₦airaland Forum

Phew! Can you believe we're close to the Serie A actually, definitely, really kicking off, after the horrible 'summer of sin' which dragged the name of football in the mud and football itself through an endless stream of tribunals, lawsuits and impossible logic, turning all of us into legal experts once again?


https://www.soccernet.com/images/jb2/ancelotti_cb205.jpg
[size=1]Carlo Ancelotti: The entertainer?[/size]

So, is the excitement of real football, not its political version, back? Well, Udinese's spirited win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night, dodgy opening penalty and all, was a great curtain raiser, coming so close to the Serie A kick-off, but the free-flowing football witnessed that evening at the Stadio Friuli may not be duplicated by many throughout the top flight.

An abundance of great strikers in Serie A means Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti may have got it right when he said the team who will give up fewest goals will win it all, but may we add that avoiding defeat against lowly sides would also help? Juventus won the title last year despite losing to Reggina, Palermo, Sampdoria and Inter, and Milan themselves left all three points behind in places like Livorno and Siena and at home to Bologna.

It's also, of course, the campaign which will end with the World Cup in Germany and a lot of players will be worrying about earning a squad place for their national team and getting there with minimum damage, so some interesting scenarios may arise.

As for the favourites for the scudetto... did you expect anybody else than Juventus, Inter and Milan, perhaps in that order?

Juve may be dull to watch and Fabio Capello's recent assertion that he only gets fun out of winning, not of playing well, does not augur well in that respect, but the additions of Patrick Vieira and Adrian Mutu, and the increasing influence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, last year's best signing in the Serie A, mean Juve have all they need to defend their title.

However, the claim made by one newspaper that Vieira, by playing well in preseason, has already fully justified the huge €20m plus fee Juve paid Arsenal for his services deserves to rank among the most outrageous of the summer so far, and that's saying a lot given the amount of drivel we've heard from the assortment of publicity-seeking lawyers, directors, judges and fans' representatives.

And watch out for the developments regarding Alex Del Piero, who seems to be stuck in an unwelcome role as a people's hero without a starting place.

Capello took him off 28 times last season but Del Piero still ended up being Juve's top scorer and his overhead-kick-cum-cross which allowed Trezeguet to head past Dida in the title decider in Milan stands out in the memory of many... but memories may be all we have of Del Piero, who does not seem to be able to hold down a place in Juve's best XI, not with Ibrahimovic and Trezeguet ahead of him and, as Capello added dryly this week, Alex himself maintains he's a striker and not a midfielder, as if to say he won't be deployed behind the striking duo as he did for Italy against the Republic of Ireland two weeks ago.

Juve may have a shortage of able-bodied defenders if one of the regulars goes down, and in midfield Vieira will be asked to provide a goal or two, as Juve have always received little in the way of scoring from that part of the pitch, unless you count Nedved.

Inter have looked great in the preaseason, and coach Roberto Mancini appears to have a better, more versatile squad than last year, not to mention previous seasons.


https://www.soccernet.com/images/jb2/delpiero_get205.jpg
[size=1]Del Piero: Rumours surround him.[/size]

One potentially unsettling situation is the one of goalkeeper, where incumbent Francesco Toldo, who's now used to hearing scepticism around him, seems to be losing out to Julio Cesar, the Brazilian who may staging a personal derby for the number one shirt in the next World Cup with crosstown rival Dida.

Midfield looks loaded with talent and substance, while Adriano and Martins form the perfect attacking partnership, backed up by Julio Cruz and owner Massimo Moratti's pet project, Alvaro Recoba, but the Nigerian's involvement in the African Cup next winter means Mancini may feel a little more secure with another addition.

One can just sense a different, better aura around the nerazzurri, who have famously been after a scudetto since 1989, but their reputation as underachievers is such that no one is actually going to believe they're serious title contenders until February comes along and they're still in the leading pack at the time.

As for Milan, Ancelotti has had to endure owner Silvio Berlusconi's jibes about his tactical choices, but that's nothing new and Ancelotti has apparently developed a thick skin and, better yet, a way of doing whatever he wants anyway.

His pre-season experiments have centered around the employment of a three-man defence which could help create and exploit better options on the flanks, where the only real options before had been reserve Serginho and the evergreen Cafu on the right.

Paolo Maldini has persistent knee pain and cannot be counted on for a full season - but wasn't he stylish picking up the green balls at the Champions League draw - and newcomer Marek Jankulovski, not surprisingly, is better going forward than defending.

The arrival of Gilardino and Vieri, the latter one of the summer's more surprising moves, means Shevchenko will have a new partner. With either of them on the pitch, for the first time in years Milan will have an old fashioned centre-forward so watch out for how Ancelotti pairs the Ukrainian with whoever will partner him - Shevchenko, by the way, has looked a bit uptight this summer, though his loyalty to Milan has apparently been strengthened by the club's decision to bring his father over to Italy for expensive medical care a few months ago.

And it also seems he asked Berlusconi to be his kid's godfather at his baptism next month, so there can't be too many bad vibes between them anyway.

Milan's top priority is to start brightly: they gained just one point from last season's opening two home matches, drawing with Livorno and losing to Messina, and that meant they immediately fell behind Juventus.


https://www.soccernet.com/images/jb2/gilardinovieir_jonathandani.jpg
[size=1]Gilardino and Vieri: Odd couple lining up to partner Shevchenko.[/size]

Once you get past the big three, anything goes, between a group of teams who will aim for a Champions League place.

Udinese will be expected to repeat despite losing coach Luciano Spalletti to Roma and Pizarro and Jankulovski to the Milano clubs: new coach Serse Cosmi, the hot-tempered man with the perennial baseball cap covering his balding head, missed out on a return to the Serie A with Genoa - he'd have left them anyway - and has a good squad led by international forwards Iaquinta and Di Natale, the latter a trickster supreme with the ball, likely to be used 'in the hole' supporting Iaquinta and Di Michele.

Fiorentina may be dark horses here: after a disappointing first season back and managerial upheavals, they went out and lured Cesare Prandelli out of the self-imposed sabbatical he'd taken last summer in order to be with his ailing wife.

Prandelli, who'd done well at Parma, has one of the Serie A's most intriguing sides from a tactical standpoint: his plans for a 4-3-3 means newcomer and striker supreme Luca Toni will be supported by talented but raw Bulgarian star Valery Bojinov and Dane Martin Jorgensen, who's trying to get over the fact he was valued at &euro:500 ($615) last June when Fiorentina and Udinese had to win the rights for his registration.

Stefano Fiore, another on the long list of Italian players who do not travel well, is back in his country after a lacklustre spell at Valencia and is expected to provide good distribution from midfield, and Prandelli will also be expected to get more out of a defence which last year was porous.

The arrivals of Pancaro, Gamberini, Pasqual (watch out for him on the left side) and of goalkeeper Frey, who'd been with Prandelli at Verona and Parma, may help, too.

Sampdoria, who just missed out on the last Champions League spot last year, will again be well coached in their 4-4-2 by Walter Novellino: despite 11 arrivals for a meagre outlay of a little over €300,000, the backbone is the same as last year's and the defence will again be expected to carry the team.

Palermo and Roma appear to be the remaining two contenders for the fourth Champions League spot, despite huge question marks hanging above both.

https://www.soccernet.com/images/jb2/cassano_pc205.jpg
[size=1]Cassano: Not a fans' favourite.[/size]

Palermo are now coached by Luigi Delneri, who mercifully took himself out of the Roma mess last year and brought his 4-4-2 and exciting wing play to the Pink Ones: 'I'm looking for the 55 goals my teams usually score' was Delneri's statement at the beginning of training camp, but top marksman Toni is gone and his replacements Caracciolo and Makinwa, a little and large combination, needs constant service from the said flanks, but schemer Corini will still be at the heart of Palermo's every move.

As for Roma, Spalletti has had them playing well in the pre-season, but unless the 'Cassano Code' is solved the giallorossi will be unsettled; the talented Italian international's contract is up in a few months, Roma have been trying to get his signature on a new one but they're also wary of the constant nuisance Cassano seems to be to everyone, although his team-mates have denied he's a distraction.

Not so Spalletti, who could do with his talent but is less than impressed with the impact he has on everyone around him, including referees.

Cassano was booed by the fans at Roma's only home match of the pre-season the other day, and this has stoked the fires of a rumoured, huge three-way trade which would send him to Juventus with Del Piero and Mutu joining Milan and Roma respectively. Sci-fi B movies from the Fifties had a more plausible script than that, but having seen Vieri join Milan we know anything can happen in the transfer market. So stay tuned.

And what about the no-hopers playing mainly to avoid relegation, you might say? Watch this space next week then. Some of them were admitted to the Serie A so late, because of the legal wrangles going on, that they barely had time to adapt their squads for the superior standard of competition they're now going to face, and this spells trouble.


Source

We always focus on the Champions League and tend to forget the UEFA Cup! This competition is important because while the participating clubs get 40%-60% (depepnding on how far you go) of the revenue that UCL participants get, it at least ensures that the UEFA wealth percolates to a far greater number of clubs than the Champions League does...

UEFA Cup draw:

Group One:
Auxerre v Levski Sofia
Hamburg v FC Copenhagen
Slavia Prague v Cork City
Metalurg v PAOK
Dinamo Bucharest v Everton

Group Two:
MyPa v Grasshoppers
Crvena Zvezda v Braga
Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen v Marseille
Bayer Leverkusen v CSKA Sofia
CSKA Moskva v FC Midtjylland

Group Three:
Setubal v Sampdoria
Sevilla v Mainz
Basel v Siroki Brijeg
Feyernoord v Rapid Bucharest
Hibernian v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Group Four:
Rennes v Osasuna
Vitoria Guimaraes v Wisla Krakow
Krylya Sovetov v AZ Alkmaar
VfB Stuttgart v NK Domzale
Valerenga v Steaua Bucharest

Group Five:
Graz AK v Strasbourg
Lokomotiv Moscow v Brann
Palermo v Anorthosis Famagusta
Halmstad v Sporting
Middlesbrough v Xanthi

Group Six:
Maccabi Petach-Tikva v FK Partizan
Aris v Roma
Besiktas v Malmo
Litex Lovech v Genk
Banik Ostrava v Heerenveen

Group Seven:
Hertha Berlin v APOEL
FK Teplice v Espanyol
Monaco v Willem II
Viking v Austria Wien
Brondby v FC Zurich

Group Eight:
Lens v Groclin
Tromso v Galatasaray
Bolton v Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Shakhtar Donetsk v Debrecen
Zenit St. Petersburg v AEK Athens

GAIM supports Google Talk

You should visit Trae z's blog more often

The title of this post will ring a bell to some people and to some others it might not. Well I suggest you first checkout Wikipedia for a low down on what 419 is. 419 has grown to become one of the worst internet hoaxes such that there are now sites dedicated to fighting its spread. An example is 419 eater. A recent article on the trend was posted on CNN’s website. With this much online interest on Nigeria in connection with 419, Modenine recorded a song on the phenomenon last year titled “419 state of mind part 2”. It’s a great song; you should check it out. It’s from this same term that the London based Nigerian hip hop group “419 Squad” got its name from.

Like most people out there I’m anti-419…and that’s where it stops. I’ve never really bothered myself about the phenomenon. But a recent experience hanging out with a dude who’s into 419 made me learn a lot more about the industry and finally understand or grasp the idea behind some of the moves peeps around me have been pulling. Let me let you guys in on what I’ve learnt.

Before I start let me first make this statement. I’ve since known what 419 is and the measures one can take to prevent oneself from falling victim to the scheme. This I’m sure is also known by every internet freak. So it makes me really sick when I’m searching for stuff on Nigerian on Google and a lot of the results are from people running their mouth and hating on Nigeria because of 419 scam/spam. Fvck y’all! You know the safety measures, so implement them and shut up.

Most a times the fear of a bleak future, the need to fulfill financial responsibilities and sheer hardship push people into getting involved in the scam. Other times share curiosity; negative peer influence and greediness are the motives for involvement. And believe you me there’ve been many petty and big time successful 419ers.

In relation to online harvesting which people do through scam letters, there are two other common online scams. And these are perpetuated through chatting and through phising.

1) Via chatting, guys pose as ladies and try to sweet talk other guys into falling in love with them and ultimately to send them money. They use pictures of beautiful women sourced online in their chatting profiles and send it to their dumb victims via email. Also they often enlist the help of their female friends to answer calls from their dumb victims and keep up the guise. Their victims are often old white financially comfortably guys who are losers in the game of love. How else can one explain a guy swallowing all the bull rubbish that a girl from across the globe loves you, and then end up sending her money. Someone you’ve never seen before. Ain’t there girls in your city to checkout? Damn, the older the dumber.

2) Phising is not too common in Nigeria. And that’s because it requires brains and many of the 419 peeps ain’t brainy enough (or are limited by resources and time) to sit down and learn. In Nigeria it’s often perpetuated on a small scale and involves stealing people’s password and holding it ransom in exchange for money. Victims of phising are often careless people and internet novices.

3) On-line harvesting is the big one, the center point of internet fraud in Nigeria. Greed is often what draws the perpetuators, what draws the victims and what in some cases eventually brings about the downfall of the perpetuators. And that’s because some people who hit it big still go on with the fraud instead of going legit until they’re finally caught. The format for the trick is often via email; telling the unsuspecting recipient that there’s a large amount of money stashed somewhere not known by the necessary authorities. But if he/she can provide some money it’ll be secretly secured and the loot shared 50-50. An advanced fee/money is always sought, thus the term “advanced fee fraud” (419 after section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code). The scammers make generous use of fax machines, email extractors, telephones and money transfer systems like Western Union to carry out their nefarious activities.

All this requires a lot of patience and investment in time and resources by the scammers. And Internet cafes often turn to the scammers’ second home. To counter the menace the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) over here has been on its toes.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/419_beware.gif

Methinks 419 runs (schemes) is boring and a waste of time. It’s better to engage in discovering the beauty of the internet through the millions of wonderful sites out there. 419 has never been my thing and I’m glad I channeled my internet freakism to other positive angles.

[img]http://www.juventuz.com/forum/avatar.php?userid=2260&dateline=1125062138[/img]

You are ovbiously a stickler for KDE.

[img]http://www.juventuz.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=792326[/img]

[img]http://www.juventuz.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=792324[/img]

Liverpool are definitely going through, Benitez knows what it takes to beat teams like Betis (from his time in Spain), and I think he is tactically better than Mourinho...

Based on the way they've started the season, I see don't see Chelsea progressing. You need to see the way Betis handled Monaco. But then it is too early to start making rash judgements...

Anderlecht are no hopers. The only good thing there for me is that Aliyu Mohammed will play UCL football.

The tips I sent were just based on intuition, no analysis.

Obong, check your PM. As with certain materials (such as the full list of participants at Trafalgar 200), don't ask where I got it...

Erm, Bibi, the hook up isn't just on paper, trust me. These are 2 countries that are really scared of growing American hegemony in the East and will do anything to slow it down, plus, expect China to invade Taiwan within the next 10 years if they can't bring her down economically.

Watched it from UEFA's website...

One of the beauties of the net...

Who needs DSTv when you have the internet?

We keep f*cking up! Nigeria's not on that list!! https://www.juventuz.com/forum/images/smilies/mad.gif

My tips:

GroupA: Juve Bayern
GroupB: Ajax Arsenal
GroupC: Barca Udinese
GroupD: ManU Villa
GroupE: Milan PSV
GroupF: Madrid (and any body, probably Lyon)
GroupG: Liverpool Betis
GroupH: Inter Porto

The much-anticipated draw for the Champions League group stage has been made in Monaco and the 32 teams hoping to be in Paris next May now know how their campaigns will begin. There is no doubt what the headline is and that both of last years semi-finals, AC Milan-PSV and Liverpool-Chelsea, will be repeated in the group stage.
The all-England match-up in Group G was possible as Liverpool were not awarded any country protection due to the special circumstances of their conclusion in the competition. They will be joined by Anderlecht and Real Betis.

In a big coincidence PSV Eindhoven were placed in the same group as AC Milan, who beat them in last years semi-final. They are joined in Group E by Schalke 04 and Fenerbahce.

There is also the mouth-watering match-up of European giants Bayern Munich and Juventes in Group A to look forward to. The group is completed by Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna.

Manchester United will face former striker Diego Forlan as they are tied with Villarreal, as well as Lille and Benfica in Group D.

Group A
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Club Brugge
Rapid Vienna

Group B
Arsenal
Ajax
Sparta Praha
FC Thun

Group C
Barcelona
Panathinaikos
Werder Bremen
Udinese

Group D
Manchester United
Villarreal
Lille
Benfica

Group E
AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven
Schalke 04
Fenerbahace

Group F
Real Madrid
Lyon
Olympiakos
Rosenborg

Group G
Liverpool
Chelsea
Anderlecht
Real Betis

Group H
Inter Milan
Porto
Rangers
Artmedia Bratislava

Erm, you are wrong Obong. About China's army. I'll get back to you...

Did you download the highlights of the match against Barca? Balzaretti's a good player, and will be adequate cover for both Zambrotta and Zebina (he may even bench Zebina).

As for Mutu, sad to see him go if this deal goes through, but we all saw it coming for the better part of a year since he signed...

Roma’s fans made it clear Antonio Cassano’s days at the club are numbered and it’s reported Juve reached an agreement for the player today.

There are claims that Bianconeri director general Luciano Moggi met with his opposite number Daniele Prade’ in Rome this morning and agreed to exchange Cassano for Adrian Mutu, Giorgio Chiellini and a cash sum. It’s suggested that an official announcement will be made on Friday.

The former Bari starlet has rejected terms for a contract extension with the Olimpico outfit and his current deal expires at the end of the season.

To prevent him leaving on a free transfer, the Giallorossi hope to sell him off now and at least make back £13m of the £20m they paid for him in 2001.

Roma have threatened to leave Cassano on the bench for the entire campaign if he doesn’t “confirm his status as a member of the squad by signing a new contract,” but the final straw came last night.

During the team presentation at the Stadio Olimpico, Cassano was roundly insulted by the crowd and only came on for the second half in the 2-0 friendly victory over Arab side Al Ain, with goals from Vincenzo Montella and Rodrigo Taddei.

The fans also hurled abuse at the Italian international when he attended teammate Francesco Totti’s wedding earlier this summer and the rapport with the notoriously fiery Roma supporters is at breaking point.

kazey:
A plugin you said. M$ windows does not require a plugin

Do I have to answer that one?

Juve played Barca in a friendly at the Nou Camp yesterday...

Match summary

Highlights

Penalties


Celebrations. Personally, it looks more like a mourning to me than celebrations

obong:
I agree. But because of infighting most people wont agree. i love the langauge, but it will feed the stuatus quo where the hausas believe they were born to rule

Actually, it is the Fulani who believe that they are born to rule...

DE-KING:
Mennnnnnnnnn this is great. Good job google. At least a Nigerian language is represented on the internet, somehow.

You ovbiously haven't been here. That is the widest spoken Nigerian language as can be seen here, and IMHO, if we were to adopt an official language from any of Nigeria's indigenous, it should be the one!

Google Talk

Fast download - about 3 minutes on a modem (900K)
Requires Windows XP/2000, minimum 56k (broadband recommended)
Mac and Linux users can connect to Google Talk using other IM clients

I checked it out, it's actually just based on Jabber and they put up their own server so they're using existing technology (which is open source btw people). Jeeks (a friend of mine in Sweden) and I tested it, and I don't see why I should leave Skype for Google Talk. To me it seems barebones but just usable. Don't really get why anyone will use Google Talk, it doesn't have anything that other IMs don't have.

Google in Hausa would have been a more useful project IMHO.

I'd have put Bundesliga highlights, but the level of interest in that is low.

Meantime, 3 Nigerians played in this match...

Rennes versus Marseille last Sunday. Enjoy...

Yes!!!

Found a reliable source for Ligue 1 highlights...

Here are the highlights for week 3...

Week 3

Like I always say, Linux forever. I got an MPlayer plug-in that can play the stream.

While I must commend them for the effort, they need to improve the quality of NTA News.

It was not reported in the media, but China has signed an agreement of co-operation with the Russian army yesterday.

It states that Russia will support China if there is a confrontation with America and Vice versa for Russia.

A good thing or a bad thing you decide

Take the test here

Albeit it's quite stupid https://juventuz.com/forum/images/smilies/redface.gif

My result:
Linux IQ test

You are a LINUX MASTER
(9 of 10 questions correct)

You may be the type to compile your own kernel. You're certainly no novice. We have a feeling you'll enjoy ZDNet's Linux IT area.

obong:
are you using linux or something?

Yes. Ubuntu Linux Hoary Hedgehog... https://juventuz.com/forum/images/smilies/thumbs.gif

kazey:
Well try using mozilla or firefox to browse the site

I use Firefoxhttps://juventuz.com/forum/images/smilies/stuckup.gif

Is it any wonder why any outspoken religious figure today is pretty much presumed to be a complete kook? https://juventuz.com/forum/images/smilies/sigh.gif

What I like is the Venezuelan site:
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=45605
with the telling headline: 'Christian' Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of Venezuela's President Chavez

Note the emphasis on the quotes.

How much more is it going to take for so many of these freaks to be recognized for the inhumane, immoral creeps that they are? The guy says this on a religious program, of all things. American Taliban, anyone?

There are some who are calling for Muslims to help confront the problem of extremists in their midst who have perverted teachings to the point of terrorism. But if you take that argument seriously, you could easily say there's an equal argument for many Christians to equally confront people who profess to speak for their religious beliefs like this idiot.