It seems that tennis is a favourite sports among the AS Roma football players. Besides Francesco Totti, other players from the same club, Alberto Aquilani (left) and Mancini of Brazil also taking time off to watch the men's quarter-final match between Roger Federer and Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek at the Rome Master tennis tournament, in Rome. Unbelievably, the match saw Federer lost 6-7, 6-7 to Stepanek. (Images from (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Nothing is better than to see Rafael Nadal combining two of his passion, tennis and football for a good cause.
Iker Casillas, Real Madrid's goalkeeper, and Nadal recently team up to plan various activities to promote public awareness of malaria and to raise money to buy vaccines for children infected by the disease.
"I'm extremely pleased to do it," explained Casillas. "The fight against malaria is a great cause that I've never undertaken. Rafa and I want this to be just the beginning, and we hope it's repeated for years to come.It's a great cause and I hope Madrid Arena is packed on Thursday. Nadal, the other athletes who will be there, and I would like to see the stands full of people. If it goes well, we will try to hold it in a larger venue next year."
Nadal had the support of cyclist, Alberto Contador, Real Madrid players, Fabio Cannavaro, Jesús Navas, Raúl González, and Formula One driver Pedro Martínez de la Rosa.
Casillas’ team was Oscar Pereiro, David Ferrer, Fernando Hierro, Álvaro de Benito, the singer from Pignoise, and Fernando Alonso.
Nadal's team won on penalties. Nadal showed his football skills by scoring six goals. The penalties came after the combined scores between the teams after the football and tennis was 14-14.
Fernando Alonso received the most applause on his appearance. Check him in action here. I think he should stick to his F-1 car.
1. Within three years, I've changed into a Chelsea fan who hates watching Chelsea play because of their limited tactics and goal-scoring.
2. Mourinho robbed away the classic rivalry between Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
3. He has spent too much of Roman Abramovich's money to buy elite players who can't perform last season.
4. He has lost several of his loyal squad man to other clubs. Too many talented players and big egos for him to control.
5. Chelsea still hasn't become the world's number one football brand. Mourinho's outspokenness did not help Chelsea's image.
6. Mourinho is ambitious and staying in the English Premier League (EPL) will only deter him from proving himself as the world's best coach. Leading a top team in Serie A will definitely boost his image.
7. It's time for Mourinho to pack for good. Managers in EPL clubs don't stay long with the exception of Ferguson and Wenger. But at least he leaves Chelsea with respect from his peers and players.
Recently I've been complaining too much about everything. So better talk about something light like World Cup.
The World Cup is getting more exciting. So does my social life and my relationship with my sibling.
I have been meeting up with my close friends and not-so-close friends regularly to catch up with our favourite matches. There were even secondary schoolmates which I seldom spoke to back in those schooling days but found a common topic recently which you know, is football! My sister, a huge football fan too, recently have been spending quality time with me watching matches on the weekend at my place. In spite of staying far away from my place, she travelled all the way to watch her favourite teams play with me.
I truly believe that football not only bring nations together, it also brings relationships closer.
Being a fan ever since Roberto Baggio played in the World Cup 1994, I will continue to support the Azzurri. My bet is on the Italy to play to the final.
Everyone is talking about World Cup. Even people who knows little about football or its players. My mind is on football too but my heart is at the French Open.
Many tennis fans including myself are expecting the battle of the century in the French Open final between Federer and Nadal. As a Nadal supporter, I definitely hope Nalbandian will conquer Federer on the clay court today. Seriously, I couldn't handle the pressure anymore watching Federer and Nadal playing in the final for the fourth time this year. Eventhough Nadal has the advantage based on their head-to-head series, I believe Federer is very confident and ready more than ever before to take on Nadal if they play in the final.
Hopefully Nalbandian will put up a good fight against Federer and I'll have a peaceful night watching the opening ceremony of World Cup. As for the match between Nadal and Ljubicic, which followed after that, I'm pretty confident that Nadal will have an easy win.
Nothing compares to last night. It was the showdown of The Contender Finale and of course the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan. And this morning was the American Idol final between Bo and Carrie.
As predicted and my own favourite, Sergio 'Latin Snake' Mora won the match over Peter Manfredo Jr. and took home a million dollar. Although boxing is not my favourite sports but you have to love this show created by the guru of reality shows, Mark Brunett. Manfredo being the 3rd best middleweight boxer in the world seems lack of stamina and the drive to overcome the ever smarter and sleeker Latin Snake. Before the final showdown, there was this match between Jesse Brinkley and Alfonso Gomez. Gomez won and prove himself to be a champion in the making.
Things were different in the Champions League. It wasn't a game I want to watch but I want to see AC Milan win. It didn't happened. In fact, Liverpool steals the Champions League Cup which I don't believe they deserve it at all. They can't even small clubs in the English Premier League and end up in the 5th place. And now they are walking away with the Champions League title after winning the penalties 3-2. AC Milan was impressive in the first half. They play highly skilled football game and Liverpool was all over the place.
But in the second half, it was a different story. Imagine Liverpool can shoot in 3 goals in just 6 mins? Come on! I just don't trust European football. Remember when Greece winning the Euro Cup just months before Olympic Games? And now Liverpool have a chance to appeal to get into Champions League next year although they don't qualify at all. If Liverpool ever have a chance to come back next year to defend their title, I just want to say that they don't deserve it. Rules is rules. Four clubs from the EPL to qualify for the Champions League are already a lot. Don't tell me they want to squeeze Liverpool in. I just don't think it's fair for other clubs who played so hard throughout the year and managed to qualify. Liverpool have to earn their place in the EPL.
This morning was the American Idol finale. Well, yes, country rules not rock. I don't really like Carrie or Bo but credits should be given to them. I still prefer last season. Fantasia, Diana and Latoya proven to have more hearts and souls. Still remember Fantasia can make people feel and cry through her singing. Incredible! But Bo and Carrie are going to make it big.
A couple of nights ago I spent more than 5 hours staying awake watching the tennis match between Nadal and Coria. It was a magnificent final between the two rivals. I first saw them played a month ago in the ATP Masters Series in Monte Carlo. That time Nadal only played four sets to win. This time was a tough one. Nadal with injury (the blister on his finger was badly injured that it turned into a cut) only managed to win just because Coria made a mistake in the final point that decide the winner.
I should say that Nadal has the talent and luck to be a winner. I first saw him played in Australian Open earlier this year. The match between him and Hewitt was memorable. From that time onwards I believe Nadal (only 18 years old) will be the future champion. He has proven so far that he's the world number 1 in the making with his five championship winning streak so far.
Hope he will have enough rest after a hectic match and recover from injury soon. If we are lucky, maybe we get to see Nadal and Coria in the final again to battle for French Open. Nadal is a daring player but if he doesn't change his strategy, Coria will definitely find room to improve and might eventually win over Nadal (if they meet again in the French Open, I really hope so). They are probably the best players on clay this year.
And tonight there's a match between Manchester United and Chelsea. Well, I don't really care much about the result as Chelsea already won the Championship, but it would be great to see the two giants playing. I predict a draw but you wouldn't know what will happened. Reality is it doesn't really matter. It's just a training ground for Man U before their FA Cup final with Arsenal.
Finally I got over Chelsea losing to Liverpool. Like what Mourinho said, football is cruel. And we have to live with it. The Blues are going to train hard for next season. We'll see if they are going to win a treble or quadruple next year.
And by the way, Mourinho just sign a contract with the management and he's going to stay for 5 more years. Ferguson and Wenger will have a strong competitor for years to come. Believe me, these guys are going to come up together and bombard Mourinho with nonsense. Ferguson said Chelsea does not deserve the Premiership cup, so what about him? Does he win anything? NO! And too bad his team just can't beat Arsenal again. They just have to be satisfy with their third place.
Football is a dirty game! It has proven time and time again that bad decisions had been made by uncompetitive referees.
Yesterday we saw the defeat of a champion, Chelsea. The whole world saw Gallas managed to save the ball but a goal was awarded to Luis Garcia. Instead of giving Garcia a penalty kick the stoopid referee acknowledged the goal which didn't passed the goal post at all! I wonder what are those referees for when they can't make wise decision.
Liverpool did well but only to the extent of being defensive. They don't deserve to be in the final in Istanbul. Perhaps it's just a matter of luck or maybe it's a match that has been decided on. Or maybe they won't be around in the Champions League next season, it is best to let them into the final. At least Chelsea still around to compete next year and probably win it.
Critical matched always end up controversial. Perhaps it's a love and hate situation here in football.
Tonight is a big night for football fans (particularly Chelsea fans). After winning the Championships three days ago, I believe John Terry and his team mates will strive their very best to win over Liverpool and make it into the final.
It is very obvious that everyone is looking forward for the best teams in Europe to meet at the final. AC Milan vs Chelsea is the perfect match! Well, AC Milan looks convincing and it seems there will be no problem of getting in, it might not be the same with Chelsea. If Liverpool is lucky, they might just squeeze into the final (but I'll cross my fingers they won't). Champions League final should be reserved for the best teams. Liverpool's performance have not been consistent from the beginning of the English Premier League. Currently they are just in the top five position and they are risking of not getting into the Champions League next year.
Jose Mourinho is a genius. I'm sure this man is someone special for not only bringing success for his former Portugese club, Porto, this man is doing the same thing for Chelsea. After winning the Premiership last weekend, this man doesn't look like he's enjoying it to the maximum. He looks as if his mind is focusing on something else, of, course tomorrow's match.
There's no doubt, Mourinho is going to make sure his team work together to get into the final. I predict that this is going to be a 3-0 match. Peter Cech is on his top form and he's definitely not going to concede a goal. Lampard again will prove he's the man! Drogba looks like he's hunger for goals. So, I believe this magnificent player will get one tonight.
It seems that tennis is a favourite sports among the AS Roma football players. Besides Francesco Totti, other players from the same club, Alberto Aquilani (left) and Mancini of Brazil also taking time off to watch the men's quarter-final match between Roger Federer and Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek at the Rome Master tennis tournament, in Rome. Unbelievably, the match saw Federer lost 6-7, 6-7 to Stepanek.
Nadal's team won on penalties. Nadal showed his football skills by scoring six goals. The penalties came after the combined scores between the teams after the football and tennis was 14-14.
Everyone is talking about World Cup. Even people who knows little about football or its players. My mind is on football too but my heart is at the French Open. 
