The Spanish Conquistadores completed their Italian Job

Viva, España!  Woohoo! 
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by PAM 

Europe and the world saw red!  Glorious day for La Roja! 

La Roja... Campeónes de Europa!

They did it! The beautiful Spanish Men in Red wrapped the Euro Cup with the Spanish flag in Kiev, Ukraine... and
Iker Casillas, Número Uno...
El Capitán de la selección
española de futbol.brought it home, to stay for another four years on Spanish soil. And they did it so superbly, so beautifully, so worthy of a place of honor in the history of the 'beautiful game'... made even more beautiful by the dazzling way they play it. 

Their victory in Ukraine is indeed historical... Vicente del Bosque González and his brilliant men, captained so ably by "the 1 and only", Iker Casillas, catapulted Spain to a place of honor in the history of the 'beautiful game'.  Theirs is the only other side (the other one is Germany) to have won the European Cup thrice! Theirs also became the FIRST and the ONLY side - ever - in the history of UEFA Euro to have successfully defended the title.  They won with a record margin, 4-0, too!  They also stand as the only European country to hold the European title back to back and the World Cup at the same time = hat-trick of titles, a FIRST in the history of... uhm, mankind!   :)

Following a number of eras of brilliant Spanish players with so much promise, but that stayed unfulfilled, Casillas's illustrious era, with Del Bosque's guidance, finally fulfilled the great promise of Spanish football brilliance. They continue to dazzle the world with the beauty of their game.  The streets of Spain, and other places in the world, flooded with red-donning fans who shared the joy of La Roja!

Glorious Age, indeed, for Spanish Football! Woohoo! 

La Pulga y Don Andrés...

...son grandes!
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by PAM


FC Barcelona vs. AC Milan
UEFA Champions League Quarter-final tie, 2nd leg
3rd April 2012, Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain


Of course, Lionel Messi weaved his amazing magic again at Camp Nou to keep
Italy's best meet World's best. Game on!FC Barcelona's hope to retain the Champions League title in the Catalan capital alive and well.  He did it via amazing runs and a brace of goals - this time, both from the spot.  The two goals pushed Barça to an early lead in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-final tie with AC Milan.  And it was a happy, happy, happy thing, especially that one of those goals was record-setting!   While that was pure Messi awesomeness, I think it was Don Andrés Iniesta who lighted the fireworks of brilliance on the pitch this time around!  The "pale assassin" slotted in the third goal that provided the necessary cushion to Barça's precarious 2-1 lead in the first-half of their match with the visitors from San Siro!  Iniesta's sublime goal, a remnant from a Messi attempt, brought the scoreline to 3-1, on aggregate, against the Italian Serie A's best to ensure a place for Barça in the UCL semi-final round.

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Off to a flying start!


As expected, the match kicked off with both sides at full speed.  I thought Dani Alves fouled Clarence Seedorf twice with
Gerard Piqué and Ibra...tower-ful both.harder-than-necessary push, but only the second one was called. Gerard Piqué did great intercepting Zlatan Ibrahimović's early runs for the Barça goal.

At 4:38 minutes of play, Messi did a great run against three Milan defenders, getting through impressively - as usual - but Christian Abbiati did a fine save.  Awesome job - for both men!  And that was going to be the theme of the match, actually.

At 6:13 minutes, Dani Alves sent a nice cross to Cesc Fàbregas, who was behind Messi.  Fàb flicked the ball beautifully in one touch to Messi in front of the Milan goal.  Messi, with two Milan defenders on both his sides, stopped the ball with his chest and attempted to send a volley over Abbiati's head... but missed! "He's human after all," was all the stunned commentator could utter in disbelief.  Then again, one cannot discount the Rossoneri defenders around Messi.

At 8:54 minutes of play, there was a commotion between Barça's captain, Carles Puyol, and Alessandro Nesta - battle of muscles... aaaw!

At about 9:30 min, there was a big Barcelona run... Messi was running against two Milan defenders, he kicked the ball to the speeding Xavi, who miscalculated his control of the ball... but saved the ball and quickly returned it to
Leo Messi celebrating goal #1 with Cesc Fàbregas.Messi, who was still finding his position.  But Messi quickly got the ball to position for a sure goal as Abbiati was still paying Xavi, and Dani Alves behind him, his divided attention. Nesta and Luca Antonini did what they had to do: threw and entangled themselves with the speeding Messi, who was thrown down - mostly by Antonini's impact.  Penalty!  The little "magic man" himself took the shot... and it resulted to Messi's 50th goal in the UCL.  Therefore, La Pulga became the youngest player (at 24 years) to reach a half century of goals in the Champions League!  Aaawww, brilliant!  :)  More importantly for Camp Nou, Barça pushed through in front to take the early lead, 1-0.  Awesomeness! :)

The next how many minutes were relatively calmer run from Barça, just trying to make some chances to cushion their lead... and a more tactically disciplined run from Milan, especially defensively, trying to stop Barça from scoring more.  The result was a treat for football fans all around the globe!  Both teams did fantastic in a fast-moving game, tactic vs. tactic runs, trying to outwit each other in a great execution of the 'beautiful game'.  Oy!

Whew, sweet!

Too much sweetness for just one day!
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


Sugary fictional romance...

Ugh! So I've been stressing out the whole day today thinking about the sneak preview, which I saw last night, of today's episode of "My Binondo Girl". In the preview, the desperate Patrice, who has a thing for Andy, came on to him like a woman-gone-mad in his office. Andy struggled to shoo her away - like a faithful married man in love with his wife... which he was! But the desperate girl threw herself on Andy's lap like an awfully bishy home wrecker... which she was, too! And then, in
Sweetness...the name of all that's incredibly soap opera-ish, Jade walked in! Of course, I was like, "oh, no, not again!" and with feelings, too! Tsk!

Naturally, I went back and forth imagining the next scene! What will Jade do? Will she let herself be influenced by the half-truth she just witnessed, walk out in tears... and crawl into the darkness of the I-felt-cheated-ow mental breakdown? Will she go ballistic and walk out of Andy's life... this time, for good, and never to return again? Will she finally admit to herself how much she loved 'her Mr. Wu', assert herself and her feelings, channel her inner tigress, and claw Patrice from Andy's lap - with an angry growl?? Aw, gosh!

Of course that got me so distracted the whole day that I'm not sure I did justice to the wonderful Kremser Equation in one lecture, and the incredible dietary fiber in another! Whew! Uhm, nah... Kremser is in no way related to dietary fiber. The lectures are for two different purposes, I assure you! Haha..... But I digress... I know, there are more pressing problems in the world than the Andy-Jade primetime TV romance to be stressing out about... but, hey, this is too sweet, it deserves a day of stressing out... and a blog post, too! :)

Well, to make the 30-min long story short, it turned out that the Patrice "sneak attack" led to a myriad of confrontations: between what Jade thinks and what Jade felt, between Andy's feelings and his ever-faltering will to assert it, between Jade's love for Andy and his even bigger love for Jade. True feelings won, and the victory was celebrated with a kiss! Aaaaawww... kilig! :)

***
Speaking of 'sweet'... ants 'beelined' to Camp Nou

FC Barcelona 4-0 CA Osasuna... Fabregas (14'), Fabregas (18'), Messi (72), Messi (90+1). Oy, sweet!

And so, 'Incredible Barça' opened 2012 with a spectacular win over CA Osasuna in the first leg of their Copa del Rey tie at Camp Nou.
FC Barcelona in action... dazzling!With the well-oiled Barça ball-hogging artillery once again displayed on the pitch, the Pep Guardiola tactical prowess-fueled win showcased the brilliance of Barça's midfield Maestro, Xavi, and the awesomeness of Camp Nou's prodigal son, Cesc Fàbregas. And then there's Dani Alves's lethal all-around game on the pitch showing up a number of times and the impressive Sergio Busquets rocking the defense-midfield interface again with a silent flair that could only be associated with his name. Of course, El Capitan Carles Puyol and the maturing talent, Thiago Alcantara, were beautiful to watch on the pitch, too. It was as if the squad was unaffected by the holiday break at all!

Oh... and then there's Barça's dazzling superstar, Lionel Messi, who just got back from his holiday in Argentina barely two days before the match. He was initially 'parked' by Pep on the bench due to a suspected flu in the morning, and then he came on for the just-recovered-from-injury, Pedro Rodríguez, during the last 30 minutes or so of the match. Like a real magician, he defied sickness and banged in two massive goals like the best player in the world, which he is, should!

Sweet! :)

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Sweet Homecoming...

...not mine, but by my former student's who is currently based in France - doing something really awesome there. :) It is always heartwarming to meet again a former student who comes to reminisce the "good old days" at school... and to share with us, their former teachers, their exciting adventures, as well as their funny (and not-so-funny) misadventures. It's like seeing the world and the exciting field of
Seeing the world... through someone else's eyes.engineering through their eyes - sometimes quite a peculiar experience... most of the time, absolutely refreshing!

Earlier today, I had a great time catching up with a former student. She was this quiet and serious, and really diligent honor student who never realized how pretty she was, oblivious to the admiring boys around her. Now, she has transitioned to being an important part of a giant multi-national and have become a really engrossing conversationalist - no longer shy and quiet. :) She's bloomed to a truly lovely person... and I'm really proud! :) More than all her joyful accomplishments and her incredibly fun adventures, it warms my heart to see that she's never forgotten her roots... and she swings joyfully to reach and touch that place where her roots lie the deepest.

Shhh... yep, she's still single. And I hope she's not thinking that I am advocating that she stays single... 'cause I'm not! =) Therefore, I wish her sweet 'love and romance' in 2012... a la 'Binondo Girl'! ;)

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Photo credits: Barça photos grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks!
Jade (Kim Chiu) and Andy (Xian Lim) photo grabbed from "My Binondo Girl" Facebook fan page public album - thanks!

Incredible Barça...

...are the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Winners!
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


This one goes out to the Brazilian football legend, Pelé:

"Sir, Lionel Messi weaved his magic on the pitch again. This time he did it at the Yokohama International Stadium in Japan. The
Neymar faded in the shadow of Messi's brilliance.little, uhm, ahem, Argentine genius slotted a brace of goals via a Xavi beautiful assist in the first and through a Dani Alves graceful one in the other against, uhm, ahem, Brazil's Santos FC - the South American champs. Both goals were, uhm, ahem... of undisputed things of beauty and brilliance - both in their making and finishing. But more than that, they helped FC Barcelona win the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup for the second time in three years under Pep Guardiola. Woohoo! Uhm, ahem... pardon me, sir, you've gotta admit, it's quite a feat!

Uh, sir, the Catalans won the final in a lopsided match with a final scoreline of 4-0... and that wasn't because Santos weren't good because they were, it's just that Barça were in their incredible winning form - as always! :) Barça's midfield El Maestro, Xavi, and Cesc Fàbregas contributed a goal each in the first-half of the match to complement Messi's brace in the total tally. The win made official what has long been very obvious to, uhm, ahem, the entire football world that Barça, the current UEFA Champions League holders and champs of uhm,
Dani Alves and El Maestro, Xavi - the architects
of Messi's brace of goals. Alves played Xavi to a
goal of his own, too.ahem, Spanish La Liga are the BEST Football Club in the World! Woohoo!!! Oh, uhm, pardon me, sir... hard to supress excitement after witnessing a fantastic show of football awesomeness... as I'm sure you very well understand, a legend in the beautiful game as you are.

Also, I think it's important that you learn that your boy, Neymar, was rendered, uhm, ahem, "immaterial", he may as well have been invisible on the pitch - shoved in the shadows of Messi's dazzling brilliance, and a no-match to the in-form Carles Puyol's caveman-defensive wisdom, Sergio Busquets's incredible sharpness at the defense-midfield interface, and Andres Iniesta's sumptuous football. You may verify that with your boy, too, sir, if in doubt. But, yes, sir, while the whole Catalan team played an incredibly mesmerizing football (once again), Messi was that Blaugrana-clad figure that needed a lot of figuring out on the pitch for Santos. In fact, the "Little Phenom" received the Golden Ball and the Toyota Award for being the best player in the Club World Cup. But not to worry, your boy
As becoming his "habit" lately, Barça's #4, Cesc
Fàbregas, was at the right place and kicked at the
right time for a goal. Not that we're complaining.might just find consolation in the fact that he is in the company of Cristiano Ronaldo - in Messi's shadow. Good news is, he's young... he has plenty of time to learn Messi's and Barça's trade - and I understand, by his own insinuations, that he is keen to do so as well. But yeah, Messi's magic in Japan won him, uhm, ahem, much deserved praises in the four corners of the planet once again, hailing him as usual as the BEST player of this generation, and probably, uhm, ahem, the greatest of all time! Woohoo!!! Ooops, do pardon me again, sir... too hard to contain gleeful emotions... uhm, especially if they're based on incredible show of, uhm, ahem, never-before-seen brilliance. Uhm... in your case, sir, I think I should emphasize that when all means of "bishy" denial fail, uhm, crying is okay, too... I guess, you know what I mean, sir. Trust that that wouldn't diminish our respect for you... well, especially, not from the level where you have managed to reduce it to after those really petulant insistence against Messi's greatness and the Spanish La Liga's respectability as the strongest football league on the planet... albeit not as organized as the English Premier League.

Uhm, in the spirit of fair assessment, may I invite you, sir, to please check out the video below... yes, it is, uhm, ahem, alright to be awed, too - I'd understand completely! And, no, not to worry - I won't tell either! Shhhh.... Enjoy! :)

Thank you for your attention, sir. And, because I understand totally that you might need "someOne Special" to commiserate with, please feel free to share this with Jose Mourinho - and for his own enlightenment as well. Please be assured that I don't mind at all, sir."

(Ahh-hahaha... just having a little fun here. Sorry if I sounded mean. ;))

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And now, for the real post... CONGRATULATIONS to you, Pep Guardiola and your brilliant men!! VISCA, EL BARÇA!!! Woohoo!!! :)

Get well soon, David Villa! We missed your awesome world-class form on the pitch today. :(

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As we enjoy the beautiful game, we pause and offer prayers for the victims of flash floods in Southern Philippines. May the families and loved ones of those who perished find peace and be comforted by the gentle embrace of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Those who would like to send support, donations could be sent through the following:
ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. "Sagip Kapamilya"
GMA7 Kapuso Foundation
Gawad Kalinga

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Photo credits: All photos were grabbed at the Zimbio website - thanks.
Video credits: Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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