Archive for the ‘Games’ Category

Arsenal traveled across town to Fulham on January 2nd for a Premier League match. Both teams were looking to win. Arsenal’s rivals had slipped up in recent days which presented a great opportunity to tighten the title race. Fulham were looking for points to give them breathing space from the relegation zone.

The first half was lively and somewhat eventful. Arsenal had the majority of the chances but seemed to lack the Midas touch in front of goal. Aaron Ramsey had an early shot right at the keeper and Gervinho shot well over the bar in the first minute.

Gervinho had a difficult period early in the game. He received the ball near goal on numerous occasions when Arsenal looked threatening, but he repeatedly made mistakes when a moment of brilliance could have led to a goal. In the 13th minute, he got the ball in the box, made a nice cut by a defender, but placed the ball just out of his own reach. He flopped in an effort to earn a penalty kick but his cry was rightly ignored.

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In The Stands’ Rolly Pelovangu jumps ahead of the queues, grabs a packet of milk and cookies and brings forth a comprehensive review of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 – it’s a screamer!

In a week which saw the release of the mightily impressive FIFA 2012, Konami’s latest Pro Evolution Soccer release has much to live up to.

Of course the comparisons and the differences between both games will forever dominate any objective reviews, but let it be said now, PES 2012 gives FIFA 2012 a run for its money.

Available on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, as well as PC, Pro Evo continues to be universally available for gamers on all formats. Like FIFA, fans will be asked to cough up some £44 and although pricey, it is well worth the dosh.

Gameplay

Amongst the most pertinent aspects of the Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 is the improved passing and player movement. There is a feeling of realism pervading matches hitherto unseen in past Pro Evo outings.

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After spending hours in a darkened room, In The Stands’ Rolly Pelovangu is now ready to bring his verdict on a game which is causing much furore in the gaming world: FIFA 2012.

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Goals by Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas gave Barcelona a comfortable 2-0 win over FC Porto in Monaco on Friday night as Pep Guardiola’s men bag yet another trophy!

It was Jim Carey’s famous character in the comic sitcom made film ‘The Mask’ who popularized the phrase ‘somebody stop me!’

It is a sentence which Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola can now recite over-and-over again aloud, as well as in his head as his troops continue to monopolize the silverware available to them.

In an entertaining night in Monte Carlo, the European Champions overcame Europa League winners and Portuguese champions FC Porto 2-0 to bag their second trophy this season and their fourth in 2011 alone.

Lionel Messi gave the Catalans a first-half lead after seizing on Guarin’s poor back-pass before rounding Helton and slotting home.

The Argentine then set up substitute Cesc Fabregas in the 88th minute with a delicate chip before the former Arsenal slammed the ball into the FC Porto net for 2-0.

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The new season is upon us and this weekend looks like a good’un. I have also got a sneaky feeling that you want to play Jeff Stirling’s Soccer Saturday Drinking Game….So here are the official rules!

Official Rules:-

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• -  Every time a goal is scored:- 1 shot of beer
• - Every sending off:- 1 shot of Jager (or substitute)
• - Half time:- Absolutley no alcoholic beverages may be imbibed during this period.
• - Whenever Chris Kamara is talking:- You must be drinking
• - Whenever Merson uses stupid rhyming slang (i.e.”he’s hit the beans on toast”!):- 1 shot of Jager
• - In the second half, all teams can only be referred to by their nicknames:- Failure to do so results in a 3 beer shot penalty.
• - Whenever Swindon Town appear on the vidiprinter: – Last person to shout out ‘Mackerel’ takes shot of Jager.
• - Whenever Dundee appear on the vidiprinter:- Last person to shout out ‘Football’ takes shot of Jager.

A press release for Football Manager 2012…are we excited. Silly question!

LONDON (August 15th, 2011) – Sports Interactive Ltd. & SEGA® Europe Ltd. today unveiled the latest version of their successful football management simulation series, Football Manager™ 2012. Planned to be in stores before Christmas, Football Manager 2012 will once again allow you to take charge of your favourite football team and put your managerial skills to the test.

The award-winning Football Manager series has now sold in excess of 7 million copies worldwide and has topped the UK and many European PC charts for the last seven years, with over 108 weeks at no.1 in the UK to date.

“We’re delighted to finally be able to start talking about Football Manager 2012” said Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive. “It’s another year of evolution, with some revolution thrown in for good measure so we’re pretty sure our dedicated communities, and hopefully lots of new people too, get to play and enjoy the game when it’s released later in the year.”

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Barcelona overcame Bayern Munich 2-0 to lift the Audi Cup and reaffirm their status as Europe’s top side at present.

Two goals by youngster Thiago Alcantara the first arriving in the 41st minute and the second arriving in the 75th minute did the damage. So thats 1 trophy down, and six to go. GULP!

Elsewhere AC Milan and Brazilian outfit Internacional played out a throughly entertaining 2-2 draw earlier in the day. Internacional then went on to win 2-0 on penalties as Milan’s poor shootout record came back to haunt them.

As ever, catch the highlights with In The Stands below.

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“Zinedine Zidane’s goal in Glasgow (against Bayer Leverkusen) is the best in history. It gave us our ninth cup and there are no doubts we will get the tenth,” Real Madrid President Florentino Perez once told an assembled press conference.

Taking the second part of the comment with a pinch of salt, the first part cannot be disputed – at least in UEFA Champions League history.

Zidane’s winning volley against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 final was quite simply, beyond exceptional. We at In The Stands are usually good with words, but even we struggle to adequately quantify and describe that moment of sheer brilliance and genius.

Sigh…just throw us a thesaurus and let us reminisce over ‘Zizou’s’ stunner. We will go to our graves ever the happier because we saw that great goal.

Revisit the moment here »

Ugly scenes descended after a tense Copa America semi-final clash between Paraguay and Venezuela after a mass brawl between both sets of players and coaches erupted.

Players, coaches and non-playing staff from both teams waded into each other after the match as tempers were flared and emotions ran high amid disturbing scenes.

On-lookers were left horrified as Venezuela’s Nicolas Fedor and Paraguay’s No 20 Nestor Ortigoza were amongst the most recognizable figures throwing punches at each other as police struggled to control the situation. The brawl continued for several minutes before sprawling out into the tunnel.

For the record Paraguay advanced to the finals after a 5-3 penalty win. Not that many people noticed!

So Manchester United’s pre-season tour is up and running with a bang as a Wayne Rooney-inspired performance saw the Premier League champions crush hapless Seattle 7-0! Yes, that is 7-0!

Halftime substitute Wayne Rooney, sporting his new hair make over, netted an impressive 21 minute hat-trick for the Red Devils in front of a boisterous 67,000-strong crowd at the Seahawks NFL stadium.

Michael Owen gave United a first half lead, Mame Diouf doubled the lead before ‘Wazza’ struck either side of Park Ji-Sung and Gabriel Obertan who bagged the seventh.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic will play against his former club Inter.

A poor Arsenal side slumped to defeat in the Carling Cup today, allowing Birmingham to win their first major trophy since 1963…win

Arsene Wenger: Another missed opportunity

Report:

In a highly electric affair, Birmingham took the early initiative and would have had a penalty early on if not for poor line-keeping. Nikola Zigic, who was a constant threat to Arsenal throughout the match, had played in Lee Bowyer, who was kept onside by left-back Gael Clichy. He broke into the area taping the ball past Wojciech Szczesny who clumsily clattered down the midfielder. Fortunately for Arsenal an offside flag was given, when really, it should have been 10 v 11.

That scare did not however spur on a response from Wenger’s side. Birmingham continued to press; winning a decisive corner for their efforts. Before the game Birmingham have a 52% set-piece conversion rate, whereas Arsenal, as we know, have been caught out all season by this prospect – If Birmingham were going to beat Arsenal it would be in the air, and this is what they did.

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