bolton v wigan preview

As the bottom six go head-to-head across the country over the weekend, nowhere will the stakes be any higher than at the Reebok Stadium.
Bolton Wanderers versus Wigan Athletic might not readily quicken the pulse-rate of the neutral, but for supporters of these two clubs this fixture has loomed large since the New Year. both teams need the win and if ethier lose there season looks is doubt and its away days at coverntry and petobourgh look likely on the other hand a win chould kickstart a season especially as its a local derby.

Premier league so far

Top 5 players
1 david silva
2. Demba ba
3.gareth bale
4.sergio aguero
5.juan mata


Worst 3
1. Fernando torres
2. Andy carrol
3.david de gea


Scouting reports (7 teams)

Man city

There creative midfielders are ripping teams apart especially david silva and when youve got strikers like balotelli aguero and dzeko up front goals come easy
Predicted finish 1st

Man united
The return of ashley young from injuru will be a huge boost to the red side if manchester who are pushing city all the way but they need rooney and chicarito to find form.

Predicted finish 2nd (sorry utd fans!)


Spurs

There is quality in that squad for sure but spurs chould of done with a big window singning like a samba or ba

Predicted finish 3rd


Newcastle

Most say the geordies have over achived but if demba ba can stay on form and the new striker cisse expect newcastle to be around the top 6

Predicted finish 6th



Wigan athletic (my team)

Well its been a struggle so far this season and its difficult to find a real match winner in that squad moses and rodallega need to find form to give wigan a chance of survival

Predicted finish 17th/18th

Liverpool

If carrol whould of found form and suarez not been charged with racism liverpool chould be finding themselvs in the top 4 but to many draws at home have cost them

Predicted finish 5th

Blackburn rovers

Hard hard season for poor steve kean this but if yakubu stays on form they have a chance but they need to win their home games

Predicted finish 19th

Capello resigned!

Fabio Capello has officially resigned as England manager after he had no control over John Terry's captaincy. Harry Redknapp is the favourite to replace the Italian.

Who do you think should get the job?

Monday Madness!

Horror Penalty!

Jay Rodriguez blew his chance to score a hat-trick for Burnley against Nottingham Forest when he sliced a penalty kick painfully wide after slipping over at the crucial moment. Watch it here.


Amazing "Flying Back-Heel Bicycle Scorpion Kick Goal!"
The title says it all really. Erlan Mealla scored this goal in the Bolivian league for Nacional Potosi against...The Strongest! Watch it here.

His ticket being placed on.

Not-So-Super Mario!

Mario Balotelli is back in the news this week! This time he parked on a double yellow line and therefore got (another) parking ticket. Balotelli is notorious for getting parking fines and it was reported last year that he had notched up £10,000 worth of tickets, and had had his luxury Maserati impounded 27 times.


How to attack a Linesman!
Mexican striker Carlos Vela failed to live up to his potential at Arsenal but he is now proving to be a big hit in Spain - and by big hit I mean he is slamming into officials and wiping them out. Watch it here.

Neymar and co.

How to attack Neymar!
Brazilian star Neymar recently notched the 100th goal of his career on his 20th birthday, but instead of presenting him with a celebratory cake, his Santos buddies decided to turn him into one.


How to attack yourself! 
Swiss international Eren Derdiyok entered the hall of fame for the maddest injuries - a tootbrush related injury. The Bayer Leverkusen striker will be out for 3 weeks.

Weekend review

City beat fulham 3-0 and united drew 3-3 at chelsea after bieng 3 behind wigan remain bottom but gain a point on nearly all of their relegation rivals with a 1-1 draw with everton norwich beat bolton 2-0 blackburn lost 7-1 at arsenal sunderland won 1-0 at stoke newcastle beat villa 2-1 In the african cup of nations ivory coast beat equitorial ginuea 3-0 with yaya toure scoring a amazing free kick West ham are top of the Championship after beating millwall 2-1 coventry are bottom after losing 3-2 at home to ipswich

Wigan 1-1 everton

A game that never really got going in truth but franco di santo forced a good save out of tim howard in the frst half everton never really threatend and found themselves behind when a jean beausejour cross somehow found its way into te net was it a deflection or a bobble dont know haha but everton threw men forward at wigan and eventually scored after baines whips in a corner to find anichibe who nods home but towards the end wigan attacked and had chances in numerous scrambels

This transfer window the most unbelievable rumours

Tevez to west ham on loan! What ? He refuses to play in the champions league so i very much doubt he will play in the championship drogba to qpr: for a start how whould terms be agreed when drogba is at the africa cup of nations and why whould a player that good join a relegation battle demba ba to arsenal: wait this guy aint french!! Plus arsene wenger wont spend 18m on a player who will probably just be used as a benchwarmer as rvp is in so good form carrol/tevez swap: yes this may be good but liverpool have faith in carrol and he is a player for the future but he whouldnt get a kick at city with aguero dzeko balotelli etc and tevez wanted to move abroad

Cup of Nations: the Last 8...

The Group Stages are over and quarter finals start tomorrow! This year top teams like Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Algeria and Egypt didn't even qualify. The competition was also going to be hosted in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea - 2 countries definitely not famous for football. However, the competition has been exciting for sure. This is a review on the teams in the last 8.

Zambia: Group A Winners
Path to the Last 8:
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Zambia

Zambia have played well especially in their 2-1 win over Senegal. They are the underdogs and realistically have a good chance. They play their quarter final game against Sudan which should be easy and then the winner of Ghana v Tunisia in the semis.

Equatorial Guinea: Group A Runners up
Path to the Last 8:
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Zambia

Everyone expected both the host nation to play valiantly but not get any points. This is because they are ranked 150 in the FIFA rankings - which is the worst in the tournament. However they surprised us all. They beat Libya...which was a shock. Their dream run continued as they also got three points against Senegal - the third favourites with a last minute winner. This meant they had qualified for the quarters and knocked out Senegal. Equatorial Guinea will play Cote d'Iviore in the quarters and the winner of Gabon v Mali in the semis. Who knows? They might shock us again?

Cote d'Ivoire: Group B Winners
Path to the Last 8:
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 0-2 Cote d'Ivoire
Angola 0-2 Cote d'Ivoire

Cote d'Ivoire were the pre-competition favourites and they still are. This is because they have world stars like Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré. As a result, they literally walked through their group. They had an unconvincing win against Sudan and then played their second team against Angola after making 9 changes but they still won all their game. In the quarters they play the hosts, Equatorial Guinea and the winner of Gabon v Mali in the semis.

Sudan: Group B Runners up
Path to the Last 8:
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Angola 2-2 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Sudan

Sudan are another surprise entry in the last 8. They had a really tough group but just managed to sneak in on goal difference at the expense of Angola. 42 years ago Sudan won the competition but since then it has all gone down hill. Their goals against Angola were their first in 36 years and their win against Burkina Faso was their first in 42 years. They face Zambia in the last 8 and Ghana or Tunisia in the semis if they get there.

Gabon: Group C Winners (I'm supporting them)
Path to the Last 8:
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Gabon 3-2 Morocco
Gabon 1-0 Tunisia

Gabon have played extremely well and deserve to be in the last 8 after being the better side against teams like Morocco and Tunisia - two North African giants. M'Banangoye curled in an amazing free kick in the 98th minute against Morocco to send them through. Their key player and playmaker has been Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang. He is just amazing. "He looks like Neymar and has the status of him too here in Libreville..." He's a benchwarmer for Lille OSC by the way. Gabon play Mali in the quarters and Cote d'Ivoire or Equatorial Guinea in the semis.

Tunisia: Group C Runners up
Path to the last 8:
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Niger 1-2 Tunisia
Gabon 1-0 Tunisia

Tunisia have been inconsistent in the qualifying and also in the finals. They may have got through but definitely haven't played too well. North African rivals Morocco dominated in their match v Tunisia but Tunisia hung on. They haven't been convincing. They play Ghana and then Gabon or Mali in the semis.

Ghana: Group D Winners
Path to the Last 8:
Botswana 0-1 Ghana
Ghana 2-0 Mali
Ghana 1-1 Guinea

Unlike Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana had a tough group. Mali and Guinea are both good teams. Ghana walked through their group as well but were also unconvincing. They'll play Tunisia and then the winner of Zambia v Sudan.

Mali: Group D Runners up:
Path to the Last 8:
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Ghana 2-0 Mali
Mali 2-1 Botswana

Mali have played good. They're definitely underdogs as well as Zambia. They face Gabon in the last and then either Equatorial Guinea or Cote d'Ivoire in the semis.

Monday Madness!

Worst acting ever:

Equatorial Guinea beat Senegal 2-1 in the African Cup of Nations - which is a huge shock. They were winning 1-0 until the 91st minute when Sengal equalized. (Equatorial Guinea got the historic winner in the 94th minute) Just before they equalized, look what Narcisse Amia Ekanga did to waste time. This is the worst acting I've ever seen. He goes down looking for the freekick. No freekick. So he just collapses and rolls about. Calls for the stretcher. Cold spray and all. He gets carried off on the stretcher. 10 seconds later he runs back. Watch it here.

This isn't the only time Ekanga has been acting. Watch it here.

Awesome warm-up:

Look at Craig Bellamy's little dance to warm up before he comes on in the City game. Watch it here.

Contendor for miss of the season:
Have a look at this terrible miss by Robbie Findley for Nottingham against Leicester. It takes some skill to miss from there! Watch it here.

Your team wins a penalty. Great! Now argue over who takes it. This is what Bury players Giles Coke and Steve Schumacher did. Watch it here.

How do you miss this?:

Okay, we've already seen 2 terrible dives and acting, but this is real. André Dias punches Mark van Bommel and the ref completely misses it! Watch it here.

Worst PR Stunt ever:

This is the worst PR stunt I've ever seen a football club do. German giants Bayern Münich claimed on their website that they had signed "a spectacular name" and would unveil him in a press conference that will be broadcast on their Facebook page at 1pm Time passed on and nothing happened. At 3pm the Bayern manager appeared and the "player" was a picture of their own profile picture and a Bayern shirt with their name on and the number 8. Apparently this was to show the importance of the fans.

Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal: One of the greatest shocks ever?

The Preview:

Equatorial Guinea: A small nation from Africa. Not known at all for their football. Co-hosts of the CAN 2012. Worst ranked team in the competition. Ranked 141 in the world.

Senegal: 3rd favourites in the competition. African giants. Ranked 54 in the world. Many skilled footballers like Demba Ba, Moussa Sow and...Diamé.

Equatorial had already caused a minor shock as they beat Libya 1-0 and Senegal had lost to Zambia 2-1. A win for the hosts would see them through and Senegal out.

Before the match, everyone would have expected Senegal to defeat the minnows. I predicted a 5-1 win for Senegal. However, Equatorial Guinea surprised everyone with a historic win. 

1-0!

Equatorial Guinea 1-0 up:

Senegal totally dominated but just couldn't score. Out of nowhere, in the 62nd minute, Kily showed his skill a curled an amazing cross that Randy scored a header from. I couldn't believe it. Equatorial Guinea were ahead! If they hung on Senegal would be out! Come on Equatorial Guinea!

Hanging on to a historic win:

From this moment, Senegal went all out attack in an attempt to save their disastrous campaign. They, like the commentators said, literally threw the kitchen sink at them. Senegal had so many clear chances but Equatorial just got lucky and hung on to what looked like one of the greatest ever shocks in football.

Senegal had France's current top scorer this season (Moussa Sow), France's top scorer last year (Mahmadou Niang), Germany's 2nd top scorer (Demba Cissé, but he's now joined Newcastle) and England's 2nd top scorer this season (Demba Ba) but they can't score against the defence of Equatorial Guinea.

Senegal equalize:

Finally, in the 91st minute, Niang scrambled in an equalizer for Senegal and shattered Equatorial Guinea dreams. The assistant holds up the board for 5 minutes.

In the 93rd minute, Equatorial Guinea missed a chance by centimetres. It seemed it was the last chance and draw would have to be it for the underdogs.

2-1!!!:

Kily scores a screamer!

Then came an incredible finale when Kily controlled a crossfield pass before unleashing a thunderbolt that tore into the back of the net and the party had started. Equatorial Guinea have surely now caused one of the greatest shocks in football history!

And there it is, the final whistle! Confirmed: Senegal are going home after a terrible game and the whole country of Equatorial Guinea in ecstasy!

At least Wigan get Diamé back!

Later, Equatorial Guinea lost to Zambia 1-0 (no shock this time) and Libya beat Senegal 2-1 as they ended a miserable campaign. Equatorial Guinea and Zambia have qualified for the next round.