Lately I’ve been looking at people’s blogs, mostly the ones that have to do with soccer and I’ve noticed that a lot of people have made a good point towards it such as Camille. In her website she points out how hard it is to explain your passion and I totally agree with her. For me soccer is magic because when you have the ball there are so many options and when you for example perform a hard trick you feel accomplished, for example in fifth grade I wasn’t really good at soccer and I was in a soccer class on Saturday and they thought a trick which many of you may know, the 360 roulette created originally by Zidane. The first time I tried it did not work and after about a month I finally got it and when I got right you know it felt amazing that sense of accomplishment is just impossible to explain with words, but when it happens in any sport its amazing wether its making a hole in 1 or a half-court shot, or even the simplest thing, trust me when I say the feeling is amazing. This may be hard to believe but I prefer playing soccer in recess sometimes than in a game obviously because there less pressure and more room to have fun and to try new things which is fun. Many people might not figure out there passion but when it happens it amazing and it fills you with joy and even though your good at that sport you feel something for it that is so pure and  beautiful. Today in sports we have kind of lost the essence in it teams move from town to town just looking for more money and so do players. There is term in Brazil that a lot of people know towards sport which is love to your teams shirt or as Brazilians call it “amor a camisa”. What it means is that you don’t sell yourself to other teams for money, you stay in your team because you love it and there are very few examples of it such as Pele, who played in Santos and could have made millions if he accepted deals to go to Milan or Madrid but he didn’t and he is a true example of love for your team. Soccer for me as I said is inexplicable when your there as player and hear your crowd screaming you just feel lifted even if it is the worst of siuations, for examole Liverpool were losing 3-0 to AC Milan but in 5 minutes they made it 3-3 and in penalties they won. What an amazing game and this is the kind of inspiration that lifts you up and sweeps you of the floor and in a snap amazing happens, like in that game. This passion is amazing and these kinds of situations are the ones that test your passion and when if you pass the test you will figure out that you really do love that passion.  

This Sunday one of the best games ever happened. If you remeber my last entry stated that Sao Paulo were playing Palmeiras again after winning 2-1. That game was on this Sunday in the Palestra Italia the Palmwiras stadium. The game was very tense and I myself was very nervous and afraid. Then the worst possible thing happened on the 21st minute Leo Lima from Palmeiras made a tricky long shot which sent the keeper the wrong way after a small curve. After that I got even more nervous and tense I walked from one side of the room to the other, I could not stay still in one place and with every missed chance by Sao Paulo the more nervous and anxious I was because time was also running out. During half time in the locker rooms someone threw a pepper spray bomb in the Sao Paulo locker room which caused them to cough alot and for there eyes to tear and for them to become a little dizzy. They came back earlier to the field and the second half started the game became better and better and spaces opened and in a counter-attack Palmeiras scored the decisive goal which made it 2-0 and took away most possiblities of Sao Paulo qualifying which made me very sad. Right after the lights of the stadium went out and the teeams had to wait 16 full minutes to restart but unfortunatly that did not change anything. In the end it was 2-0 Palmeiras we Sao Paulo had lost but at least we are still in the Libertadores.  

This Saturday and Sunday teams played the last round of the campeonato Paulista. In the first game on Saturday Guaratingueta lost 1-0 to Ponte Preta. Luckily this Saturday they will play again against Ponte Preta at home so at least they still have a chance to qualify. The game that took place on Sunday was Sao Paulo vs Palmeras and these teams were fierce rivals. Sao Paulo started of well even though they had less possession they still defended well and made some very good plays and in the 11th minute they were rewarded when Jorge Wagner made a cross after one of the Sao Paulo players got fouled, the cross seemed to be to high to header but it dropped in the end and Adriano dived in to score the goal. This goal created allot of discussion because according to many people such as the Palmeras coach Adriano had hit it in with his hand even though it slightly touched his head. The second half started of amazing because right of the first minute Gustavo the Palmeiras defender made a bad pass and Jorge Wagner intercepted it and made a splendid pass to Adriano who controlled it well and came to a one on one situation with Marcos the Palmeiras Goalkeeper and Adriano with class kicked it around the goalkeeper. When this goal was scored I was really happy because it was such a tense game and in the 31st minute  got even more nervous when Palmeiras got a penalty. Alex Mineiro stepped up to the spot and took the penalty vvery well and sent the goalkeeper to the wrong side and scored it and then it was 2-1.  I was  really nervous and was really anxious for the game to end and it did like that 2-1 what a relief for now because on Sunday they play the second leg.

The second leg of the UEFA Champions league quarter-final was played on Tuesday April 8th and Wednesday April 9th. On Tuesday Chelsea from England played Fenerbahce from Turkey in the first leg Fenerbahce won 2-1 after starting of losing one to zero. The second goal was from Deived a beautiful shot from a long distance in the top right angle of the keeper, ironically Deived the scorer of that goal had scored an own goal which had Chelsea in front one zero in the beginning. In the second leg Chelsea played at home and won 2-0 against Fenerbhce, Chelsea scored the first goal with only 3 minutes of play with a perfect header from the German Ballack also known as the captain of the German national team. With this result Chelsea would be qualifying, but if the Turkish team scored a goal to make it 1-1 they would have qualified. Instead in the 82nd minute Lampard from Chelsea scored an easy goal after a ground cross which means the ball didn’t go off the ground, then all he had to do was tap it in. Surprisingly ther real star in the game was the Chelsea goalkeeper Hilario who came in because the goalkeeper Cuducini got hurt and since the starting off goalkeeper Peter Cech was in an operation it was all up to him when he came in at the second half more a less. He made two big saves the first one was a shot from outside the box which hit a defender so he had to change the direction in which he was going to jump which for keepers is really hard, but he made the save right before the ball crossed the line. The second shot came from another Turkish man the forward Kazim but the goalie blocked it very well. The other game on Tuesday was Liverpool from England against Arsenal also from England. In the first game in Arsenals stadium they drew 1-1 after Arsenal taking the lead in the 23rd minute from a goal from Adebayor, but Arsenal did not keep the result instead they “fell asleep on defense” and the Dutch man Dirk Kuyt scored a goal for the Liverpool team. Liverpool when to there stadium wining thanks to the away goal rule. When the game started Arsenal attacked straight of and in the 12th minute Diaby scored for Arsenal and again Arsenal just didn’t keep it and on the 30th minute the man Finland Sami Hyypia scored a goal that would make it 1-1 and if it stayed like this it would go to extra-time. It didn’t and in the 69th minute Fernando Torres recieved a pass when he was just about 2-3 steps into the box, so he turned an shot and shot went right by goalkeeper and into the left angle of the goalkeeper. Amazingly in the 84th minute Emanuel Adebayor tapped it in after an amazing run frm Theo Wlacott the English who passed low and Adebayor tapped it in. This amazing goal would qualify Arsenal what game it would make, but it became better when Ryan Babel the Dutch got a penalty in the 85th minute and the captain Steven Gerrard scored the penalty. The game still had possibilities but it ended when Ryan Babel scored in the 90th minute. In the end it was 4-2 what a game, what a game!! Liverpool were qualified and that was that. Today on Wednesday two game also happened. The first game was Barcelona from Spain against Schalke 04 from Germany, in the first game in Germany, Barcelona won 1-0. The play started of with the frenchman Henry shot it, but the goalie blocked it and then Henry passed it in so Bojan the young Spaniard could tap it in and make it 1-0. In the second leg in Barcelona Spain the Spanish team had the advantage from the game in Germany and they also had the away goal advantage. In the beginning Barcelona had many good chances and so did Schalke 04 but Barcelona got better in the game and started to dominate the game, but the goal came in after various repetitive shots because the ball would not go in but Yaya Toure shot it in after various tries. The last quarter final game was Manchester United from England against the Italians, Roma. In the first leg in Rome Manchester won 2-0 with one goal from Cristiano Ronaldo and one from Rooney. The first goal was in the 39th minute from Cristiano Ronaldo, after a good play from Rooney who passed it to Cristiano Ronaldo who anticipated the defense shot and scored the goal. In the second goal started of from a cross which Doni the Roma goalkeeper did not get and all Rooney did was tap it in. In the game in Manchester, Roma created good plays and in the 30th minute Mancini got a penalty for Roma. Then De Rossi stepped up to the spot and when he shot it he sent it flying over the top bar. In the 70th minute the game “ended’ because Hargreaves crossed it in and the Argentinean Carlitos Tevez headed it precisely in to the goal. The game ended 1-0 and Roma were out. Although there positive side because it wasn’t as bad as last year when they played Manchester United for the quarter-finals. It was in the 06/07 season, in the first game the won 2-1 and in the second game they lost 7-1. In the semi-finals Manchester United will play Barcelona, and Liverpool will play Chelsea. My favorite teams still competing are Manchester United because of there style of play, and the quality of all the players. My other favorite team is Barcelona and ironically they are playing Manchester United in the semi-finals and the reason I like Barcelona is because they have one of the best players in the world Ronaldinho who is going by a bad phase.