Weekend Watch: The Scent of Victory

By: Laurie | February 8th, 2008

Just a few of this weekend’s interesting matches:

Saturday

Ghana vs. Cote d’Ivoire. African Cup of Nations 3rd place playoff. A lot of people thought these two strong, star-heavy teams would meet in the final. Instead they were both knocked off in the semis, leading to what should be a much more interesting third place match than usual. Daryl will be liveblogging this game over at World Cup Blog.

Bordeaux vs. Metz. This game between Ligue 1’s second place team, Bordeaux, and bottom dwellers Metz is David vs. Goliath. Bordeaux has 42 points in 23 games. Metz has nine — six draws and one win — and has been having a tough time scoring any goals at all. But I love Metz, and hope springs eternal. Let’s hear it for the underdog!

PSV Eindhoven vs. Heerenveen It’s the top team in the Eredivisie, PSV, vs. third-place Heerenveen, home team of great US hope Michael Bradley. PSV has won their last four home games, but Heerenveen has outscored their last four opponents 19-1. (No, that’s not a typo.) Time for a showdown.

Sunday

Cameroon vs. Egypt. African Cup of Nations Final. Can Egypt defend the African title? On paper they’re the stronger team, having beaten Cameroon already in the group stage, but Cameroon, with top ACN alltime goal-scorer Samuel Eto’o, has a history of rising to the occasion and getting the job done. Daryl will be liveblogging this game over at World Cup Blog, and also posting tips for watching online.

Manchester United vs. Man City It’s the Manchester derby, and it’s the commemoration of the plane crash that took the Busby Babes.

Manchester United FC will wear a 1958 replica kit, and Manchester City FC – whose former goalkeeper Frank Swift died in the crash which killed eight Busby Babes while working as a reporter – a one-off strip bereft of a sponsor.

But don’t expect that to calm things down on the field. ManU desperately needs the win if they’re going to overtake Arsenal at the top of the table. (ManU currently trails by two points.) City is currently seventh in the table and are hoping for international play next year, possibly even Champions League. Expect fireworks.

Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen. It’s a top-of-the-table clash in Germany, with Munich currently topping Werder Bremen by three points. And that three points will be what Bremen will be trying to claim. Munich will be without French winger Franck Ribéry, who is out for three weeks with a thigh injury. Bremen will be without Torsten Frings (knee) and Boubacar Sanogo (in Ghana with Cote d’Ivoire for Saturday’s third place ACN game.)