Soccer Night: England_ Chelsea Is the Homecoming King

It is now 4:45 a.m. in London, England, and you are with the BBC; well, actually you are with us, and we are in Providence, Rhode Island (not really where we are, but the same time zone).

To avoid any confusion, let's first mention that the top image is of Theo Walcott of Arsenal who defeated struggling QPR 1-0 today on a goal from the English national in the very first minute of play. Similarly, Gareth Bale, one of the EPL's top stars, scored the lone goal for his Tottenham Hotspurs in a 1-0 win over Southampton.

Neither player is with Chelsea, the London team which has its logo in the middle, but Chelsea did advance to the UEFA Europa League finals in Amsterdam with a win over FC Basel, a Swiss team with a Turkish-Swiss coach Murat Yakin, who at 38 is younger than some active players.

The current EPL standings have Manchester United in first with 85 points (they have already clinched a league title) followed by Manchester City with 72 points. Arsenal is in third with 67 points. And, Chelsea and Tottenham are tied for fourth with 65 points.

The EPL has also made headlines for a biting incident involving the very notorious Luis Suarez of Liverpool, who plays for Uruguay internationally, against Chelsea. Alas, for the folks in Montevideo, Suarez is the most recognized person from their country. Perhaps, Vatican City should have chosen a pope from their country instead.

Let's cut the nonsense, here are the EPL scores for LAST week's games:

1. Manchester City 2 West Hampton 1

2. Reading 0 QPR 0, tie

3. Arsenal 1 Manchester United 1, tie

4. Everton 1 Fulton 0

5. West Brom 3 Southampton 0

6. Aston Villa 6 Sunderland 1

7. Chelsea 2 Swansea 0

8. Tottenham Hotspurs 2 Wigan Ath. 2, tie

9. Liverpool 6 Newcastle 0

http://www.premiereleague.com

http://www.nocturanlguy38.blogspot.com (Our sister blog)

World Cup Players Worth Remembering

Today, we have two special blog entries dedicated to 12 memorable players from The 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The other six players on our other blog "The Daily Vampire," which for some reason gets six times as much traffic as this blog!

1. Mesut Ozil (pictured here). Germany. Age 21. Wears # 11. Plays for Werder Bremen (German team which finished third in Bundasliga). Scored two goals in 14 international games, one of which included goal in 2-1 World Cup win over Ghana. He also set up fourth goal in devastating 4-1 victory over England. Dubbed a 'polite young man' by the German press, Ozil was caught up in 'custody battle' between Germany and Turkey, the country of his parents. Though he was scorned by Turkish nationalists in the motherland, Turkish-German parliamentarian Cem Ozdemir praised his decision because it showed the friendship between the two nations. Germany has a large Turkish minority, and Ozil was the center of a story which aired on the NPR show "The World" which aired this week about that unique diaspora.

2. Wesley Sneijder.The Netherlands (Holland). Age 26. Born in large Dutch city of Utrecht. One of my favorite players. He plays for Internazionale (Italian team based in Milan). His club teammates include Brazilian goalie Julio Cesar and star Cameroon player Samuel Eto'o (profiled here on Monday). Wears number 10. Ironically, he scored the game-winning goal against Cesar in Holland's brilliant 2-1 win over Brazil which was a minor upset. Also scored in World Cup play against Japan and Slovakia.

3. Luis Suarez. Uruguay. Age 23. Plays for Ajax Amsterdam (Holland). Has been named Dutch Footballer of the Year. Got red-carded in controversial play where he hand-balled to prevent a game-winning goal by Ghana in the 121st minute of play yesterday. Scorned by international media as a result, but he has been hailed as a hero in Uruguay. Will not play in the semi-finals against Holland. Scored both goals in 2-1 win over Mexico in the first knock-out round.

4. Kaka. Brazil. Age 28. Plays for Real Madrid. Has scored 27 goals in 82 international games. Known for humanitarian work, and is an ambassador for the U.N. Food Program.

5. Keisuke Honda. Japan. Age 24. Plays for CSKA Moscow. Has scored an impressive six goals in just 19 international appearances, including World Cup goals versus Cameroon and Denmark.

6. Park Ji-sung. South Korea. Age 29. Plays for Manchester United. Played in third straight World Cup. Scored in team's 2-0 win over Greece. Is first Asian player to score in three consecutive World Cups.