Tag: Poli Timisoara

’10 to Track’ soccer matches for Relegation Monday (5/28) – one lump of suckitude, or two?

With the World Cup well under a month away, get ready for an onslaught of national team-tuneups.  But don’t worry, Noobites!  Our Monday tradition of featuring teams about to be possibly Booted from their leagues still holds.

  1. U.S.A. vs. Bolivia – friendly

It’s not part of a tournament, and neither team is headed to the World Cup.  But it’s ‘Muricuh!

The teams are FIFA-ranked #24 and #57, respectively.  Not sure how much that will mean here.  Noob’s understanding is that a lot of young up-and-comers are going to get featured on the U.S. side.  Bolivia may well be doing similarly.  The match is yours at 6:30 PM, Eastern on FS1.

RESULT:   ‘Muricuh!   3-0

Image result for too patriotic

B.  Mexico vs. Wales – friendly

Now this is a World Cup tuneup for Mexico.  Wales was one of the stronger European teams to not qualify.  They are FIFA-ranked #15 and #21.   (9:00 PM, FS1)

RESULT:   0-0

Image result for letter B whale

 

Number B, the dragon is kind of the Welsh thing.  Not a whale

  1. Gaz Metan Medias vs. Juventus Bucaresti – Romania Liga I

For these two clubs, two matches to go in the Relegation Group in Romania. The bottom two will be auto-Booted.  #12 will get to play a Liga II team trying to displace them.

GMM are in 11th, one point up on Voluntari (who have played one more match already).  They’ve not lost in four consecutive matches, and beat J.B. 0-3 in their last meeting.  There’s no reason to think this one won’t play out much the same.  J.B. are awful, have last place sewn up already.

Fun Fact:   GMM are known as “the black wolves” and “the refinery workers”.  One is definitely cooler than the other, if more dangerous to have out on the pitch in a halftime show.

RESULTL:   GMM   3-0

  1. Poli Timisoara vs. Dinamo Bucaresti – Romania Liga I

Timisoara are in 13th, but could well still climb up to safety.  Hypothetically.  They’re only two points behind Voluntari.  Unfortunately for them, today they play the top team of this Group.  D.B. have won five straight matches, haven’t allowed a goal in the last four.

RESULT:   Dinamo   1-3

Image result for south park timmyFun Fact:   Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld are the halftime show for this match.

The Management:  No…

*bronx cheer*

  1. PSIS vs. Mitra Kukar – Indonesia Liga I

Welcome back, PSIS!   You’ve been featured here before.  Still in last place, Noob sees.  And only averaging one goal per match.  Ouch.  Mitra Kukar are maybe average.  PSIS could get a draw here, Noob suspects.

Fun Fact:   One of the PSIS main supporters groups is named “Snex”.  Which is totally going to mess with Noob’s Scrabble vocabulary.

RESULT:   PSIS   4-0     It’s a Relegation Monday miracle!  They climb into second-to-last place.   (Bottom three finishers will be Demoted.)

Now for some mini-previews of international friendlies —

  1. France vs. Ireland – friendly

France rank #7 worldwide, expect to make the Knockout Stage of the World Cup.  Ireland did not qualify, are ranked #31.   (3:00 PM, ESPN Deportes)

RESULT:   France   2-0

  1. Portugal vs. Tunisia – friendly

Both these teams made the WC.  Noob was surprised to discover how highly they’re both ranked, 4th and 14th.  Noob knew Tunisia was one of Africa’s best, but not that well-regarded.

RESULT:   2-2

  1. Italy vs. Saudi Arabia – friendly

Saudi Arabia are the lowest team in the world to have qualified for Russia.  They’re ranked just 67th in the world.  20th-ranked Italy were one of the biggest surprises of the qualifying competition for WC, not getting in.

RESULT:   Italy   2-1

  1. Qabala vs. Kesla – Azerbaijan FA Cup

The Final!   Noob is surprised to not find runaway league-winner Qarabag in this match, but they got knocked out in the Quarterfinals.  League #B Qabala hosts below-average Kesla.  The visitors will do well to keep this within a goal even.

RESULT:   Kesla   0-1     Shocking!  Congrats!

  1. Botswana vs. Angola – COSAFA Cup

This is a tournament put on by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations, being put on in South Africa.  13 nations are competing.  The strongest five teams have received byes into the Knockout Stage.

This one is a Group Stage match in Polokwane (Pietersberg), the first of three.  Angola carry the higher CAF ranking, but Botswana has already earned enough points to join them in the continental top-18 when next year’s come out.  This should be a very even matchup.

RESULT:   Botswana   2-1

Image result for Polokwane funny

 

 

 

So long from South Africa!

’10 to Track” soccer matches for Relegation Monday (5/21) – the suckitude returns!

It’s a Relegation mashup today!   When the schedules are light on Mondays, we here embrace the pain of, get to know and celebrate teams in position to get Demoted.

Today, there are several matches of happier importance as well, so enjoy the remix of sorts.

  1. Montreal Impact vs. LA Galaxy – MLS

It may be just the Eastern Conference 10th place side versus #9 in the West, but it’s the only major game in the U.S. today!

For the rawest Noobites, the name to know for this game is Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  He’s a Swedish national who was once perhaps the greatest player in the world.  He still thinks of himself as such, and that makes him super-fun.

And we should get a chance to see Zlatan – and others – score plenty.  Montreal are so bad in their own end, I wonder if they would even try defending their mother’s honor.   (3:00 PM Eastern, NBA League Pass 6)

RESULT:   L.A.   0-1    This, despite Zlatan getting a red card for slapping an opposing player in the side of the head.  The Galaxy climb to 7th.

Image result for ladies love zlatan

 

 

Zlatan is ready to attack or defend against whatever.

B.  Dundalk vs. Waterford – League of Ireland Premier

After a middling season last year, Waterford have had a magical stay near top of the table in 2018.  But they are fading.  Still 3rd-place, but they haven’t won in four straight matches now.

Dundalk are trending the other way, leading the league by two points in the standings.  They’ve scored 11 goals in their last four matches (including a League Cup game).

RESULT:   Dundalk   2-0

Image result for irish letter B

 

 

A bit cliche, Number B. 

But you do wear the hat well.

  1. Derry City vs. Bray Wanderers – League of Ireland Premier

Bray are mired so deeply in last place, they can’t even see the sun.  But they did defeat #5 Derry 2-1 in their most recent meeting!  Derry scores in droves, but can’t defend.  Bray can’t do either.

Fun Fact:  Bray have won the second-tier three times in club history.  (They’ve never done jack squat in Premier.)

RESULT:   Derry   2-0

  1. Brondby vs. Aalborg – Denmark Superliga

For Danish teams competing in the championship subdivision, this is the last match day.  (Relegation subdivision will have still more flailing to do.)  And the title is still up for grabs!

Brondby led all season, but have slipped to #B here at the end, trailing Midtjylland by two points in the table.  They get a very mediocre 5th-place Aalborg team that isn’t playing for anything.  But Midtjylland is hosting 6th-place Horsens and probably spanks them.

RESULT:   1-1      And so it’s congratulations to league champs Midtjylland!

Image result for soccer spanking

 

 

<—- Gratuitous soccer spanking image

  1. Randers vs. Lyngby – Denmark Superliga

Doesn’t Lyngby sounds like something one might spread over toast in the morning?  It does to Noob.  It sounds tart and delicious.  I once saw a promo on tv for a program about the history of toast.  But I didn’t watch it.  I mean, I like toast, but c’mon.

Noob?  It’s The Management.  Your doing that thing we talked about.

Unsubstantiated!   I am not wearing my Burger King King mask.  You said that commercial campaign was creepy, and I’m trying to take your word for it.  I –

No.  The other thing.

Right!  Um, Relegation match in Denmark.  Winner is the best of the worst four finishers in the league, gets to stay up.  Loser will vie with others lowbies for a while longer.

RESULT:   Randers   2-1   And so they save their own skin for another top-flight season.

  1. Poli Timisoara vs. Gaz Metan Medias – Romania Liga I

Juventus Bucaresti are already slated for demotion. Poli Timisoara sit in the other auto-Relegation slot currently.  But there are still five teams very much in the loser-mix.

GMM have actually won a few matches since the league divided into championship and relegation subdivisions, but both these teams have run hot and cold in both ends of the field for weeks now.

RESULT:   0-0

Image result for timmaay

 

 

 

Fun Fact:  Big Timisoara supporter

  1. Elfsborg vs. Goteborg – Sweden Allsvenskanliga

Elfsborg, what happened to your offense?  Even as a mid-table team last summer, you were prolific in that regard!  Now?  League’s worst. Third-to-last place.

Fun Fact:  Noob thinks Elfsborg isn’t even real.  Isn’t it the name of that big elf-town on LOTR?

RESULT:   1-1

  1. Pirin Blagoevgrad vs. Vitosha Bistritsa – Bulgaria First Pro League

These are the two losers from the first round of this league’s Relegation Playoffs.  The loser of this match is done, demoted to Liga II for next season.  The winner will have to win a one-off match with a designated, current Liga II team in order to stay up.

Bistritsa, we’ve hardly known ye.  They won no matches in the regular season, and just one during the Relegation subdivision group stage of the season.  They were promoted last season after finishing 3rd in the second-tier First League.

RESULT:   Bistritsa   1-2     It’s a Relegation Monday miracle!

Image result for vitosha bistritsa watercourse

Fun Fact:  Vitosha Bistritsa is the name of a waterway as well.

  1. Weiner Neustadt vs. Wacker Innsbruck – Austria First League

Congrats, Wacker Innsbruck, you’ve clinched a top-two finish and promotion to your nation’s Bundesliga!  How will you celebrate today?

“With the Weiner-Wacker derby.”

Damn right you will!

RESULT:   Neustadt   1-0

  1. Qabala vs. Qarabag – Kazakhstan Premier

Way to go, Qarabag!  They’ve run away with the league title this year.  Qarabag are #B and have clinched a top-four finish and berth to the next Europa League.  So little is on the line here.

But Noob cannot resist the allure of #1 versus #B.  I don’t even try.

RESULT:   Qarabag   0-1

Image result for kazakhstan potassium mining

 

So long from Kazakhstan! 

Still an awesome exporter of potassium.

’10 to Track’ soccer matches for Relegation Monday! (4/2) – Embrace the suckitude

Noob’s greatest joy is to filter and bring to light the ten most important matches for new-ish American fans every day or week-part.  Mondays, in the afterglow of superhot action around the world, the schedules get a bit thinner.

Instead of taking respite, no!  We primarily put our focus on teams possibly about to get Relegated, booted to lower divisions, perhaps never to see the light of Premier day again.  Enjoy the likely end of these clubs’ halcyon days, embrace their suckitude.

  1. Sunderland vs. Sheffield Wednesday – English Championship

Sunderland aren’t out of time, but they’re getting there.  Seven matches left to go in the tier-two league season and they’re in second-to-last, five points deep in the Relegation Zone.  Hosting a below-average SW team (17th place) is a great chance for them to pick up three points.

Fun Fact:   Sunderland’s “black cats” nickname may be a reference to an artillery base from Napoleonic times – “the black cat battery”.

RESULT:   Sheffield Wednedsday   1-3     SW moved to 9th, just a couple points out of the last Promotion Playoff slot.

Image result for janet jackson black cat gif

 

 

Janet Jackson, getting perhaps a bit too into that fellow’s guitar playing during a performance of “Black Cat”.

B.  Asteras Tripolis vs. Platanias – Greek Super League

Platanias are so deep in last place they can’t see the sun.   They’ve only won or drawn in six matches all season, less than half of the next-worst club.  Tripolis is pretty average, but should handle business at home.

Fun Fact:  Platanias are from Chania, one of the four regional areas of Crete, informally and simply referred to locally as “western Crete”.

RESULT:   Tripolis   4-0

Image result for Greek letter Beta

 

 

 

Iconographic, Greek Number B.

  1. Olimpo vs. Temperley – Argentina Premier

These two are the better of the four in the multi-year Relegation Zone, could actually climb out.   But neither is playing like they will, being in the bottom three this season.  (6:00 PM Easterm TyC Sports International)

Fun Fact:  Olimpo’s home city of Bahia Blanca is the leading city in the country in basketball.

RESULT:   1-1

  1. Pogon Szczecin vs. Slask Wroclaw – Poland Ekstraklasa

Poland’s top league soon divides into title playoff and relegation-playout divisions.  These two are far enough down that they cannot avoid the latter.

Fun Fact:  OK, not “fun”, but interesting perhaps: Szczecin was founded by Poles who were moved west in the country after the Soviet Union took over eastern parts of the country in 1945.

RESULT:   Szczecin   3-2

Image result for pogon szczecin

 

 

They must be good guys, looks like they got chosen for House Gryffindor to Noob.

  1. Poli Timisoara vs. Sepsi OSK – Romania Liga I

This league as divided as well.  The bottom two get Relegated, while the next team up has to play another playoff with a second-tier team.  Timisoara hold the latter position.  Sepsi are in last.

Fun Fact:  Timisoara is co-owned by the local university, city and county governments.

RESULT:   2-2

  1. Septemvri Sofia vs. Etar – Bulgaria First League

Bulgaria’s league goes an extra step for Relegation.   Right now, the bottom eight teams are playing in two four-team divisions.  The bottom two from each will then play a bracketed Relegation playout toiurnament.  Septemvri are high enough up in 2nd place that they should be safe.  Etar is in last in their Group, definitely bound for the Playout.

Fun Fact:  Septemvri’s home pitch isn’t good enough for official matches, so those get played at fellow league team Bistrista’s field.

RESULT:   S.Sofia   1-0

Image result for new septemvri stadium sofia

 

 

New Septemvri Stadium is being built.  This is an artist’s rendering.

  1. Sport Boys Warnes vs. Aurora – Bolivia Premier

Aurora were promoted to Bolivia’s top division this year.  It’s early, but they’re in position to get possibly booted right back down.  The last-place finisher will go automatically, second-to-last (Aurora, right now) will have a playoff with a second-tier team.

Fun Fact:  Aurora are from Cochabamba, a mountain valley city where it’s springlike all the time, and so is known as “the City of Eternal Spring”.

RESULT:   Aurora   1-2    It’s a Relegation Monday miracle!  Aurora jump to 8th in the aggregate table, well out of danger.  For now.

And now for your non-Relegation pleasure —

  1. Esteghlal vs. Al-Rayyan – AFC Champions League

The Group stage of qualification continues for Asia’s premier club tournament.  The top two from each Group of four will qualify out of this round.

These two teams are tied for first, but with two matches to go at least one could be caught by 3rd-place Al-Ain.  The Iranian hosts today are probably as good as the best MLS teams, to give an idea of quality.  Qatar’s visiting side should be about a goal underdog today.

RESULT:   Esteghlal   2-0

Image result for underdog cartoon meme

  1. Young Boys vs. Basel – Swiss Super League

Young Boys of Bern are running away with the title.  But the league is strong enough that it gets two berths into next year’s Champions League.  Basel are #B, but ahead of 3rd-place St. Gallen by only three points.  This match is best offense versus best defense.  YBB should be able to control the pace.

RESULT:   2-2

  1. Wacker Innsbruck vs. Weiner Neustadt – Austria First League

For a change on a Monday, Noob had some solid choices for featured matches today.  But I’m still 12 years old in some ways, couldn’t help but include this one.   It’s the Weiner-Wacker derby!

OK, they almost certainly don’t call it that in Austria.  Still, enjoy.  Weiner is tied for 1st and in line for one of the two auto-promotion slots for their Bundesliga.  Wacker Innsbruck is in 3rd, which would have them playing a bottom-rung top-tier team for a chance at promotion themselves.

RESULT:   Innsbruck   2-0    Wacker tops weiner.

Image result for immature humor

 

 

Truth?  Maybe.

Depends on the admission price.

 

 

Honoroable mention:  Qabala vs. Sumqayit (Azerbaijan Premier, #B vs. #3), Ismaily vs. El Zamalek (Egypt Premier, #B vs. #3), Al Ahly vs. Tanta (Egypt Premier, #1 vs. Relegation candidate #16), Racing de Casablanca vs. Wydad Casablanca (Morocco Botola Pro, last place vs. #7 and defending CAF Champions League winner), Sport Huancayo vs. Academia Cantolao (Peru Premier, #B vs. #3 in league Group B)