Spanning the Globe: The Sound of Silence in Italy, Romario Reaches 990

By: Bob | February 12th, 2007

Chances are you probably don’t have the time to follow every football league in the world closely. Never fear. We are here to help. Here’s a quick, dirty and somewhat random rundown of the highlights and lowlights from the weekend that was.

Italy – It was an odd sight seeing the matches in Serie A being played in empty stadiums. It was not an odd sight seeing Inter Milan win. The league leaders won their record 15th league match in a row by beating Chievo Verona 2-0. Meanwhile, Ronaldo made his debut in the second half of AC Milan’s 2-1 win against Livorno. More on Serie A from Martha at the Italy Offside.

England – Liverpool was the lone loser among the top 4, falling to Newcastle United 2-1 and essentially ending any shot they would have had to catch Manchester United and Chelsea. It is Bolton who seems best positioned to make a run towards a Champions League spot thanks to their 2-1 win over Fulham. They are in fifth place, followed by Reading, which beat Aston Villa 2-0 for their first win against the Villains in 12 matches since the year of my birth, 1912. In other news, Pedro Mendes was on the receiving end of yet another ugly tackle, this time by Manchester City’s Joey Barton who denies making an obscene gesture to the crowd after he was given an early exit.

Spain – Barcelona went three points clear at the top of the table thanks to a brace from Ronaldinho. There was a bit of a controversy towards the end of the match against Racing Santander when Samuel Eto’o turned down an offer to play. The injured Eto’o hasn’t played since the Dark Ages and was in no hurry to get his game on during a match that was already decided. Meanwhile, David Beckham dusted off the cobwebs and scored his third league goal of the season on a 25-metre free kick to help pace Real Madrid to a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad. Blog favorite Sergio Aguero also scored a beauty in Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

France – Did you know that Marseille hasn’t beaten in Bordeaux in 29 years? The misery continued on Sunday as they lost 1-0 to remain in the fourth spot in Ligue 1. Front runners Lyon got off the snide thanks to a marvelous goal by Fred in the 8th minute against Lorient. Sam at the France Offside has all the juicy details from the weekend that was.

Brazil – It took 41-year-old Romario a mere ten minutes to rack up a hat trick during Vasco’s 6-1 butt whipping of Volta Redonda. The goals brought Romario’s career total to 990 if you are to believe the numbers being reported. Meanwhile, the goal scoring keeper Rogerio Ceni added to his record number of goals scored by a keeper by converting a penalty in Sao Paulo’s 3-1 win over dreaded rival Corinthians.

Australia – It was Romario’s one-time team Adelaide United that advanced to the final in the A-League thanks to a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Newcastle Jets. Adelaide will face Melbourne Victory on Sunday in the Grand Final that could in fact live up to its name.

African Champions League – Former tournament winners Esperance of Tunisia, JS Kabylie of Algeria and Zamalek of Egypt all booked their places in the second round of the competition. Al-Hilal of Sudan, APR of Rwanda, AS Douanes of Senegal, Zanaco of Zambia and Cotonsport Garoua of Cameroon are also through. A bunch of teams you’ve probably never heard of also were eliminated.