Weekend Watch: Hopping along

By: Bob | April 6th, 2007

It is a holiday weekend for many people around the world and what better way to celebrate than to scarf down some chocolate eggs and watch 98,999 hours of football? A couple of leagues kick off their seasons this weekend, some title races remain close and as always there are some randomly selected games that you should keep an eye on.

Saturday

MLS season kickoff – The 12th MLS starts off with a bang. Colorado christens their new stadium, The Dick. Bring your snow shovels. Toronto FC play their first match ever, on the road against Chivas USA. And on Sunday the defending champions from Houston will have fun playing the glamour boys from the LA Galaxy.

IF Elfsborg v Malmo FF – They are kicking things off as well in Sweden this weekend with the start of their season. IF Elfsborg have won the national championship five times including last season. The Elegant Ones play a Malmo FF club that has won the title 15 times and is the only Swedish team to ever play in a final in the European Champions Cup. They lost to Nottingham Forest 1-0 in 1979.

NEC Nijmegen v PSV Eindhoven – After bombing against Liverpool in the Champions League this week, the pressure is on PSV Eindhoven to stay on top of the Dutch Eredivisie. Their lead over Ajax is a mere three points and if they continue on their recent form they might also get passed by AZ Alkmaar.

CSKA Sofia v Levski Sofia – If you have ever been to the Bulgarian capital you know that it is a lovely city. Things turns less than lovely when its two biggest teams meet in a derby that is usually hotly contested on the pitch and in the terraces. This year’s encounter holds special meaning with Levski on top of the table, three points clear of CSKA.

Estudiantes La Plata v San Lorenzo – Which team is currently leading the pack in Argentina? I’ll give you a hint, it is one of these two. Give up? It is San Lorenzo, a team based in the Boedo neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Your Wikipedia fact of the week: ” In the early 1900s, a street gang based in the Almagro barrio (neighborhood) would invite gangs from other neighborhoods to play street football by writing in graffiti: Los Forzosos de Almagro desafían (Almagro’s strongmen dare you). As tramway and bus lines extended into Almagro, street playing became dangerous; following an accident in which a tramway car seriously injured a footballer, Catholic priest Lorenzo Massa started hosting the games in the backyard of his parish church in México avenue. Under his guidance, a football club was formally established April 1, 1908 and named San Lorenzo de Almagro honoring both Father Massa and the barrio.”

Sunday

Germinal Beerschot v Genk – Don’t look now but the race in the Belgium Jupiler League is tighter than your pants after an Easter meal. Genk is on top by just a mere point over Anderlecht.

FC Zurich v Basle – This game is actually being played on Monday but just pretend that it is on Easter Sunday. It features the top two teams in the Swiss Axpo Super League. Zurich are five points clear of Basle in the race to lift the chocolate covered Swiss trophy.