Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Football matters - UCL semi finals 2014 and a possible Madrid derby in the finals

Football is a live again tonight with the second night of UEFA Champions League 2nd semi final match between European giants Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Last night saw a boring game from the overcautious talkative Portuguese master of mind games Jose, the Special One, Maurinho of Chelsea against the lively live-wire Argentine tactician Diego Simione of Atletico Madrid.

Both UEFA semi final first game ties were hosted and played in the Spanish capital Madrid.

With Barcelona out of the competition having been dumped by fellow Spanish outfit Atletico, tonight's match pitting two of the Ballon dior finalist, CR7 or Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery, is much more livelier than last night dull encounter between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid which ended in a stalemate of no goals.

At half time in Madrid tonight, Bayern had a staggering 73 percent ball possession against 27 percent for the home team Real Madrid who won with a solitary goal scored in the first half through a superb counter attack with a tap in by French sensational striker Karim Benzema.

It is sad how cruel football is at times
. Bayern outclassed Real Madrid and were yet a goal down at first half and ended up loosing one nil.

Bayern is coached by former Barcelona player and coach Pep Gurdiola, who won the EUFA CL with Barcelona and Real is led by Italian master-tactician Carlo Ancheloti, the only man who has won the coveted European cup twice as a player and two times as coach of the Italian giants AC Milan.

In both halves, Real missed a host of chances with the culprits being CR7 and Argentine winger Angel Di Maria. Despite their huge ball possession, Bayern never threatened Spanish keeper Iker Cassias in goal for the Spanish giants, with his real save coming late in the 82 minute when he blocked a goal bound Mario Gotze point blank shot.

World's most expensive footballer Gareth Bale of Wales, who came in the second half to replace CR7, had several half chances with his closest raffling the side net after dashing clear from one of the many counter attack chances that came in Real's way.

After watching both ties, with all due respect to Chelsea and Atletico, there is no question the Bayern vs Real game fitted to have been the final match, which this year will be held in Lisbon, Portugal.

With a one goal advantage, Real has a good chance of going through should they hit a goal in Munich in the second match next week making it more interesting to watch the second leg.

In London, Chelsea will have to attack, and that is when Atletico Madrid might also have an opportunity and opening they seldon got at home on Tuesday, to get an away goal that will take them through.

I foresee a Madrid derby in the final in Lisbon, between Real and Atletico, which will add another rivalry to the tie as both Spanish teams would hate to loose to their local backyard noisy neighbours!

In England and the EPL, the chosen one in Manchester United become the chased one...Blame me for your woos...Haters
Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Somalis equally curse and celebrate late Russian AK 47 designer

BAIDOA, Somalia, Jan 14 - Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian man who designed the AK 47 assault rifle might have wrote a letter from his death bed in December saying he “feared he was to blame” for the untold millions the world-famous AK 47 had been used against, but in Somalia where his semi-automatic rifle is the favorite among soldiers, rebels and even militants, news of his death received mixed reactions of praise and blame.
Kalashnikov, the inventor might have died, but his Kalashnikov gun commonly referred as the AK 47 is still rumbling and is the single biggest killer in Somalia with its ear-piercing sound a constant feature across almost the entire chaotic southern Somalia where night and day street and jungle battles involving the AK 47 is a constant menace.
Somalia, a country in the Horn of Africa that is still struggling to find lasting peace following 23 years of deadly clan, warlord and now religious fighting that has caused so much anguish and death with the AK 47 still in the middle of that an unceasing battle over the control of the strategic country.
Mohamed Ali says he will never forgive or forget the AK 47 designer simply because he has left him with a bad taste in life since he has to live with a bullet for the rest of his life.
Sometimes in mid-March 2012, Dahir was heading home when he was suddenly hit by strays bullet on his neck but then after he was rushed to hospital doctors removed one bullet and told him he will have to live with the bullet for the rest of his life simply because it was lodged near his backbone and that if it was to best removed he might die or be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
“Every morning and evening, I curse the person who fired the bullet, the person who bought that bullet, the manufacturer and worse off the man who invented it and the AK 47 gun. I have to live with that bullet for the rest of my life. My message to Mr. Mikhail and the man who shot me is very simple,I hold them personally responsible for my injuries and my lifetime anguish and experience,” XX said without even flinching.
Abdullahi Abdi, a former Mogadishu clan militiaman had all but praise for the Russian assault rifle designer saying that the AK 47 was simply the perfect weapon he preferred amongst the many guns readily available in Somalia because of its simplicity, target even under duress and rough conditions and more importantly because of its weight. He said the AK 47 was designed for all weather conditions and rarely disappoints you.
“If I had one wish, I would wish to meet this great man called Mikhail Kalashnikov. His gun the AK 47 is my favorite and I love fighting with it because it would never disappoint you and it would always finish the job off come rain, sunshine or even dust. I just want to thank him for such a superb discovery, he made my life in the frontline easier with his genius discovery of the AK 47,” Abdullahi proclaimed.
Love it or hate it, the AK 47 affection seems to be across the board as foreigners in Somalia were sucked into the assault rifle debate many accepting the inevitable, that the gun is arguably the world’s best killing machine no wonder it is a favorite weapon for governments, rebels, terrorists and gangs from Afghanistan to Somalia and Sierra Leone to Libya.
Even my home country Kenya is also not to be left out as gangs are known to terrorize their victims with Kalashnikov’s including the chilling terror attack at Nairobi’s upmarket West Gate Mall that sent shock waves across the world.
I have also noticed that our own soldiers in Kenya these days prefer AK 47 to the big and cumbersome G3’s that was so common before. It seems therefore that whether we like it or not, the Kalashnikov, the gun, is there to remain with us long after even Mr. Kalashnikov, the man is long gone.
A former Burundian rebel commander now turned peacekeeper serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, had mixed reactions arguing that everything in this world has positive and negative side effects. He thanks the AK 47 for bringing peace in his country as his National Council for the Defense of Democracy- Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), a rebel group in Burundi that is now the ruling party fought its way into power using the Kalashnikov.
“Every invention in the world has its bad and good sides. A vehicle is good and comfortable when you are driving but then it could also kill you, the same with electricity. As a weapon the AK 47 is a very good gun which rarely disappoints you. We fought using the AK 47 during our war in Burundi and now we use it now in Somalia where we are serving as peacekeepers. I have lost so many soldiers who were shot with it and we must have also killed others with our shots too. All I can say is Mr. Kalashnikov made history by designing the AK 47 and he will certainly be remembered for good or bad reason for so many years to come,” the Burundian officer said declining to give his name.
Abdi Jama, a Somali man working at the main airport in Mogadishu did not hide his dislike for Kalashnikov, the man and the gun. He blames it for the insecurity in Somalia saying that it is easily the weapon of choice for every other gunman in the country with the demand pushing up the AK 47 prices to over $1,200.
“AK 47 has made my life miserable, it is still causing insecurity in my country because it is the weapon of choice for every gunman thug, terrorists of even government soldiers and has brought a lot of misery to our lives in Somalia. There is no single Somali family that has not directly or indirectly been affected by the AK 47 because if some of us escaped its bullets we have lame families, others who have missing limbs, eyes and other parts of the body not to mention those who still carry a bullet lodged in their bodies. It has done us more bad than good and so there is no way we can praise Mikhail Kalashnikov,” Jama quipped.