Lyon stars in Europe XI lineup

[Inara]

Marcelo Lippi has invited (http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=4/newsid=507447.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index)Coupet, Juni, and Abidal to be part of his European XI for their charity game against Manchester United.

He's already called up Beckham, Gerrard, and Carragher. I'm sure he'll call up a few members of his Italy World Cup Squad, including Pirlo. How cool would that be? Juni and Pirlo on the same team with Ronaldinho and Deco. Who would take the free kicks? Oh the drama.

Of course they probably won't be on the field at the same time. I really hope Juni gets to start, but judging from the all-star cast who are also sure to be invited, probably not, unless Lippi does the 1-8-1 lineup. But at least three Lyonnais were invited. Our players tend to be shamefully overlooked.

(Remember the 55 nominees for Fifa World Player of the Year? Either Houllier is the greatest coach of all time or else Lyon has to have at least one of the 55 best players in the world. Lyon is one of the 10 best teams in Europe. Every other team you could argue that belongs in the top 10 has multiple players on that list. Lyon had ZERO. /End rant).

[Gotham PSG]

(Remember the 55 nominees for Fifa World Player of the Year? Either Houllier is the greatest coach of all time or else Lyon has to have at least one of the 55 best players in the world. Lyon is one of the 10 best teams in Europe. Every other team you could argue that belongs in the top 10 has multiple players on that list. Lyon had ZERO. /End rant).

You sound like Aulas :D
Lyon might have a good team but they haven't done anything special outside of France to give them any respect.
That's where this year, IMO, is going to be different, if you beat Roma, and then get through another great team, people will start respecting Lyon
Personally I hope Lyon goes on an Italian rampage, first beating Roma, then draws Inter, then the Italian expatriates in either Real or Barca, and finally, the icing on the cake, beats Milan in the final. That would be a season to remember.

[Inara]

Lyon might have a good team but they haven't done anything special outside of France to give them any respect.
Of course I sound like Aulas. I'm just watching out for my babies...I mean the Lyon players. For all of Aulas outbursts, he does put the team first, and he's been fighting for twenty years to get Lyon European recognition.

I'm not saying that one of the Lyon players should have won the awards - I'm not that blinded by love...but I don't think a nomination for either Coupet or Juninho would have been underserved, especially since they were one of the three finalists for the UEFA Player awards for goalkeeper and midfielder, respectively.

If the list is supposedly supposed to look at achievements from the past year, then some people have no business being on that list. Adriano, Lucio, Ze Roberto, Fabregas, Rosicky, Riquelme, Nesta, Rio Ferdinand, etc - did they honestly outperform Juninho? They were all good players, but no way was their contribution any greater than Juninho's. Cech, Dida, and Van Der Saar - How are they any better than Coupet in the past year?

Of course we all know that the Fifa list is not logical and they only look at big teams (which sadly Lyon isn't one yet). So technically, I don't care about these awards, but it makes me happy to see underrated talents like Juninho get some warranted attention.


Goalkeepers:
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/ Juventus), Petr Cech (Czech Republic/ Chelsea), Dida (Brazil/ AC Milan), Jens Lehmann (Germany/ Arsenal), Edwin van der Sar (Holland/ Manchester United). (memo to Wynalda, Foudy and Lalas, no Kasey Keller)

Defenders:
Roberto Ayala (Argentina/ Valencia), Cafú (Brazil/ AC Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy/ Juventus), Roberto Carlos da Silva (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Cicinho (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Ashley Cole (England/ Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand (England/ Manchester United), William Gallas (France/ Chelsea), Fabio Grosso (Italy/ Palermo), Philipp Lahm (Germany/ Bayern Munchen), Ferreira Lucio (Brazil/Bayern Munchen), Rafael Márquez (Mexico/ Barcelona), Marco Materazzi (Italy/ Inter), Miguel (Portugal/ Valencia), Alessandro Nesta (Italy/ AC Milan), Carles Puyol (Spain/ Barcelona), Willy Sagnol (France/ Bayern Munchen), John Terry (England/ Chelsea), Lilian Thuram (France/ Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy/ Juventus).

Midfielders:
Michael Ballack (Germany/ Bayern Munchen), Deco (Portugal/ Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Spain/ Arsenal), Luis Figo (Portugal/ Inter), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy/ AC Milan), Steven Gerrard (England/ Liverpool), Kaká (Brazil/ AC Milan), Frank Lampard (England/ Chelsea), Claude Makalele (France/ Chelsea), Andrea Pirlo (Italy/ AC Milan), Juan Ramon Riquelme (Argentina/ Villareal), Francesco Totti (Italy/ AS Roma), Patrick Vieira (France/ Juventus), Zé Roberto (Brazil/ Bayern Munchen) and Zinedine Zidane (France/ Real Madrid).

Forwards:
Adriano (Brazil/ Inter), Hernan Crespo (Argentina/ Chelsea), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/ Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon/ Barcelona), Thierry Henry (France/ Arsenal), Miroslav Klose (Germany/ Werder Bremen), Lionel Messi (Argentina/ Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Holland/ Chelsea), Ronaldinho (Brazil/ Barcelona), Ronaldo (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/ Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (England/ Manchester United), Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine/ AC Milan), Luca Toni (Italy/ Fiorentina), Fernando Torres (Spain/ Atletico Madrid).


Anyway, back to the Europe XI. Apparently Lippi won't be allowed to pick players from Arsenal or Chelsea because they have a Premiership match the following night. :rolleyes:

I would have liked to see Henry and Drogba play together. That would have been interesting.

[Gotham PSG]

Well I didn't mean to say that you were wrong, I truly believe Lyon should have had at least 2 or 3 players on that list, but the big difference is that Lyon hasn't managed to do anything great among the big boys, and the group stages don't count.
So Aulas can scream all he wants, but in the end, people in England Spain and Italy never really cared about our crappy Ligue 1, so winning it 6 times in a row doesn't mean much to them (although nobody cares about the seria A either). On the other hand, I'm sure Monaco and Marseille had somebody on that list in 2004

[guignol]

nothing special outside of france? i think 3 straight CL quarterfinals has to count somewhere: how many other teams have done that? obviously less than 8; the answer is... ONE! only 5 clubs have been that far twice, such "heavyweights" as RM, liverpool, and barça only once, and the great MU? not at all!

when you consider not only our own results but the interest all the so-called "big" clubs have in buying them away from us, it's hard to see how the PIPO, err, FIFA list could ignore the team completely!

i mean look at the list; besides the qatari hopefuls (cafu, RC, nesta, thuram...and that's just for defenders) there are enough rejects (riquelmé), retirees (zizou) and benchwarmers (cicinho) to make up a whole new list... don't these people watch footballl at all???

[Breakwood]

nothing special outside of france? i think 3 straight CL quarterfinals has to count somewhere: how many other teams have done that? obviously less than 8; the answer is... ONE! only 5 clubs have been that far twice, such "heavyweights" as RM, liverpool, and barça only once, and the great MU? not at all!

when you consider not only our own results but the interest all the so-called "big" clubs have in buying them away from us, it's hard to see how the PIPO, err, FIFA list could ignore the team completely!

i mean look at the list; besides the qatari hopefuls (cafu, RC, nesta, thuram...and that's just for defenders) there are enough rejects (riquelmé), retirees (zizou) and benchwarmers (cicinho) to make up a whole new list... don't these people watch footballl at all???

You mean listing off the squads of Real, Barca, Milan and Man U isn't watching football? I think you'll need to inform half of BigSoccer this revelation and tell them they actually must watch the match. :p

[guignol]

mind you, you can watch football and still get fooled... for example i saw cannavaro play 4-5 times in 2006 and had the distinct impression he was a gold-plated bum, worst than a waste of space... but he ended up ballon d'or!

[Inara]

Florent Malouda has been added to the lineup. Now the Europe XI is like a Who's Who list of footballers!


Lippi's squad so far:


Goalkeepers:

Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais)
Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich)


Defenders:

Jamie Carragher (Liverpool F.C.)
Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyonnais)
Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)
Gianluca Zambrotta (FC Barcelona)
Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelona)
Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan)
Fabio Grosso (Inter Milan)


Midfielders:

David Beckham (Real Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool F.C.)
Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyonnais)
Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyonnais)
Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona)


Attackers:

Henrik Larsson (Helsingborgs IF)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan)



The rest of the squad will be confirmed tomorrow.

[Inara]

Due to a slight knock, Juninho will not be going to Old Trafford. Lippi has asked for Kim Kallstrom to take his place.

Not bad for Kimi, though he'll be in quite illustrious company. He probably won't get to play, but the honor at being part of the squad is huge in itself. :D

[Teso Dos Bichos]

So Beckham is out, Ronaldinho is out, Juninho is out and Zidane refused to play because Matrix is involved.


Latest Squad:
Goalkeepers: Oliver Kahn, Grégory Coupet, Iker Casillas.
Defenders: Paolo Maldini, Jamie Carragher, Eric Abidal, Lilan Thuram, Carles Puyol, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso.
Midfielders: Gianluca Zambrotta, Steven Gerrard, Kim Kallstrom, Florent Malouda, Luis Miguel, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Boudewijn Zenden.
Strikers: Ronaldo, Alessandro Mancini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson, Robbie Fowler.

European XI is starting to look a bit shit as Lippi starts scraping the bottom of the barrel to make up the numbers.

[Inara]

European XI is starting to look a bit shit as Lippi starts scraping the bottom of the barrel to make up the numbers.

Well, with the exceptions of Fowler, Zenden, Kallstrom, and perhaps Carragher, the other players in his squad are all world class and very impressive. And still, it's more than enough to face Manchester United's squad.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

United: Kuszczak (Heaton), Neville (O'Shea), Brown, Heinze, Richardson, Ronaldo (Eagles), Scholes, Giggs (Carrick), Park, Rooney (Andrew Cole - guest), Smith (Dong, 72).

Europe XI: Canizares (Coupet), Zambrotta (Campo, 64), Ayala (Stefanovic), Materazzi (Christanval), Abidal (Kallstrom), Mancini (Gerrard), Pirlo (Stelios), Gattuso (Carragher), Malouda (Diouf), Ibrahimovic (Zenden), Larsson (Fowler, 64).

It was worse than I expected because most of the European XI pulled out through 'injury'. The second half was pretty poor as Man Utd took off key players and the European XI put on some rubbish English Premiership imports who simply hustled around and destroyed the game as a spectical. Coupet made a horrible mistake from a Richardson drive and got lucky when the ball came off the post. After that he was solid. Abidal was solid but nothing else, Malouda scored a great drive and Kallstrom did his reputation no harm.

[guignol]

thanks for the recap TdB... where did you see it? were you there?

i'm surprised to see christanval on a list like that... all in all the all-star team seems less impressive than the one that played cameroon at gerland for the marc-vivien foé benefit match. in any case, these matches are just for fun, the players seem to get a kick out of it and normally there's a lot more goals and spectacle than seriousness. btw, what was the score? it's not on sky or l'équipe yet.

and who officiated? not collina by any chance?

[DaeHaMinGuk]

I caught some highlights of it, and Man U won 4-3. What idiot invited Materazzi? He is why Zizou didn't play.

[navid90]

Lippi stated that he didnt pick zidane, uefa did it for him and that zizou rejected. Cristiano Ronaldo with and AMAZING:eek: :eek: :eek: freekick...and just open fun play....pirlo took a cheap shot at ji sung park for some reason though i thought it was rather classless of him and ya the highlights are all over youtube

[Teso Dos Bichos]

thanks for the recap TdB... where did you see it? were you there?

and who officiated? not collina by any chance?

I had a meeting in the afternoon so I could not get down to it. The game was broadcast live on BBC3 in the UK. Markus Merk was the referee. Despite the drop in quality for the second half it was a good game.

There are goal highlights in the following thread:
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=498502

[Teso Dos Bichos]

pirlo took a cheap shot at ji sung park for some reason though i thought it was rather classless of him

I didn't notice that. One of the European defenders did kick our player to the ground when beaten and Gerrard did likewise to one of the kids in the second half. Other than that it was a fair match. I did feel sorry for Materazzi and Ayala though. They were forced to watch attacking players have fun and embarrass them when normally they would have been able to do something about it. Must have been hard to not play their natural game.

[Inara]

I kind of wish Lippi had started with Coupet. The Valencia goal keeper let in four - I'm glad he doesn't play like that in the league or CL!

[Teso Dos Bichos]

The only goal he could have stopped with Rooney's first. Although Rooney had deked him out, in a normal match he would have made sure he took Rooney with him when he came rushing out. Other than that he had no chance.