Lobi and Heartland to meet in Federation Cup final

Lobi Stars of Makurdi and Heartland FC of Owerri will clash in the Nigerian federation cup final. Lobi Stars defeated Kano Pillars by 5-4 on penalties while Heartland overcame Prime FC of Osogbo by 3-0 via penalties. Heartland FC are the defending champions of the competition and the winner will qualify for 2013 CAF Confederations Cup. Lobi Stars are also in the running for the league crown in Nigeria.

Poor officiating is killing the EPL.

The recent shambolic style of officiating in the Barclays Premier League should be duly addressed by the English FA. Over the past three seasons, the standard of officiating in the World's most publicized football league has been on the decline. Martin Atkinson, Mike Riley and Howard Webb are some of the greatest culprits that have done a lot of damage to the reputation of the league. It seems the referees don't when to award penalties and issue red cards. The behaviour of some of them is just like a man that want to use a sledge hammer to kill a fly. So many players have gone unpunished for reckless tackles while some fair tackles have resulted in penalties. Mario Balotelli should have been sent off in the last match he played against Arsenal at the Emirates. Petr Cech should have been sent off for bringing down Emmanuel Adebayor in the penalty box last weekend. Juan Mata's goal against Chelsea should have been disallowed for not crossing the line. Sunderland's beach ball goal against Liverpool should have been disallowed. Howard Webb has been involved in so many controversies over the past few seasons. He was in charge of the 2010 FIFA World Cup final and failed to punish De Jong for his Kung Fu kick on Xabi Alonso. Manchester United hardly play a draw whenever this man is officiating any of their games. Martin Atkinson has always been inconsistent in his calls. There are several other scenarios that have shown that the standard of officiating in the English Premiership is not good enough for a country that can boast of the World's most glamorous football league.

Howard Webb

England's Euro 2012 Campaign seems to have ended before the competition.

With just about two months to the commencement of UEFA Euro 2012 that will be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland, Chat Soccer is trying to analyze the chances of England at the mundial.

Some of England's senior team players like Jack Wilshere and co are either injured or not in good form. Darren Bent and Bobby Zamora are good players that would have led the English attacking line up,but injury seems to be their greatest threat. Andy Carroll has scored 11 goals in this entire season compared to 27 league goals that have been scored by Van Persie. Ashley Cole's form is nothing to write home about, while Glen Johnson's season has been plagued with injury.Wayne Rooney that has managed to score 24 EPL goals won't be available for the first two matches of Euro 2012 due to an UEFA sanction. The Dutch national team can boast of attackers that have scored an avalanche of goals this season. Apart from Van Persie's 27 league goals, Huntelaar has scored 24 in the Bundesliga,while Arjen Robben has scored over 20 goals in the entire season.
Portuguese forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a total of 41 league goals while Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski have scored a total of 42 goals in the Bundesliga.
Spanish players like Roberto Soldado, Fernando Llorente, Juan Mata are also enjoying a good season.

The English FA must try and employ a substantial manager that will lead the team to the continental football fiesta in June.

The last time the Three Lions of England won a major title was when they lifted the World Cup trophy on home soil in 1966. Over the past 46 years the English team have failed to win the European Championship while other top teams like Germany,France,Spain and Italy have enjoyed success in the competition. A lowly rated Greece even won the title in 2004. It is ironic that a country with a great football tradition that can boast of some of the greatest football clubs in the World like Liverpool and Manchester United doesn't have an European trophy in their cabinet. The last time an English team went beyond the quarter final stage of the European Championship was in 1996. The country actually hosted that edition. Perhaps the English FA should try and host another major tournament so that they can get to the latter stage of that competition. Reigning World and European Champions,Spain can boast having the best two clubs in the World at the moment. A lot of Spanish Internationals are playing for Real Madrid and Barcelona and this two teams have great football academies that are capable of producing World beaters. The FA in England must try and groom home-grown players that will make up the first eleven of most of the Premier League clubs like Man United,Man City,Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle United.

FA Cup previews!

The two outstanding matches in the English  FA Cup will be played on Tuesday night. Tottenham Hotspur will host Bolton Wanderers at the White Hart Lane. Aaron Lennon will not be in action for the hosts due to injury. The initial meeting was terminated by the heart attack that was suffered by Fabrice Muamba. Spurs have lost at home just once in 2012, though they've not won one of their past five games. Tottenham managed to manovre their way past their 5th round opponent. Stevenage were beaten 3-1 by Harry Redknapp's men.

In the second match, Sunderland will meet Everton at the Stadium of Light. John O'Shea,Kieran Richardson, Wes Brown and Titus Bramble. Phil Bardsley Sebastian Larsson are doubtful while Lee Cattermole will be available for selection after serving his four match suspension. Everton have the highest number of appearances in the quarter final of the FA Cup. Everton have beaten Sunderland in seven of their last eleven matches.

Downing fires Liverpool to FA Cup semi final.

Stewart Downing was on hand to fire Liverpool to their first FA Cup semi final since 2006. Luis Suarez gave Kenny Dalglish's men the lead after 23 minutes. The Uruguayan forward curled in a shot into the corner of the net after an eye-catching one-two pass with Maxi Rodriguez in the 23rd minute. Three minutes later, former Liverpool striker, Peter Crouch drew his side level with a header. The Stoke player was unmarked and he was able to beat Andy Carroll to nod home off a corner kick that was taken by Etherington. Pepe Reina was shown the yellow card after he protested the decision of the referee to have awarded a corner instead of goal kick.
In the second half, Stewart Downing scored Liverpool's winning goal in the 57th minute. The former Middlesbrough and Aston Villa player fired a shot after breaking into the opponent's penalty box from the right flank. Liverpool will now face the winner of the match between Everton and Sunderland in next month's semi final at the new Wembley Stadium in London.

FA Cup

Torres breaks five month jinx.

Chelsea striker, Fernando Torres scored his first goal in five months. Gary Cahill scored a header off a corner that was taken by Juan Mata. Torres provided an assist for Salomon Kalou to make it 2-0 after 18 minutes of action at the Stamford Bridge. After the restart, Torres scored his first goal since October, 2011. Kalou cut back the ball in the penalty box for the Spaniard to grab the third goal of the game. Leicester City scored a goal through Jermaine Beckford who made it 3-1 after Neil Danns' effort came off the post. Two former Liverpool players combined to made it 4-1 to the Blues. Raul Meireles delivered a corner kick that was headed in by Torres in the 85th minute. Ben Marshall made it 4-2 on the 89th minute mark before Meireles sealed Chelsea's FA Cup semi final ticket. 

Bolton's Muamba slumps on the pitch.

Bolton midfielder, Fabrice Muamba slumped on the pitch in a FA Cup fixture between his team and Tottenham Hotspur at the White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon. The Congolese born player went down on the turf after 40 minutes of action. The scoreline was 1-1 as at the time of the incidence. Howard Webb later suspended the match after consulting with the managers of the two teams. The medical officials tried to resuscitate him, but they later carried him into an ambulance where he was later joined by the team captain and the manger, Owen Coyle.  Muamba is said to be critically ill and he's currently at the Chest Hospital in London.

Muamba on a stretcher

FA Cup action preview.

The quarter final matches of this season's English FA Cup will be played this weekend. Seven out of the remaining eight teams are Premiership clubs, as a result of this scenario only four League games will be played this weekend. The first quarter final match of the weekend will be between Everton and Sunderland at the Goodison Park. The Merseyside club will hope to get a better result after a 3-0 loss to Liverpool in the League on Tuesday night. Tottenham will face Bolton Wanderers at the White Hart Lane in Saturday's other FA Cup match. On Sunday, Chelsea will host Leicester City at the Stamford Bridge, Roberto Di Matteo is expected to name a strong squad. Liverpool will host Stoke City at Anfield on Sunday evening in the last quarter final match of the weekend. Liverpool eliminated Stoke City from the Carling Cup.

Birmingham might harm Chelsea!

The English FA Cup replay between Championship side, Birmingham City FC and Premier League campaigners, Chelsea will be played at the St. Andrews later tonight. The first meeting between these two sides ended in a 1-1 draw at the Stamford Bridge last month. That match was played during the era of Andre Villas Boas. Roberto Di Matteo will have to lead his players victory of any kind tonight. Whether via penalties or otherwise. A defeat for Chelsea will further increasing the confusion and the bad atmosphere at the club owing to the departure of AVB. Birmingham City is being handled by Chris Hutton, a former Newcastle manger with Premier League experience. A second half equaliser by Daniel Sturridge saved Chelsea from being beaten at home about 3 weeks ago. Didier Drogba,Frank Lampard,John Terry, Florent Malouda and Ashley Cole were among the senior players that didn't say goodbye to their former Portuguese manager after he was fired last Sunday. His assistant, Roberto Di Matteo is also an unpopular figure according to reports from London. The fans will hope the instability in the camp won't lead to their ouster from the FA Cup. The Blues are currently fifth in the Premier League and are trailing Napoli of Italy by three goals to one in the UEFA Champions League.