something like clearance in the midfield. You know, defenders' intuition....lol Seriously, Gerrard seemed comfortable playing behind Owen. But I don't think the Gerrard-Lampard problem was solved. They sometimes appeared at the same place, and did someone see that? Before Gerrard created the penalty, Lampard was actually going to shoot but missed or hit Gerrard's foot? How did that happen?? On the other hand, Beckham and Joe Cole had a great game. Owen still needs fitness, as well as Ashely Cole.
England definitely can win without Rooney. They got really strong midfield and backline, captain of Liverpool, Man U and Chelsea. Well, the thing is....Owen is a good scorer but not the type of lone striker. I think Gerrard could give him more support.

BBC: Eriksson optimistic after victory
BBC: Penalty fuels Gerrard dive debate
Guardian: On fire or burnt out? Sharpness of Owen a real issue

Hello There!

Hey guys, it's been another long time! I've been really busy these days. But finally, I'm going to quit my part-time job at the cinema and get ready for the upcoming World Cup! (Watching World Cup games here actually needs a lot of energy to stay up late.) Mission Impossible III and The Da Vinci Code had just made me so exhausted becasue people were sort of pouring into the cinema. I'm done with all of this... cheating costumers that it's really a bargain if they buy the combo with tickets and pop corn, drink, hot dog.....that actually is damn expensive! Also, I'm sick of those pressure from both customers and managers that when people get impatient waiting in line and you still have to ask if they want pop corn or not because you are asked to do that. Anyway, I'm leaving.

This Saturday we'll have the annual drama contest held by the Applied Foreign Languages Department in my university. My lastest graphic work is the poster for the play of my class, 'The Lottery of Love'.

(click to enlarge)And this is where the inspiration came from...
(Special thanks to Ally. I got the image from ally's visual.)

Is Steven Gerrard Real Human??

13 May 2006 Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (aet) - FA Cup Final
Liverpool win 3-1 on penalties

Liverpoolfc.tv - Liverpool have won the FA Cup for a 7th time after Pepe Reina saved three of West Ham's penalties after a stoppage time goal from Steven Gerrard had made it 3-3 and taken the game into extra time and then penalties.

BBC - The Hammers took an early two-goal lead thanks to Carragher's own goal and Ashton's close-range strike, before Cisse pulled one back. Gerrard lashed home an equaliser after the break before Konchesky's speculative cross put West Ham ahead. Gerrard's stunning last-minute strike forced extra-time, with Reina saving from Zamora, Konchesky and Ferdinand in the shoot-out. Hamann, Gerrard and Riise all scored from the spot for Liverpool, with only veteran Sheringham finding the net for West Ham.

Gerrard: "Just before my second goal I had taken a free-kick and it nearly went out of the stadium, my legs were so weary, so I don't quite know where I got the energy from. I must admit I was absolutely delighted to hit the next shot like that. I didn't mean to put it exactly there but knew I had to get good contact to make sure it would hit the target and I caught it really sweetly. It was a great moment when it went in, and I don't know how I did it.

"In fact, in extra time I just didn't want the ball. I just kept looking at the clock and wanting it to run out. I had absolutely nothing left. We basically finished the game with about five men! People were going down with cramp all over the place, we'd put so much effort in. The players were so brave because there were quite a few who would have come off if we had any subs left. We have a great team spirit here and we needed it to win that Cup."

"The manager asked me if I wanted to take a penalty and I asked if I could have the first. He told me, 'No, you're having the third'." "But once we got to penalties we had faith in Pepe." "We are always having competitions in training and having a go at him. And we know how difficult it is to beat him. He is so agile."

Riise: "I never thought we'd lost the game yesterday, not even when there was only five minutes left and not even when we went into injury time. When you have the best player in the world in your side then you know that anything is possible. I was just praying for somebody to do something special and Stevie came up trumps again. When the ball hit the net I felt like running over to him to give him a big kiss but then I decided against it!"

"I asked the manager to let me take the fourth penalty given what happened in Istanbul last year. That hurt me." "I blasted it down the middle and it flew in, and as soon as it hit the back of the net, I burst into tears. They were stinging my eyes. It was just so emotional after what happened last season. This was closure, a chance for me to get revenge and put things right."

Cisse: "It was a great ball from Steven and it was nice for me to score but the most important thing was we won the game for our fans. What can you say about Steven Gerrard? He was amazing and he is the man! It was special to play in an FA Cup Final and it was just a fantastic day. A few of us had cramp in the game but our fans kept us going and you just want to run and run for them."

Rafa: "We do like to make things difficult for ourselves in finals and maybe it's not the best for my heart. People have said to me it was like Istanbul but I say 'no' because then we were 3-0 down at half-time. Cisse scored a goal just before half-time to make it 2-1 and I had confidence we could come back and win. Credit to the players who just kept on going until the end and we never gave up."

Gerrard: "We always knew if it went to penalties we had a really good chance, we feel we've got the better goalkeeper on the day. He made a great save in the last minute and he deserves to be the hero."

Reina: "I think really that I didn't deserve it because my game today wasn't the best - it was a difficult day for me. But in the lottery of the penalties this time I was lucky."

Sven's England Squad Announcement

Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson - Tottenham Hotspur
David James - Manchester City
Robert Green - Norwich City

Defenders
Gary Neville - Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United
John Terry - Chelsea
Ashley Cole - Arsenal
Sol Campbell - Arsenal
Jamie Carragher - Liverpool
Wayne Bridge - Chelsea

Midfielders
David Beckham - Real Madrid
Michael Carrick - Tottenham Hotspur
Frank Lampard - Chelsea
Steven Gerrard - Liverpool
Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich
Jermaine Jenas - Tottenham Hotspur
Stewart Downing - Middlesbrough
Joe Cole - Chelsea
Aaron Lennon - Tottenham Hotspur

Forwards
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
Michael Owen - Newcastle United
Peter Crouch - Liverpool
Theo Walcott - Arsenal

Standby Players
Scott Carson - Liverpool
Luke Young - Charlton Athletic
Nigel Reo-Coker - West Ham United
Jermain Defoe - Tottenham Hotspur
Andrew Johnson - Crystal Palace

End Of The Season - 3rd Place, 82 Points

7 May 2006 Portsmouth 1-3 Liverpool - EPL

BBC - Liverpool ended the Premiership season with their ninth straight league win. But it was not enough to snatch second place from Manchester United, who beat Charlton, while Xabi Alonso injured his ankle and is an FA Cup final doubt.
Robbie Fowler scored with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area, while Peter Crouch converted from five yards. Ognjen Koroman pulled a goal back, slotting home Wayne Routledge's cross, before Djibril Cisse scored after Crouch had played him through.

Rafa: "At the final whistle in Portsmouth I felt a mixture of being happy and disappointed. To achieve 82 points is a good total, but we would have liked to beat the record of clean sheets, and the goal we conceded was offside. But one of the most important things of the season has been seeing the team develop this winning mentality. Even when we win a game, I see the players are unhappy if we concede a goal. This is good for the future. Even though we've managed 82 points, we know we need to improve even more to win the league. We have the mentality to do it, I know this."

Liverpoolfc.tv - Xabi Alonso today eased fears that he could miss Saturday's FA Cup Final by revealing he's optimistic about his chances of lining up against West Ham in the Millennium Stadium.

Always Look On The Bright Side........(Turn On Your Speaker)