US 2-3 Brazil In The Confederation Cup June 28, 2009

By Phil Dawkes on BBC Sport

Brazil denied the United States a shock victory by coming back from two goals down to win the Confederations Cup.

A Clint Dempsey flick and a Landon Donovan strike on the counter put the US into a surprise 2-0 half-time lead.

Luis Fabiano pulled one back for Brazil before Kaka was denied an equalizer when his header was wrongly judged not to have crossed the line.

Luis Fabiano's headed second leveled matters before, five minutes from time, Lucio nodded in a corner to win it.

After upsetting the odds so spectacularly with their 2-0 semi-final victory over Spain, the US almost tore up the script again, against opponents who had beaten them 3-0 in the group stage of the competition.

Predictably, favourites Brazil had the lion's share of possession, but the incisive football was played by the American underdogs throughout the first half.

Indeed, with their first attack the US scored.

Jonathan Spector launched a cross from deep at Dempsey, whose swinging volley made the faintest of touches to direct the ball past Julio Cesar.

Even at such an early stage, it was clear that Brazil were waiting for one of their leading lights to create something from nothing as opposed to taking collective responsibility.

Three times their star-turn Kaka created chances for others, firstly Robinho, then Felipe Melo and finally Maicon, but each time American goalkeeper Tim Howard was equal to the final shot.

After 25 minutes, Brazil were made to pay for their profligacy as the USA launched a superb counter-attack which resulted in a superb second goal.

Donovan found Charlie Davies on the left wing, whose incisive return pass found Donovan in space and bearing down on goal but still with plenty to do.

The striker's touch took him away from the covering Ramires and his next touch was a perfectly placed side-foot shot past Cesar.

With seconds remaining in the half Brazil almost clawed back what would have been a barely merited goal when Maicon got round the back of the American defense, but his cross was deflected away from the lurking Fabiano by Carlos Bocanegra.

Barely a minute into the second half, the dynamic of the game changed as Felipe Melo fed Luis Fabiano, who swiveled sharply and shot past Howard.

With the momentum now in their favor, Brazil attacked with regularity and were mistakenly denied parity on the hour as Kaka's far post header from an Andre Santos cross was pushed clear by Howard, but replays showed that the ball had crossed the line.

Luis Fabiano had a chance to equalize when he was played in on goal by substitute Elano - and played onside by Oguchi Onyewu - but Howard was quick off his line to smother the ball before the striker could shoot.

With 15 minutes to go Luis Fabiano did pull his side level.

Kaka drove in from the left and crossed for Robinho whose shot hit the underside of the bar but bounced nicely for Luis Fabiano who made no mistake in nodding the ball past the diving Howard.

With Brazil now in the ascendancy, the US were unable to hold out, and five minutes from time the turnaround was complete.

Elano's outswinging corner was met by the unmarked Lucio and his powerful header struck the inside of Howard's right-hand post on its way in to break American hearts.

My Pictures Website.

Now has video. I added a video compilation from Wicksteed Park and a short clip of Dharmesh and Reena's reception hall.

Dharmesh & Reena's Wedding : June 27, 2009

Well, technically we didn't make it to the wedding. Due to some unforeseen circumstances at home, we did not want to be gone most of the day, so we missed the Jaan Prayan and Hasta Melap in the morning. I talked to friends that went, and they were there from about 10:30am until about 2:45pm, and the wedding would've continued on until around 5. The reception was set to start at 7:30, and that's when our taxi picked us up. It wasn't terribly far from the house, but a little bit too far to walk in high heels.

When we got their our friends were already there, and the guys went off to get drinks, so us girls sat around and talked. They told me about the wedding, and we talked about my interview I have coming up. I feel a bit better about that having talked to them. When the guys came back, Nid and I had to go sit at our assigned table, which was adjacent to theirs. Our table only had six of us, I guess six people did not show up... . Next to me was Dharmesh and Reena's neighbor, and next to Nid were other friends of Dharmesh. We chatted a bit and the people next to Nid moved to another table where their friends were, so it was just the four of us. I got a bit of grief about not being able to eat the spicy food, but it was good natured, and the woman admitted it was quite hot to her as well. There were some peanuts and papadums and pooris which were all quite nice and BLAND as well as some plain white rice. They brought each platter of food out separately and we could take what we wanted. Since there were only the four of us at that point, some of our friends came and sat and ate a bit as well. Their table was a little short on food.

Right before the food came the beautiful couple came in. They cut the cake and danced and then there were some performers, two young girls dancing, and then someone playing a sitar, which really was not my cup of tea. Then the loud music started. It was... loud. If it wasn't so loud, I don't think it would've been so bad, but I had to yell to Nid sitting right next to me. Plus, none of it was in English, so I didn't even know what the songs were about. So anyway, there was a bar upstairs, but downstairs there was wine and sodas and water on the tables, and you could go get liquor from a table in the back. I had a little bit of several things, and it was quite a nice evening. Except for the heat. It was sooo hot in that room. Everyone was "glistening" and fanning themselves and blotting their foreheads. But it's always good to know it's not just you!

We left around 11:30... exactly when the first song in English came on... Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Really?! Okay, so maybe it's something they do, end the night with American pop music... but then the DJ went on the say something about will be missed, rest in peace, something or other. You know what, 20 years ago I'd have been sad too. Now I just don't care. So we said goodbye, took a few photos, and headed downstairs. We finally got some fresh air as we waited for the taxi to come pick us up.
Full photo album can be found here.

USA Soccer Team Headed To The Confederations Cup.

The United States caused one of the biggest upsets in world football by beating European champions Spain in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.

The US team had already done well, winning 3-0 against Egypt on Sunday the 21st. This was an upset, and because Brazil beat Italy 3-0 in their match, the US was sent forward to the Semi-Finals where they won yesterday, 2-0 against Spain.

The news here in the United Kingdom is not about how great the US team did, but what went wrong for Spain. The defeat ended Spain's world record of 15 straight wins and their 35-match unbeaten run. This is a great day for American Soccer.

Additional information about the Confederations Cup can be found here. It is of course, not expected that the US will beat Brazil on Sunday, June 28th, but it was not expected that they get this far either, so we will just have to see.

Ikea.

Tuesday the 23rd of June, our friends Matt and Jacqui picked us up in their car for a trip to IKEA! The closest is in Nottingham (of Sherwood Forrest fame) about 40 miles away. We got there just in time for dinner and went to the restaurant for meatballs, which came with gravy and cranberry sauce and fries (shoestring, not chips!) and was amazing! I could eat them a few times I week, I tell ya!

Anyway, I'd been studying the catalog for months now, planning what I wanted to get if we ever got there. We walked the "yellow brick road" around all the departments, and we got everything we wanted. It was such a good night. Nid and I both got bedside tables, and matching bedside lamps (he had one, but I didn't). I got a shelving unit for my closet, which had been just one shelf, and out of control stacked so high with clothes, now they can be separated into categories. We got Cale a dresser, because when we moved the extra computer out of our bedroom into his, we put it in his wardrobe, leaving nowhere for his clothes. I got a clothes drying rack, because I'm on a mission not to use the drier unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. So far, I'm saving anywhere from £7-£10 per week by not using it and using the line outside, but it's not always possible to do that... What else? Oh, Nid got a new 5 quart casserole dish with lid, which he's been talking about FOREVER! I think that was it... Nope... I also got a laptop pad thing for my lap, so I can use my computer and mouse in bed or on the sofa. Usually it's set up on the dining table, but that's not always where I want to use it. So this was a good option.

We got home about 9:30 and I immediately set to putting stuff together. I did the bed tables and lamps, and left the dresser for the next day. Inevitably some of the screw things didn't want to go in, and I got a strain in my thumb from the wrench I used to put it together. But other than that, there are only happy memories. I told Nid that it was certainly a power shopping trip. That back home, it's a several hour drive to Ikea, and mom and I would spend 3+ hours there, looking at every last thing! And of course, buying stuff that we didn't necessarily need. I saw lots of stuff like that this time, but didn't have the ability to get those things this go around.

Anyhow, that's my exciting news of the week. I did get a top and skirt on Monday, which I had to hem the shirt on because it was too long. But it's a good outfit, and I'll be able to mix and match the pieces and wear it to nice outings as well as work. A good buy. Then Wednesday I got a light weight jacket (I'd only brought my winter coat with me) which will work as a work coat, a dress coat, and a cool day coat. Now if only the temps would drop below 75 so I could try it out!