800th and not out!

Off the mark: Ryan Giggs puts the ball in the net on his 800th appearance but the effort was disallowed..

Legend: Ryan Giggs comes on for his 800th United appearance.

Will he stays?

This is a 32 million pound question.

O'Shea Advantage!

John O'Shea smashed home a 17th-minute goal to put Manchester United ahead in the Champions League semi-final first leg at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson's side will take a 1-0 advantage into next week's second leg.

Five of the best!

Two goals down at half time, it was 1:30am, I was tired, trying to decide if I should turn off the TV and head to bed. I thought let's give it another 10 minutes.

Tevez came on for Nani... and then the comeback started!

It is like fairytale stuff. Bloody hell! I guess that is why I love English Premier League so much!

Back on top...

Roo beauty: Wayne Rooney returns to Manchester United's starting line-up and to the scoresheet

 Michael Carrick's goal made certain that United returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League

Ronaldo's strike against Porto

rocket!

The moment 'Quintuple' is gone...

Manchester United's star names react in horror to Rio Ferdinand's penalty miss... Berbe'Joke'tov missed one earlier. Everton will play Chelsea in the F.A. Cup final.

I still do not understand Sir Alex's decision to field the weaker team... I thought win this one, and then play in the FA Cup final 3 days after the ECL Final (if we make it). There is no extra match except the last one for the season. What a waste, no more quintuple.

他走了

我來晚了。不知道是最後一個晚上。

隔天, 他走了。

 

感到十分、十分哀傷。

 

昨晚,

真的是最後一次见面。

Paul Scholes hits 600-game mark

1995...

PAUL SCHOLES has been hailed by some of soccer’s greatest names over the years.

ZINEDINE ZIDANE: “My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest of his generation.”

EDGAR DAVIDS: “I’m not the best, Paul Scholes is. We can all learn from Paul Scholes.”

MARCELLO LIPPI: “Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team — that is how highly I have always rated him.

“An all-round midfielder with quality and character in abundance.”

LAURENT BLANC: “I tell anyone who asks me — Scholes is the best English player.”

THIERRY HENRY: “Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Paul Scholes.

“He knows how to do everything, and he is the one who directs the way his team plays. On top of all that, he has indestructible mental strength, and he is a genuine competitor.”

PETER SCHMEICHEL: “His reading of the game is unsurpassed. He has the best eye for a pass, for what the play or the game needs at that precise moment, that I have never seen anyone else have.

“He controls and distributes the play and the game better than anyone I have ever seen.”

Bobby Charlton: “When a game reaches a vital phase, these qualities seem to come out of his every pore. He’s always on the ball. He’s always looking to bring other people into the action and if he loses possession you think he must be ill.”

Scholes will make his 600th appearance for the Red Devils in tonight’s Prem game against Portsmouth at Old Trafford.

One of the greatest but most unassuming figures to play the game, the 34-year-old continues to turn it on. Scholes is fourth in the all-time United list for appearances behind only Bill Foulkes (688), Sir Bobby (758) and, at the top, Ryan Giggs (798).

Scholes has hit 142 goals for United and is one of the best volleyers and long-range shooters the game has seen.

Scholes earned 66 England caps, scoring 14 goals and retired from internationals after Euro 2004.

He said: “I am lucky in that I’ve had everything I need. I’m at Manchester United. What more do I need?”

New Man Utd shirt next year?!

This looks.... weird, and i hope this is not real!!!

and the away shirt design (in white) is really horrible.

How bad is the meltdowns?

You'd be amazed at how you don't even know where your money goes. It took us a couple of months to get a firm handle on our expenses. There are some things you only pay a few times a year and you forget them, and then they crop up and you don't have $40 for the water bill or veterinarian...

...and told friends we'd brown-bag our lunches. One of them said we could go to a cheap restaurant, but I can't. I'm not sure they really understand how it is. I know I didn't until it happened to me. -- Umemployed.

I cut the staff from 18 to 14. We've eliminated the dining-room manager, the second highest position.  -- Restaurant Owner.

I had worked at the GM plant here since 1995. I was in a press room stamping out exterior parts for the Chevy Cobalt — doors and body sides. As recently as nine months ago, it looked like a really solid place to work. When gas prices were high, the small cars were hot. In December 2008, things started to look bad. Sales just fell apart. People couldn't get financing. I got laid off in January. I'm hoping that maybe by January 2010, we can start getting people back in the plant. -- ex-GM worker

'One of my clients — 45 years old, a top executive — e-mailed me, "Should I sell everything?" I wrote back, "No, you're fine, you can ride this out." His return e-mail said, "I knew that was the right answer." I've been telling a lot of people that they're going to be O.K. They need to hear that right now.' -- Financial Adviser

Now we have $2 and $3 blackjack. I would say that came about in the last six months. Some of the Strip hotels still have $10 and $15 minimum games, and I'm seeing more people coming downtown for at least part of their visit. I am averaging about $2,000 a month gross. Tips are steady. Even though a lot of people are having hard times, there's always the need for entertainment and relaxation. Gambling is entertaining for a lot of people. -- The blackjack Dealer

I used to see about five M-15s sold a year. Until about two weeks ago, we were selling about five a week. Now it's three a week. More women are buying, especially older ones. A lot of them are widows who are alone, and they want to have self-protection, just because of the economy. We've had a lot of robberies and break-ins in our area, and they're attributing that to people being out of work. -- Gun Store Owner

In 24 years, I've never seen anything like what's happening now. What I've noticed more than anything is that people are completely staying away.  -- A Boutique Owner

We're selling more wine; we're selling more organic food; we're selling more produce, more fresh things. Maybe these people who were eating at restaurants are cooking more meals at home. The awareness of people that I'm seeing is really keyed into value, where it wasn't before. It seemed like we were going through a period where people would see something and think, "Oh, that's a good deal," and then keep walking. Now it stops them. It's more important to them somehow.  -- Grocery Store Owner

read more here

Ronaldo's wonder goal seal semi final berth!

Cristiano Ronaldo fired Manchester United FC into the last four of the UEFA Champions League as his breathtaking early goal broke the resistance of his compatriots from FC Porto.

World-class effort
United's Portuguese forward may have had a mixed season but his world-class talent has never been in doubt and he underlined it here with the 35-metre strike that secured a 3-2 aggregate victory for Sir Alex Ferguson's side who – in the process – became the first English team to win at Porto.

From the street, this Edwardian house might seem unassuming, undeserving of a second glance.  From the back, however, the addition to the Trojan House by Jackson Clements Burrows, where three children’s bedrooms are cantilevered above a large living space, is anything but ordinary.

Robihno by numbers....

Total waste of money?

Federico Macheda magic lifts Manchester United

WHEN do miracles become mundane? The short career of Federico Macheda could be summed up by Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous words: “Football? bloody hell.” The plotting of this sport is haywire but Ferguson has used it to weave winning narratives since he began in management at East Stirlingshire. Call it genius, call it luck, curse it if you are from west London or Liverpool — one thing is certain, it happens too often to be coincidence.

Six days after he shook up the world on his debut against Aston Villa, Macheda did it again, scoring after being on the pitch for a minute. His goal earned Manchester United a win in a game they might have otherwise drawn or lost. In the 17-year-old’s half-hour of first-team football, he has done more for his club than some players do in a career.

A positive philosophy and a trust of gut instinct keep earning Ferguson the breaks. It is never more evident than with his faith in youth. A novice could spot Macheda’s talent but every other elite manager, with the exception of Arsène Wenger, would leave the Italian in the reserves.

Once again United were fallible, fading after their most positive start to a game in weeks and conceding via an error by Ferguson’s surprise choice of goalkeeper, Ben Foster, with Kenwyne Jones equalising after a vintage early goal from Paul Scholes. A quarter-hour was remaining, Liverpool were top of the provisional table and Ferguson, by his own admission, “was under pressure to decide changes.”

Ricky Sbragia said he was more worried when he saw Cristiano Ronaldo come on in the 69th minute than when Macheda took the field six minutes later but the youngster showed his nervelessness by immediately demanding the ball. Then, teed up by Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick shot from outside the box. Inside it, Macheda angled his foot instinctively at the ball and a moment later it was in the corner of Craig Gordon’s net.

Carrick ran one way, thinking the goal was his, while Macheda ran the other. Most United players followed Carrick, unable to believe lightning had struck twice but it had and soon Macheda was mobbed. “He side-footed it as it came to him. It’s that quick-thinking goalscorers possess, he’s got that instinct,” Ferguson said. Macheda’s finish resembled Teddy Sheringham’s when he turned Ryan Giggs’ shot past Oliver Kahn in the 1999 European Cup final: unlikely, untidy, unsaveable.

Macheda has already been photographed surrounded by chesty blondes in a nightclub and he already has his own song, boomed from the United end for the game’s remainder. “He comes from Lazio,” it goes, “He scores a wonder-goal.” For Ferguson, the kid could only be more perfect if it could be proved he were Scottish — he is a “Mac” after all.

P.U.M.A!

This odd-looking golf buggy type thing is the car GM hopes will become the default choice for hip inner city professionals looking to get to work quickly and cleanly. The PUMA, which was co-developed with Segway - that's the same Segway who made the two-wheeled Segway PT personal mobility cart - is so clever that it refuses to crash.  

read more

The kid is famous now

Porto held United

On a night of high drama at Old Trafford, FC Porto fought back to earn a 2-2 at Manchester United FC thanks to an 89th-minute equaliser from substitute Mariano. United is on the blink of elimination now...

Is United starting to fall apart?

Injuries and suspensions do not help but, even with such a powerful squad, United are starting to look dangerously like a side who have shot their bolt in this most congested of seasons. Already they have played 53 games, with at least another 10 to come. Carrick looks completely gone, while Scholes is in the sort of slump that, at his age, tends to prompt career obituaries. Gary Neville's should have been written a year ago.

Such fatigue is often the case at the business end of a long season. United limped over the line in their Treble season; Arsenal's Invincibles won only four of their last 12 games in all competitions; Blackburn's champions lost three of their last five. "When it goes," Ferguson said as that Blackburn side started to wobble, "it goes quickly, and there is nothing you can do about it." Those words look truer than ever now.

Determination!

If you need to express determination with one picture, this is the one! :)

Wonder boy's wonder goal!

"Thank you, son."

AN unknown teenager who should have been in Italy rescued Manchester United yesterday.

Sub Federico Macheda, 17, struck an injury-time wonder goal on his debut as United came from behind to sink Villa — and storm back to the top of the Premier League.

Boss Alex Ferguson said: “We’re top of the league and that’s where we want to be. We have had a blip recently but we’ve recovered.”

Often time, moments like this seals the title!