New Liverpool Kit 06/07

Culture Shock?

No, there isn't, literally. I wake up thinking 'where the hell am I' ?? As usual I turn on my laptop and open the BBC radio Five Live, get dressed and go the the kitchen. My Taiwanese flat-mate is making breakfast for me, and then my day starts with a lot of conversations in...Chinese...

There are almost hundred students attanding summer language school, and mostly Chinese and Taiwanese. I go everywhere with some of them living around me in the same accommadation building. Yeah sometimes I forget where am I, until that freaking-out (as Spo put it) accent come out from the cashier in the supermarket.

Loads and loads of shopping to do at the moment, filling up the fridge and cabinet, etc. Another thing keeps reminding me that I'm actually in the UK is those Newcastle Utd and England shirts on the streets. When I was in Taiwan, I could always find out any football shirt in the crowds and then felt happy seeing that because it's too rare. But here in Newcastle, well, I can't help wondering 'don't they got any other shirt than that?' Is it like opening every family's cloest, there will be all black and white, home, away, training kit.... Come on!

The weather is strange. Warm and sometimes hot? Again, am I in the north of England??

See You Soon!

cap ou pas cap?

I like their kissing. [Jeux d'enfants]

Welcome On Board Bellamy!

15 July 2006 Wrexham 0-2 Liverpool - pre-season friendly

BBC - Paul Anderson met a John Arne Riise cross on the volley to crash the ball past Michael Jones from 12 yards. Mark Jones and Chris Llewellyn went close for Wrexham, before Bellamy's left-footed strike on 53 minutes.

*Seems that a new Reds blog was born! - Mark's The Metropolitan Kop

The Man Won The Oscar

[more funny pictures]

5 Feb 2006 Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool - EPL
Rafa: "I'm in a hurry and I must go to the hospital to see how Robben is, he could be in hospital for a week! It's a crazy situation. Reina made a mistake when he was provoked and touched Robben on the face, but has he broken his neck? I don't understand why you can kick everyone in a game then you touch one player and you are sent-off. What sort of professional would do that to another professional knowing he could make him miss three matches?"
[see what happened]

The first clash with Chelsea this season will be
Community Shield 2006
Sunday 13 August 2006, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

I'll Miss You Didi

BBC - Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has joined Manchester City on a two-year contract. Hamann, 32, signed a pre-contract agreement with Bolton last month but then changed his mind, telling the club he wanted to join City instead.

[Liverpoolfc.tv]
Hamann's decision to leave the Reds brings to an end a glorious seven year spell on Merseyside during which he played an inspirational role in bringing a succession of top honours to the club.
One of the most popular figures to wear the red shirt, Didi will be remembered as the man for the big occasion.

The German midfielder won eight medals during his seven year stint at Anfield and all Liverpool fans will forever remember his inspirational appearance in Istanbul during the Champions League Final against AC Milan when he marked Kaka out of the second half, enabling Gerrard and company to find the space to get the Reds back into the game. He also played a key role in the FA Cup victory over West Ham United when he came on as a second half substitute.

Known as 'The Kaiser' by his Anfield team-mates, Hamann was signed by Gerard Houllier from Newcastle United for £8 million in July 1999 and quickly became a fans favourite. He went on to make 283 appearances for Liverpool scoring 11 goals. In 2002 Hamann became the first Liverpool player since Roger Hunt in 1966 to play in a World Cup Final.
---------------------------------------------
BBC - Marseille have confirmed that Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse has joined them on a season-long loan, with an option to make the deal permanent.

I'll Bring You Down

In a few weeks, I'm going to face the biggest challenge of my life. It could be a sweet dream-come-true, but it could also be the begining of nightmare.

"It's not about what happened in the past, or what you think might happen in the future. It's about the ride, for Christ's sake. There is no point in going through all this crap, if your are not going to enjoy the ride. And you know what... when you least expect something great might come along. Something better then you even planned for."
[quoted from 'Along Came Polly']

I know myself is a little stressful lately. I was mean to my families, who was just trying to help or understand me. But this guy, Jim Noir, and his music relax me. With his 'My Patch' video, I would like to tell you that, to today, 11 July 2006, it's been a year since I started this blog. I appreciate people who keep visiting here. I've learned a lot from posting, and I hope you enjoy reading as well.

The idea of the title 'Just An Ordinary Guy' came from my favorite film, 'American Beauty'. Of course I'm not a 'guy'.

Lester Burnham: "Then I guess I'll have to throw in a sexual harassment charge."
Brad Dupree: "Against who? "
Lester Burnham: "Against YOU. Can you prove that you didn't offer to save my job if I let you blow me? "
Brad Dupree: "Man, you are one twisted fuck."
Lester Burnham:
"Nope, I'm just an ordinary guy with nothing to lose."

Wimbledon 2006 Champions

[From official site of Wimbledon]

Roger Federer fought off the tigerish second seed, Rafael Nadal of Spain, to capture his fourth successive Wimbledon title, emulating the achievement of Pete Sampras between 1997 and 2000. The champion's 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 victory in two hours and five minutes halted a run of four straight defeats by the 20-year-old Nadal this year, including the French Open final which would have seen Federer holding all four Grand Slam titles.
Still, the 24-year-old Swiss was more than content to be hugging the golden Wimbledon pot once more after a tournament in which the opposition rarely troubled him. In fact, it was not until the final that Federer dropped a set against an opponent who clearly believes that, one day, he will emulate Manuel Santana's feat of 1966 and win Wimbledon for Spain. For the moment, however, it is Federer who rules the grass roost, having clocked up his 48th straight win on that surface in Sunday's final.

In contrast, the women's final provided relief and belief in equal measure for Amelie Mauresmo, who finally shook off all doubts about her nerves by defeating the third seed, Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, confirming her status as world number one and adding the greatest of the Slams to the Australian Open she lifted in January, against an ailing Henin-Hardenne.

[more Championships in review]

Shame On Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has rocked Manchester United by confirming that he does indeed want to quit Old Trafford.

C.Ronaldo: "I think I should get out of Manchester, the circumstances are not right to keep playing in Manchester. In two or three days I will decide where to go. I always said I wanted to play in Spain. Nobody stood up for me at Manchester, although I did not do anybody any harm."

Well, I think he should at least think about why there's no one wants to stand up for him. The media here in Taiwan is really interesting. They call him 'King of diving'. lol Another embarrassing one last night in the first half of 3rd-place play-off against Germany.

Unofficial England T-shirts

Some really great ones on Tshirts365.com. (click to see more) It's so cool to have one of those T-shirts. Some are really ironic, but so what, it's just fun. World Cup is just like that, always a crazy and irrational thing.

7/7 London bombings - One Year On

BBC - The UK has been paying tribute to the victims of the 7 July London attacks, one year after suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured nearly 800.

Looking back at the events of 7 July 2005 using audio and pictures from the day.
Audio slideshow: London bombs

Thoughs with those victims, their families, and all people affected.

Disgusting Cristiano Ronaldo

Gerrard: "If it was one of my team-mates, I'd be absolutely disgusted in him because there's no need for that. I've seen Ronaldo going over giving the card and I think he's bang out of order. I think that sums him up as a person. If I was playing against my team-mates from Liverpool and they were involved in a situation like that, I'd never try and get them sent off."
......................*update* 4 July 2006....................

Rooney: "I want to say absolutely categorically that I did not intentionally put my foot down on Carvalho. I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed he chose to get involved."

"I remember the incident clearly and have seen it several times since on TV. I am of the same opinion now as I was at the time that what happened didn't warrant a red card. If anything, I feel we should have had a free-kick for the fouls committed on me during the same incident.

"If you ask any player - and indeed almost any fan - they will tell you that I am straight and honest in the way I play. From what I've seen in the World Cup, most players would have gone to ground at the slightest contact but my only thought then was to keep possession for England."

"I thought the England lads were awesome after I went off and the effort they put in was amazing. Truly if there was any justice England would now be preparing for a World Cup semi-final. Sadly, however, that is not to be in 2006."

Ronaldo: "At the end we texted each other and between us everything's been cleared. He wished me the best of luck in the World Cup. He told me we had a great team and that if we continued to play like this, we would go far. He wasn't angry with me and, moreover, he told me to completely ignore what the English press has said, that all they wanted was to create confusion, but we are already used to that."

I personally agree that Rooney is a honest and straight player (well, most of the time), though he plays for Man Utd which I never like. As for Ronaldo, he's really skillful, but what I can't stand about him is that he always looks for the referee. Everytime he goes to the ground, he acts dramatically and tries to get the attention of the referee. In premierleague, actually people are used to Ronaldo. People know about his tricks, and that's why we don't trust him.
As Rooney said he's disappointed that Ronaldo chose to get involved, I think I was surprised as well. When there's a painful team-mate on the ground, the first thing was to argue to the referee, even to against a Man Utd team-mate and also a 'good friend', according to him? I couldn't believe that, if you watched the video, the first player to take a look at Carvalho was Joe Cole. (Seems that Chelsea players are more close. lol) Whatever Ronaldo said to the referee, whether he tried to get Rooney sent off, it totally doesn't matter. It's Rooney's fault to get himself into that situation in the first place. Personally I just think Ronaldo's behavior was disgusting.

Here's The Good News

BBC - Andy Murray thrilled the Centre Court crowd as he dismantled third seed Andy Roddick's game on his way to a straight-sets win at Wimbledon. The 19-year-old Briton won 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-4 to surpass his debut effort last year and reach the fourth round.

He played absolutely superb in this match!! I couldn't believe I was watching that Andy Murray! Defintely a good news followed by the heartbreaking England defeat.

BBC - Rafael Nadal brought Andre Agassi's Wimbledon career to an end with a hugely impressive third-round win in blazing sunshine on Centre Court.
As the match ended the Centre Court crowd stood to acclaim Agassi. He said: "I'll never be able to repay you for the way you've embraced me over the years, so I thank you for that."

I did weep seeing this scene. Thank you Andre Agassi, you have given so much to all tennis fans.

Heartbreaking, Isn't It

1 July 2006 England 0-0 Portugal - World Cup Quarter-final
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

BBC - England lost skipper David Beckham to injury just after half-time and Wayne Rooney was sent off after 62 minutes for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho. They battled on bravely for the rest of normal time and extra-time with 10 men to take the game to a shoot-out. But Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed to end their hopes and Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign.

[Rooney's red card]
BBC - Rooney was battling to keep possession from three Portugal defenders when the trouble erupted. He seemed to be pulled back by Carvalho, and then trod on his opponent's groin as the Chelsea defender was on the floor trying to win the ball. Carvalho reacted dramatically and Ronaldo sprinted to the referee, apparently to demand a red card. Rooney turned to Ronaldo and pushed him away. Television pictures appeared to show Ronaldo winking towards the Portugal bench as Rooney made his way off.

Beckham: "I haven't even seen the incident on TV. But I do know that ten seconds before there were two players on his back. If the referee had seen that he couldn't have sent him off."

Gerrard: "Wayne had been fantastic for us. He has done so much for the team. I haven't seen the incident, but I'll give him a big hug because I love him. He'll get not blame from us. There were three men around him before the sending-off."

Alan Shearer: "I think Wayne Rooney should go back to the Manchester United training ground and stick one on Ronaldo."

Eriksson: "I think that you, much more than me, need Wayne Rooney. He is the golden boy of English football, so don't kill him. If he did it with intention or not, leave it - you need him for the qualification games and to win Euro 2008. I have no hard feelings. I spoke to Wayne after the game and he had no intention to do it."
[The Heartbreak]
Carra: "We are just totally devastated and are incredibly disappointed. We have missed a chance that only comes around once every four years, and to lose like that is heartbreaking."
"We believe we are better than a last eight team, but until we do something you can't say you are."

Beckham: "There are a lot of young lads in the dressing room and there is a lot of heartache at the moment. It has ended for the team in this competition, but they will come through it and pick themselves up."

Rio Ferdinand: "We deserved to win today. They never looked like scoring a goal although they had a lot of shots from outside the box - but they won the game. We didn't falter with 10 men. Even with 10 men we were the team who created the best chances."

[MOM - Hargreaves]
Carra: "Owen Hargreaves was outstanding. I thought his energy levels were unbelievable. He was the best player on the pitch. He's had a lot of criticism and I was pleased for him."

Having suffered abuse from England fans unfamiliar with the Bayern Munich player, Hargreaves was happy that they ended the game singing his name.
Hargreaves: "I think it was great they were singing. But I can't take anything positive from tonight because we went out."

[Beckham quits as skipper]
With tears in his eyes, the former Manchester United player said: "On 15 November 2000 Peter Taylor gave me the greatest honour of my career in making me the captain of England, fulfilling my childhood dream.
"It has been an honour and a privilege to have captained our country and I want to stress that I wish to continue to play for England and look forward to helping both the new captain and Steve McClaren in any way I can." [more of his statement]