Palm Beach Sharks knock South Melbourne out of Australia's FFA Cup

Australia's FFA Cup round of 32 matches kicked off in style on Wednesday night with the Palm Beach Sharks overcoming former National Soccer League giants South Melbourne 8-7 in a penalty shootout after the scores finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.

The Sharks looked determined to repeat last season's heroics, but it was the Victorians who got off to the better start with a couple of set-piece chances going close early on.

Their efforts were duly rewarded just after the half-hour mark when Milos Lujic headed home from the back post off a cross from the left-flank.

South Melbourne's lead was short-lived, however, when Florian Matk coolly converted from the spot after SM custodian Nikola Roganovic cynically brought down Rees Duncan in the box.

Lacklustre efforts in front of goal in the second half and extra-time saw both sides fail to secure the knock-out blow within 120 minutes of play.

Read the rest of my FFA Cup review at ESPN FC

How Bartomeu beat Laporta to the Barcelona presidential hot-seat

When Joan Laporta came to power back in 2003, Barcelona was a club in turmoil. It had been four years since since the Blaugrana had won a major trophy and the Catalan club could barely cope with the immense dominance of rivals Real Madrid and Valencia.

Not now, though. Just six months ago, Barcelona were left reeling from a loss to David Moyes’ Real Sociedad  at the Anoeta. Luis Enrique’s tenure was hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and the board was forced to call early elections to dissolve the tension. Bartomeu, for all it was worth, was a dead man walking.

Remarkably, days out from the election, Bartomeu was considered the favourite for the presidential hot-seat at the expense of, as Agusti Benedito put it, his worst enemy. But it seemed the businessman with airport and seaport facilities to his name was always that one step ahead. At the end of the day, Laporta made a meal of his campaign, and if anything, he was his own worst enemy.

In early March, a poll from Catalan radio show El Club de la Mitjanit found that the former president had 51% percent of the votes, a sizeable majority over Bartomeu who had only garnered 27% of the votes from respondents, that is, before he even confirmed his intention to run as president.

But, in hindsight, his three-month campaign can be characterised by one which was severely disorganised and grossly improvised. For a man who, as a former politician arguably knew of the secrets to political success, his mistakes costed him oh so dearly.

Read the rest of my piece on World Soccer Talk

Paulinho – the sorry decline of the Brazilian ‘Lampard’

Two years ago, Paulinho was on top of the world. When Argentinean playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme called Paulinho a ‘phenomenon’ and likened the Brazilian as the ‘black’ version of Frank Lampard for their similar box-to-box style of play, the 26-year-old simply took on board the comparison with little fuss, pledging to such a comparison as fuel for greater things.

“This comparison is a responsibility that I will take, I will not run away from it. Lampard is a great player…I intend to follow in his footsteps as he is a very professional guy. I’ve always looked at what Lampard does and to me he is a huge phenomenon. The way he hits the ball, what positions he takes up, he really is incredible.”

But following two seasons in England’s top flight, Paulinho has completed an astonishing move to Guangzhou Evergrande – the cash rich reigning Chinese Super League champions who are chasing their fifth consecutive domestic title and a second Asian Champions League title for a second time in three years – for £10m.

Not only does he leave England with his previously glorified reputation in shatters, but also 169 goals short of Frank Lampard’s goal tally in the English Premier League and 93 assists behind the Chelsea legend.

His departure for an a eight figure sum, though, seems to have been met with such delight from Tottenham’s faithful so much so that Daniel Levy has, momentarily at least, regained the trust of the club’s supporters. While the transfer fee highlights Guangzhou’s financial might, and Luiz Felipe Scolari’s power in negotiations, a £7m loss from their initial purchase of £17m seems to be a big win for the club especially given that the player has largely been underwhelming at the White Heart Lane.

Read the rest of my article for EPL Index