O Brother, Where Art Thou?

While we're all accustomed to seeing siblings line up against each other at the club level, I was quite surprised to read that the phenomenon does indeed extend to the international level. Mark Gleeson over at the Reuters Soccer Blog has a great piece up about brothers lining up for different countries.

I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing, but with players and federations playing fast and loose with citizenship rules and regulations, I guess it was only a matter of time.


Family footballing rivalries — can you help? [Reuters Soccer Blog]

-ac

Sheep-Shagging Bastards

One of the games most intense rivalries could determine the fate of Scotland's second Champions League spot. Glasgow Rangers make the trip north to Aberdeen to take on the Dons, with second place in the balance.

Check out this article for a little taste of what this fixture is all about. The history of these two clubs getting together makes for a great read, here are two highlights:

Aberdeen's rise to prominence under [Alex] Ferguson was resented on both sides of the Old Firm divide, yet while Aberdeen harbour no love for Celtic, their relationship with the green half of Glasgow is nowhere near as antagonistic. Indeed, the Dons even have a song reserved for the visits of the Hoops, that brags that: "We hate Rangers more than you".
----------
"Every time I come Pittodrie I expect something to happen," said Rangers' combative Dutchman back in 2002 after yet another incident-packed fixture in which crowd trouble saw play suspended for 20 minutes. Ricksen is the current bete noir of the Aberdeen support. In 2000, he confirmed his early reputation as a wild child by attempting a kung fu kick on Aberdeen's Darren Young at Pittodrie. The incident in itself was probably enough to earn him a place in the fixture's pantheon of villains, but it was his subsequent boast on his personal website, that Young had needed to be "sorted out", that ensured he remains on the Red Army black list.

Aberdeen come into the game with a two point edge over their visitors and have lost only once in their last nine outings. Rangers are coming off of a one-all draw against Celtic last week and can't afford to lose any more ground to the Dons.

They last met on October 1st at Ibrox, with the hometeam nicking all three points. Tomorrow's match is at 7:30am ET and will be shown live on Setanta Premium.

Dons dare to dream again [BBC]
Pure, unadulterated hatred? Yes, I think you've picked the right game. [FourFourTwo]

-ac

La Plata Drinking Game: Take A Shot After Each Goal

Today's cover of Argentine sports daily Ole

The eye-opener of the day in Argentina had to have been Gimnasia de La Plata suffering their worst derby defeat ever, a 7-0 ass kicking to Estudiantes de La Plata. The match was played for the first time in the new La Plata city stadium, Gimnasia's new home. Things started badly for Gimnasia (giving up a 3rd min. goal) and finished even worse (two players sent off in 2nd half). Estudiantes coach Diego Simeone, commenting after the game, said that the game was a gift for the fans. "This was a very special day and we went into it knowing that. The players felt the supporters joy in their hearts and were urged on by them throughout the match."

That scoreline was the only thing that could have knocked the 'big clubs' out of the spotlight yesterday. The top two, Boca Juniors and River Plate were both able to win. River were able to grind out a victory at Banfield while Boca bounced back from a bad week with a win at home against Newell's Old Boys. The loss hurt a little bit as Martin Palermo's replacement, Guillermo Barros Schelotto was sent off and will miss Boca's next league match. Racing Club also won yesterday to keep within touch of the leaders.

Boca still lead with 25 points and a game in hand. River trail by one while Estudiantes is three back. After their win away to Belgrano, Racing are now within five points of Boca.

The Presidente Peron stadium will be rocking next week when Boca pay Racing a visit in Sunday's big game. Another Buenos Aires derby match to get the blood boiling. As noted above, it's an important match that Schelotto will be missing. At a time that Boca need firepower up front, it's a dilemma that Ricardo La Volpe will have to figure out during the week's preparations. Look for more info on this one in tomorrow's weekly TV post.

Estudiantes batter Gimnasia 7-0 in La Plata derby [People's Daily]
Yesterday in Argentina [ESPN Soccernet]

-ac

Miller Sticks It To His Old Team

Gordon Strachan will have learned much about the character and talent of his new players from their performances in today's victory over Rangers. The Celtic boss fielded four Old Firm debutantes in his starting eleven. Let's just say that they didn't disappoint.

Kenny Miller, once of Rangers, became the first man since Mo Johnston in 1989 to appear for both Old Firm clubs against the other. As if to top that distinction, he netted the second after Thomas Gravesen scored his first for the club..

Paul Le Guen was at a loss to explain how his Rangers had suffered their second league defeat of the campaign. The Frenchman, who has now seen the Gers pick up just twelve points from their eight games to date, had this to say after the match:

"I am worried but I must work to find a solution because we need to find results. We tried our best but our best wasn't enough. I am totally aware that we must improve. The first-half wasn't bad and we had some chances which was frustrating. After the second goal I still thought we could come back so I am so disappointed but we tried. But our state of mind was good, everyone tried their best and I am feeling better than last week."

If losing to the club's most bitter rival and falling seven points behind them in the standings makes him feel better, I wonder what it would have taken to make him feel worse? What were Rangers fans thinking when Le Guen uttered that last line?

Celtic 2-0 Rangers [BBC]

-ac