Chelsea, Carling Cup 2007 Winner!!

Man of the match, Didier Drogba (scored twice 20',83')

The Special One, Jose Mourinho ;)

John Terry

CHELSEA beat ARSENAL 2-1 :)

Mon, 26th Feb 2007

Carling Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium

John Terry was carried off with a shocking head injury having surprised everyone by starting the game as Chelsea won the League Cup for the fourth time.

Didier Drogba scored both goals, and the game finished 10 v 9 after two Arsenal players and substitute John Mikel Obi were sent off for a stoppage time brawl. Chelsea also hit the crossbar twice.

Arsenal started with Baptiste picking up Makelele whenever he had possession. Chelsea started by slipping on the greasy surface.

First Lampard then Terry went down, the latter allowing Arsenal to get into Chelsea's area. Bridge cleared but Fabregas returned with a worthy shot which Cech saved well diving low to his right.

Both sides managed early chinks of openings, and Terry had to be sharp in an interception which Ballack tidied up with a wonderful first-touch to Bridge to clear again.

Cech had to be at his world class best after 10 minutes when Arsenal built an attack from a throw in their own half after the ball had got away from Shevchenko, Baptiste's shot heading for the corner, and the goalkeeper turned it outside the post with a majestic dive and sweep of his arm.

But Arsenal scored from the corner. Drogba headed out, Walcott claimed possession and played the ball into Diaby on the edge of the area who threaded a return pass into the area for Walcott to burst through and slot a confident shot past Cech into the far corner. It was his first goal for Arsenal.

It took Drogba eight minutes to equalise. Ballack provided the defence splitting pass, and the centre-forward ran on alone as Arsenal claimed offside and he was confident too, nutmegging Almunia with his firm shot after delaying to pick his spot. It was his 27th Chelsea goal of the season and his third against Arsenal at Cardiff.

Both sides continued to look dangerous when attacking. Terry, however, was beginning to find his game after a slow start.

The first booking of the game went to Denilson for tripping Essien who had beaten him. Essien showed rare emotion by smacking the ground in frustration as he had worked his way into space.

But Essien then suffered his own booking for flying into a sliding tackle recklessly on Baptiste who required treatment. Again, his problem was his feet went from underneath him just before he challenged.

Arsenal's swift passing play allowed them to get into a number of one-on-one running situations, and Chelsea's tackling had to be precise and swift. Carvalho, as ever, was outstanding at this. Behind him, Cech was outstanding with his handling.

In contrast, when Diarra and Bridge got forward to give width, Chelsea looked dangerous, but too often the ball was lost before a wide position could be worked. Being caught offside six times had broken up play as well. However, Diarra in the first truly big game of his career was giving a good account of himself.

Arsenal had slightly the edge of first-half play, but the plus for Chelsea was the form of Ballack who enjoyed arguably his best 45 minutes yet in a Chelsea shirt.

Mourinho sent Robben out for the second-half in place of Makelele and switched to 4-3-3. Robben took up post on the right touchline and within two minutes had sprinted past three challenges and so nearly set up Shevchenko.

But Arsenal created a real chance a minute later with a quick free-kick, and a pass inside Diarra for Diaby to get through one-on-one with Cech. Once again the goalkeeper was outstanding, swooping to his left to turn the shot away for a corner.

Arsenal were confident. Carvalho was booked for a trip on Aliadiere just outside the area, and although Chelsea's wall blocked Baptiste's shot, the ball wasn't cleared and Fabregas was a hair's breadth wide with his shot.

Robben had another run and turned inside Traoré before shooting only a little wide and high, but Diarra blocked Diaby's next run when beaten and became Chelsea's third booking.

Eleven minutes into the half, after another Robben sortie, Chelsea won their first corner of the game, and from it Terry dived for a loose ball and received a horrendous kick in the face. The immediate response of players from both sides to get medical staff and stretchers on stressed the seriousness of it, and he was finally stretchered away after six minutes with an oxygen mask and a head brace.

In the stand, England manager Steve McClaren left his seat to be downstairs when his captain was taken away.

Mourinho withdrew Essien to central defence and sent on Mikel in holding midfield.

Robben switched flanks and posed problems along the left. Wenger took off Traoré and sent on Eboué, switching Hoyte to the left. The Arsenal manager must have liked the look of Robben. Two minutes later he sent on his own winger Hleb for injured Diaby. Maybe he wanted someone to run at the already booked Diarra.

But in between Drogba had got away from Senderos, onside this time, from Diarra's excellent through pass and his angled shot brought a diving half-stop from Almunia who was able to scramble across and finish the job.

Robben opened up play again after 72 minutes, and fed Lampard inside him who from over 30 yards shaped up and packed a right-footed special over Almunia and with a thud against the bar. It was a moment of sheer Lampard brilliance.

Chelsea had a lucky escape when Touré raced forward late to gain an unchallenged header from a corner, but from just outside the six yard box put it over.

But as the last 10 minutes started Chelsea had a good run of play, attacking especially up the left, and it climaxed with Robben's cross and Drogba's towering header above Senderos into the far corner of the net. It was a goal which summed up his immeasurable power, athleticism and ability.

Minutes later Bridge served Robben the chance to run at Touré but the Ivorian defended brilliantly. However, his compatriot Eboue was not so technically adept and blocked the winger on the next attack, receiving Arsenal's second booking.

With two minutes left on the clock Shevchenko sprinted on to Drogba's square touch and hammered a savage shot against Almunia's bar. That would have been game, set and match.

As it was, Arsenal kept coming forward and had seven minutes stoppage time to get back into the game. But Cech was just so brilliant in coming off his line to intercept high balls into the box.

Four minutes into stoppage time an unbelievable brawl was started by Touré with Mikel. Everyone got involved including the two managers who ran on to the pitch. Touré completely lost his cool and both players were sent off. Adebayor went too for elbowing Bridge in the proceedings.

Adebayor had to be restrained as he stormed away.

Yellow cards for Lampard and Fabregas were also delivered.

The final whistle went after 12 minutes of stoppage time. José Mourinho's Chelsea has now won five trophies in two-and-a-half years.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Almunia; Hoyte, Touré (c), Senderos, Traoré (Eboué 66); Denilson, Fabregas; Walcott, Baptiste, Diabi (Hleb 68); Aliadiere (Adebayor 80).
Scorers Walcott (11).
Sent off Touré (90+5), Adebayor (90+5)
Booked Denilson (28), Eboué (87), Fabregas (90+5).

Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2) Cech; Diarra, Carvalho, Terry (c) (Mikel 62), Bridge; Makelele (Robben h-t); Essien, Lampard; Ballack; Shevchenko (Kalou 90+8), Drogba.
Scorers Drogba (19, 83).
Sent off Mikel (90+5).
Booked Essien (35), Carvalho (48), Diarra (51), Lampard (90+5).

R

Btw, both amanda and elizabeth got into the KL team for MSSM. Haha congrats to them!Anyway, it’s time for a long overdue post about the japan homestay programme xD

9 February 2007 (Friday)

Things started off pretty well, and the moment I met my host student (Yu), everyone kept saying how much we looked like =_=. Even his teacher was lauging and calling us twins!!

Anyway, Elizabeth and her host student (Takahiro), Ken, Yu and I went back to my house first before heading out for sate.

After that, we met up with Amanda and set off for Putrajaya. Haha I really dont't know why my mom always insists on bringing the Japs to Putrajaya. It's really pretty and all, but there's nothing there =_=. But we still managed to make the best out of the trip o_O Hahaha Amanda felt so dejected cause she was always the one taking the photos.

Later, we went to the Eye on Malaysia (before that, i always thought it was eye of malaysia... which makes more sense to me...). We were supposed to meet up with Tzu Ken, Ze Yen, Jia Min, Sabrina and their jap students...but when we reached the Eye, we found out that everyone was still at home. So, in the end, we went up on the thing with Sabrina...who was actually in the carriage(??) next to ours. Haha it was kind of a letdown, we all got pretty much bored after 1 round =_=. We ended up looking at the pretty little waves....

Us + Sabrina and gang

haha ken's balls...

Later, we went for dinner at Lake Club where we got tons of food and shared it with each other. Then we went to Chinatown, where Hiro and Yu bought tons of football jerseys which they wore for the remainder of their stay o_O

When we got back home, we got them to try a ton of Malaysian fruits like jackfruit, dragonfruit, papaya, mango, dukun, mangosteen, rambutan, guava, can't remember what else...and of course... xD

When he first smelt it...

After picking it up.....

And finally laughing at each other after they ate it xD Haha Yu and Hiro were really sporting compared to previous years. Plus, Yu has great facial expressions.

Their favourite was mangosteen o_O. And there's still one more thing I'm still feeling a bit guilty about... when we tricked them into eating cili padi. Haha since they didn't believe us after the whole durian debacle, Amanda and I agreed to it along with them..

Getting ready to eat cili padi

(like hell i'm gonna)

Hiro about to stuff the whole thing into his mouth o_O

I guess we should have stopped them from CHEWING IT THROUGHLY

Haha this was their initial reaction. I shall not post any pics about what happened later (cause i'm so nice). It took nearly 15 minutes for them to stop fanning their mouths. They used lots of water, ice and ice cream xD. Haha after everything, they asked me for some cili padi to give to their friends. I happily obliged them.

10 February 2007 (Saturday)
In the morning, we brought them up to the Petronas Twin Tower Sky Bridge. (Pic below o_O). Haha the day befored we managed to convince Hiro and Yu that we were going to the Sky Bridge for bunjee jumping and they freaked out. Summore when we were at the sky bridge, the tour guy made a joke about bunjee jumping...but the only words Hiro and Yu caught were bunjee jumping, and they started giving weird shocked stares at each other. I guess they thought we were serious about the bunjee jumping. Hahaha

Meh, then later we went around KLCC cause both of them were still souvenir shopping...haha when we were at shome Chinese New Year stage, my mom made them take a picture on a beca.

They didn't look very thrilled. xD

After lunch and some more shopping, we left for Batu Caves. But we didn't know they already went there....this is how we found out.. when we were climbing up:

Ken(or someone): Hey, how many steps are there?

Amanda(i think): I dunno, 200, 300 something?

Elizabeth (?): I think 271 or something.

Hiro: 272.

Then we asked them whether they'd been there before...and they said yea, on wednesday =_=. But they didn't mind going again o_O. Haha inside, Elizabeth and I tried scaring away a monkey. And the result...

One pissed off monkey. We were seriously getting ready to run. Haha then later we went to the Tian Hou Gong temple... at least that's what I think it's called.
When we went inside the actualy temple, we did the fortune telling thing...i have no idea what it's called. Haha this is what Hiro got:
If you think that's bad, look at Yu's:

He really looks like me in this pic o_O. Anyway, after we told them what their fortunes meant, all they did was laugh at each other xD. I got "Blessing of a Guardian Angel" haha. After that, we headed over to some terrapin pond.
Terrorising innocent terrapins.

After all this, I don't really remember what happened o_O. I know for dinner we all went for bak kut teh, which Hiro and Yu said was the meal they liked the most. It was the worst bak kut teh i've ever had =_=. We also went to TESCO to stock them up on Malaysian junk food like asam and orange peels and loads of other dried and pickled stuff. Haha they also like Rotiboy. I cant remember what else happened!

11 February 2007 (Sunday)
Okay, in the morning, we brought them to Lake Club for dim sum. Yu had to wear some weirdo batik shirt cause he was wearing a collarless football jersey o_O. Then we headed back to school for the closing ceremony.

The Chinese modern dance performed by Amrit, Jason, Chin Weng, Keng Yew and Chung tsang XD
Puan Rokiah dancing. hahahhahah

The Japanese basara.

Hiro and his friends trying to spread the joy of cili padi....by stuffing it into a custard pie or something.

And feeding it to this guy.

Haha right before they left, Hiro and Yu finished all the cili padi i gave them. They just kept offering it around and so many people just took it and ate it. o_O So i can;t be blamed directly!! Haha i can't post any pics of them cause i'll feel bad xD

Yeah, then after that they left!! It was really fun...in my opinion, the host students i had this year were a lot friendlier and more sporting.

If there's anything i missed out, you guys go post it!

K

First Group Pic, Putrajaya (i wonder who was the photographer! haha!)
clockwise from top: kenwilldie,botaken,rollerbuzz,takahiro,yu(chelsea!)

on the sky bridge of Petronas Twin Towers

R

so pity...

Mum: Snake cursed my child

By CLARA CHOOI

IPOH: Twenty-five years ago, a pregnant mother found a snake in her vegetable farm and beat it to death.

Help for 'Snake Girl': Olympia students helping Kim Lan relax when they visited the welfare home in Ipoh on Friday.

And when she delivered Woon Kim Lan in Serdang, she was reminded of that killing.

Kim Lan was not like any other child; she possessed extraordinarily flexible limbs.

And the way she would flick her tongue out regularly like a snake does led people to nickname her “Snake Girl.”

Today, Kim Lan sits tied to a chair all day at the Ipoh Handicap Children’s Welfare Home at Jalan Haji Eusoff here.

This has been her abode over the past two years.

If her hands are untied, she would instinctively remove her clothes as to her, the clothing restricts her “movements.”

The home’s chairman Cheong Kok Leong, said doctors have described Kim Lan’s condition as “soft bones” but her mother remains unconvinced – believing that it was due to the curse of the snake she had killed.

He said Kim Lan, one of the 71 residents of the home set up in 1999 to give voluntary care to the mentally and physically challenged, would hiss and stick her tongue out at people and curl her hands and feet into unusual positions.

The home had some visitors recently – 20 students from Olympia College.

The college’s Executive Business Club organised the visit to donate over RM500 worth of adult pampers, food, clothing and toiletries to the home.

During the visit, a man dressed up as the God of Prosperity distributed mandarin oranges.

________________________________________________

going for badminton interzone tmr!! best of luck to you and me! XD

R (Chelsea Chelsea)

Berkzilla isn't dead!! And stop turning this into a football news site and start posting again!!!

Congratulations to Amanda and Elizabeth who won MSSKL Zon Pudu badminton doubles and singles xD Ken and I trained you very well.

Meh, i got myself into a lot of work so i'm screwed. Haha it seemed like good ideas at that time. So now i gotta go do my debate speeches =_=

Worst of all, my computer's busted!! Now I'm suffering from music deprivation and i'm stuck on some dinky little laptop.

K

berkzilla is dead
hahah...

CHELSEA LIVES ON!!

One of the most accomplished home league displays of the season saw Drogba and Lampard among the goals again. Kalou also netted but Ashley Cole was carried off.

Seeing our England left-back leave on a stretcher in the second-half with what appeared a bad knee injury was the one downside in an otherwise thoroughly entertaining evening.

Blackburn had their moments but in a game run for the most part by an outstanding Lampard, and containing a Lassana Diarra display that earned his first chants from the crowd, Chelsea merited their goals and their clean sheet.

There were no surprises in José Mourinho's team selection. Both Claude Makelele and Michael Ballack returned having missed the weekend FA Cup game and Cole came back in for Wayne Bridge at left-back.

Diarra, such an able deputy for Makelele against Forest, went to the right of the back four, the position he played two games ago against Wycombe.

Indeed the entire team, complete with diamond midfield, was the one that had faced Wycombe here eight days earlier.

Blackburn, who were matching Chelsea's formation, started brightly and when Pedersen wriggled free on the left, Cech was needed to tip a cross-cum-shot over his bar.

That was on two minutes and within a minute, it took two blocks from a well-positioned Carvalho to keep out first Nelsen's header from a corner and then the follow-up effort.

Enough of this messing around! It was time for Chelsea to spring to life.

The catalyst was Lampard, sending Drogba away down the inside left channel with a pass off the outside of his boot.

Henchoz was no match for our top scorer's power and neither was keeper Friedel when Drogba picked out the far-side of the net perfectly with his low, left-foot cross shot.

Precise finishing and Didier's goal no. 23 for the season with just five minutes gone.

Shevchenko had his own chance from a Lampard ball soon after but struck at the keeper.

Chelsea continued to drive towards the Shed End goal and on 16 minutes it took a brilliant Friedel save to keep out a much better struck Sheva volley after Ballack had crossed superbly. Mikel's follow-up effort was deflected wide off Henchoz.

On 23rd minutes, Ballack's cushioned header was right into Shevchenko's path but a strong touch off his knee took the ball away and Friedel fielded.

There looked to be more goals in this Chelsea performance.

However it was Blackburn to next show, Warnock taking Pedersen's back heel and embarking on a scintillating direct run.

Between Makelele and Carvalho and past Cole he surged but just as a goal looked inevitable, Essien dived in and salvaged the situation with a priceless precision tackle.

There was danger again almost immediately after - Derbyshire breaking onto a loose Essien header and touching the ball past the closing Cech. Carvalho pursued to the final yard and calmly cleared as he himself slid into the net.

The game was half-an-hour old and enjoyable. Drogba controlled a ball over his shoulder from Lampard and blasted at Friedel.

It wouldn't be a Chelsea v Blackburn game without the odd steely challenge and the first came from Bentley, flying in on Makelele. Poetic justice was the phrase that came to mind when Makelele fell, studs down, on his assailant's thigh with the inevitable pain that followed.

Then a bruising clash between Shevchenko and Pedersen inside the Chelsea half left the Blackburn midfielder in agony on the deck and Chelsea breaking.

It took a Warnock diving header to deny Ballack five yards out with Sheva's testing cross heading his way.

The prominent Shevchenko then met a Lampard free-kick in stoppage time before the interval but Friedel caught the header under his crossbar.

It took 90 seconds of the second-half for Friedel to resume his barricade duties, this time beating out Ballack's diving header after Diarra had crossed from deep. Henchoz just beat Drogba to the loose ball.

On 53 minutes the evening took its turn for the worse. Ashley Cole, all alone, chased down a Makelele pass to keep it in play. He caught it but stepped on the ball and lost balance. His left leg buckled as he planted it into the turf and his game was about to end on a stretcher.

Wayne Bridge was the tailor-made replacement in a defence that had been performing solidly - Essien once again looking born to his deeper role.

On the hour Shevchenko wasted a one-on-one against the keeper. So far reliable in these situations, he had a yard on his marker after taking Drogba's clever flick but aimed too close to Friedel.

Two minutes later it was his strike partner's turn to be profligate - somehow missing his header after great footwork and crossing by Diarra.

Were the Blues asking for trouble with such a low conversion rate? The answer was no!

Lampard in his own half set his side going via John Mikel Obi. Taking the return, he set himself and then thumped an unstoppable 25-yarder that flew over Friedel and then dipped into the net.

It was strike 16 for the stand-in captain. A landmark 20 goals for the season again looks a near formality.

There was an unpleasant assault on a grounded Makelele by Emerton but on the whole, it wasn't a fractious second-half.

On 74 minutes Friedel kept Sheva off the scoresheet again after Drogba's muscle had made shooting space.

Cech had enjoyed an easy half but he did very well to drop and hold McCarthy's close range header with eight minutes to go.


Blackburn substitute Samba became the game's only booking soon after for hauling down a penalty area bound Drogba.

The third goal that the performance had merited came late, a minute into stoppage time to be exact, but it was beautifully simple in its execution.

A Bridge ball from deep - headed on by Ballack - and substitute Kalou advanced and coolly slotted home, with a nice shuffle celebration to finish the evening too.



By: R