Aston Villa – PEACE CUP CHAMPIONS 2009
Pride
Champions
Pictures say it all
Aston Villa vs Juventus 0-0 – VILLA WIN ON PENS !!!!!!!!!!!!
Just what can you say ??
Well first I am so proud of the kids and the rest of the squad. OK so it was only a friendly tournament but we still beat CL sides with some squaddies, some first teamers and a lot of kids.
Winning mentality starts with games like this.
All of the squad deserve immense praise but my player of the tournament was Brad Guzan, just immense but special praise to Lichaj, Cuellar, NRC and Albrighton, for me the kid we have who is liekly to go all the way to the very top and a Villa fan to boot.
WELL DONE ALL
(now to bed !!)
23:39 – Villa WIN the Peace cup 4-3 on penalties, I am speechless at it all.
23:29 – Villa will take first pens, will update at the final score now, good luck kids you fully deserve this, every Villa fan is proud of you
23:24 – Ref blows 4 minutes early !!! PENALTIES !!
23:23 – and it was dangerous, Juve’s defence at 6′s and 7′s
23:22 – Dangerous free kick for Villa
23:18 – safe hands Guzan again
23:14 – good punch by guzan
23:12 – 2nd half kicks off, we deserve penalities
23:10 – Yet another great Albrighton cross and Herd heads over – Half time – EXTRA TIME
23:09 – NRC blasts wide
23:08 – save by Guzan
23:06 – Herd nearly sets up great chance, ball goes to our end and great tackle by Cuellar
23:02 – great piece of skill and pass from Albrighton nearly sets Young free
23:00 – Impressive run by NRC who still looks very fit
22:56 – 1st Period of Extra time and Herd on for Carew
22:50 – Last chance for Juve blasted over – FULL TIME – EXTRA TIME
22L49 – free kick over
22:48 – Lihaj booked and Del Piero comes on for the free kick, one minute left
22:46 – Juve free kick over
22:44 – edging towards, believe or not, extra time
22:40 – Over by Juve, Sidwell booked
22:36 – another good save by guzan
22:33 – Wee Barry narrowly wide – first touch
22:31 – Wee Barry on for Weimann and Lowry on for Shorey
22:31 – Carew narrowly wide from Young free kick
22:30 – Cuellar and Guzan get into a right mess and good save by Guzan in the end
22:28 – Davies gets clobbered by Guzan
22:26 – Juve shoot over again
22:25 – Another header by Juve over, we are starting to look tired now
22:20 – Albrighton gets dispossed and from that Juve miss a glorious chance, we are still doing very very very well
22:18 – Yet another impressive cross by Albrighton
22:15 – Cuellar once again very impressive
22:14 – Great ball from NRC nearly set up Lihaj
22:13 – Lihaj misses an header from the corner
22:05 – Yet another confident catch by Guzan, he is so impressive
22:03 – Ash Young laughs as the ref kicks the worse ball ever and we are off !!
22:01 – Problems with the site but back up now- 0-0 first half and very good considiring who is out
21:39 – yet another foul on ash and Carew forces a save from the free kick
21:37 – Albrighton once again impresses takes on and beats his man to put in a cracking cross
21:30 – Young starting to get a grip, draws a freekick and then a shot which Buffon spills but gathers. then sitter missed by Juve
21:27 – Pace is very slow, conditions very hot but we are more than a match for them
21:20 – good solid start and less physical than the other games, Guzan looking very solid again off his line
21:15 – young playing up the middle, Weimann left
21:13 – Juve shoot narrowly wide but we look dangerous on the flanks as Weimann nearly gets through
21:10 – easing out by Cuellar off a corner, good lad
21:07 – Villa fans in fine voice
21:06 – good first run by Albrighton and Ash shoots at the keeper after a cut in
21:03 – first shot by Juve drifts harmlessly wide
21:01 – and we are off !!!
20:56 – GOL TV coverage just started, just seen SALIFOU !!!
20:44 – Worth noting no Clark or Freidel on the bench, 15 mins to go.
20:24 – Del Piero is on the bench for Juve and that is all I will mention about them this site is totally biased towards Villa
20:18 – Team in – Guzan; Lichaj, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey; Albrighton, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Young, Weimann, Carew Subs: Parish, Bannan, Herd, Lowry, Hofbauer, Collins, G Gardner.
Interesting to see how Weimann does and Davies, is that a risk with his shoulder ?
18:50 – The big question is who will play alongside Carew, will we play Carew up front on his own with Bannan in CM, or Young up wih him and Bannan on the left, I doubt Harewood would play. Randy Lerner has flown over to watch the game.
15:30 – In response to my e-mail to the OS blog, Paul Brown has just confirmed that Eric Lichaj and Marc Albrighton are available to play and are not suspended.
02/08 – 14:00 – No further news on whether Albrighton and Lichaj are suspended, MON’s prevew piece on the OS gives no clues
01/08 20:45 – Three kids Gary Gardner, James Collins and Dominik Hofbauer all called up in place of the injured trio Petrov, Jonathan Hogg and Luke Young. It is not clear at the moment the reciptants of two joke bookings against Porto, albrighton and Lichaj will be suspended, it is a joke if these two kids miss out on the biggest game of their lives.
The Peace Cup Final – Aston Villa vs Juventus – Sunday KO 21:00 BST
Well after the Malaga game who would have thought we would be playing in the final – Juventus after a good 2-1 win against Madrid
We showed so much spirit and determination against Malaga even wth half the team full of kids and squaddies can you rule us out
The last time we played Juve was in the 1983 European Cup Quarter final when they had players like Rossi, Zoff, Platini and we narrowly lost.
Amazing how a couple of good results even in pre season can change the mood
Follow the game with the first and unique update service on a fans site. Of course if we were West Ham, Sky would show this game live !!
BTW the pitch at Seville is awful full of sand and could be termed dangerous
Aston Villa vs Porto – 2-1 – Full Time
Peace Cup Semi Final
Well what a game, a friendly no way, 8 bookings, a sending off and a duff referee, Despite this we played excellently throughout and fully deserved the win.
We started the game slowly but Albrighton as he did throughout the game crossed brillaintly for Heskey to tap in, then we dominated and deserved a second, a Sidwell poke in from a corner. Porto has MON fully knows are a whinging side and a bust up in the secod half led to Heskey rightly being sent off for a push ina Porto players face but words were said we may not hear the end of this.
Then a period of Porto pressure where Guzan was fantastic and one close range save was world class. However NRC was stupid in the first min of injury time and gave away a pen and Hulk scored. A nervous few minutes but the kids held out to face either Madrid or Juve in the final.
Very good stuff from all players and excellent performances from Cuellarm, Shorey, Albrighton and NRC. However Guzan clear MOTM for some fantastic saves and shows we have a quality reserve and we can be confident he can be a very good first choice keeper.
21:22 – VILLA WIN !!!!!!!!!!!! Play against Juve or Real
21:19 – Hulk scores, three mins left
21:18 – stupid challenge by NRC – penalty
21:17 – Yet another booking – guzan
21:15 – Clark is another quality youngster some very good stuff
21:12 – Bannan on for Shorey
21:07 – Herd booked, is this a friendly ?
21:05 – what a fantastic save from Guzan from a shot from 6 yeards
21:03 – Off the bar from Clark from a corner
21:01 – Herd and Weimann on for Young and Albrighton – protection
21:00 – Great save by Guzan from Hulk at the near post
20:59 – subs coming on it appears got to protect players here
20:55 – Porto losing it, flare up on the pitch and Heskey sent off, for flapping out at a Porto player who appeared to say something
20:53 – good save from Guzan from a free kick
20:52 – NRC booked
20:51 – Lowry on for Carew
20:50 – Considiring the tempaertures over there and three games in a week we look very fit
20:46 – Porto getting rattled and somehow Albrighton gets booked
20:44 – Yet another great block by Cuellar
20:38 – Hulk on for Porto and que the jokes !!
20:36 – Porto hit the side netting, should have been a corner, Lichaj booked
20:33 – 2nd half kicks off
20:19 – First half finishes 2-0 to Villa and very encouraging with Sidwell and Albrighton starring, shame about Davies injury but does not look too serious he wanted to come back on
20:12 – another great cross from Albrighton nearly set up Heskey again
20:09 – GOALLLLLLLLLLL !!!!!!!!!! And from the Corner Sidwell sticks it in from 6 yards !!!
20:08 – Corner after very good work from Young and a blocked shot
20:07 – good build play and from a Young cross, Carew narrowly wide with a header
20:01 – Word of praise for Cuellar been really good this pre season and another important block
19:58 – bright game after a very slow half, Albrighton really showing off !!
19:56, good save by Guzan
19:55 – Something obviously wrong and Ciaran Clark now on, another bright prospect
19:54 – Davies is getting his shoulder protection checked, still worried he has that on
19:53 – Another good cross by Albrighton, kid is a star in the making
19:46 – GOALLLLLLLLLLLL !!!!!!!!!!! Albrighton again with a great cross to set up Heskey !!
19:45 – good play by Shorey to set up Young for a run and cross, poor delivery though
19:42 – Nothing much to report – this is at the pace of a proper friendly and not like the Atlante game, however Porto just had a brak down their left, better ball and could have been a tap in
19:34 – John Robertson is not Martin O’Neil and Freddie on the bench !!
19:32 – Kick Off !! Respect for Bobby Robson against his former club with black armbands
18:54 – Team News – Guzan; Shorey, Cuellar, Davies, Lichaj; Albrighton, Sidwell, Reo-Coker (c), Young, Heskey, Carew. Subs: Friedel, Parish, Clark, Lowry, Bannan, Herd, Weimann.
Porto: Nuno, Alves, Pereira, Roque, Fucile, Meireles, Guarin, Reges, Falcao, Gonzalez, Varela. Subs: Helton, Beto, Benitez, Fonseca, Andre, Belluschi, Valeri, Costa, Lopes, Prediger, Rodriguez, Hulk, Farias.
Much as expected , but interesting to see Guzan in after a solid performance
Game kicks off at 19:30 BST
Team news will appear around 19:00 BST
Aston Villa vs Porto – Peace Cup Semi Final – KO 19:30 – Friday
So we have made a Semi-Final !!
Semi Final Opponents
Ok so it is a friendly tournament but the signs were positive on Wednesday but the injury to Petrov obviously soured the game and it is likely he will miss the start of the season. Porto are a class above the standard of Malaga and Atlante and it will be a tough run out but at least MON knows what to expect from them !
Porto have a few good players like THE HULK and Falcao to watch out for and are sure to be technically very good who can do damage to many teams in Europe on their day. Lets just hope we can show some decent form again as the prize in the final of a game against Real Madrid or Juventus is worth qualifing for.
There seems a bounce in the Villa collective step at the moment and even though transfers are surely to come these games have given NRC, Albrighton and Sidwell to stake a start for the game against Wigan.
Hopefully will be performing the update service once again on Wednesday the blog got over 2000 hits once again !
Aston Villa vs Atlante – 3-1 – FT – Petrov Injury-dislocated shoulder
Well that was an excellent game !! End to end for the 2nd half and a bit competitive with MON sent off for a row about a foul on Ash Young.
We went 1-0 down in the first half when we got hardly out of the blocks but a goal from Albrighton at the end of the second half, a carew goal and a very good Young goal from an excellent Albrighton cross sealed the win and qualification for the semi final against Porto.
The major concern was the injury to Petrov after a nothing chalenge which according to the OS is a dislocated shoulder and I would guess at last 6 weeks on the sideline. NRC however when he went into the centre was really good and the injury to Petrov must mean NRC will stay now but does leave us with a serious headache in the centre of midfield.
21:21 – final whistle blows and we are through to the semi’s to play Porto
21:18 – fantastic chasing by Albrighton, 2 mins left
21:13 – Chris Herd on for Sidwell
21:10 – Dislocated shoulder for Petrov – shit
21:07 – booking for Cuellar
21:04 – Weimann on for Young and first touch a sharp turn and shot, narrowly wide
21:00 – Elbow put into albrightons face because he is causing them all sorts of problems
21:00 – good catch by little brad
20:56 – excellent run by Reo down the left
20:53 – good save by Guzan from a corner, Lowry on for Carew
20:49 – GOAAALLLL – cool finish by Young after a great Albrighton cross, we are currently through
20:47 – great run by young, decent cross but too close to keeper, Osbourne on for Heskey
20:44 – developed into a good game, end to end as Carew puts in a good cross, caught by the keeper
20:43 – great block by Davies
20:35 – GOALLLL – Carew buries a bad defensive error
20:32 – 2nd half Kicks off, want a stream try this
20:17 – started off slowly but at half time we had a near chance for Heskey but that was OK to be honest for a friendly got a little niggly at time and the Mexicans are taking it far more seriously. Albrighton is again showing with the goal and couple of runs he can be quality.
20:08 – GOAL !!!!!!!!!!! – Marc Albrighton after a cock up by the Keeper from a Young free kick
20:05 – MON has been sent off, for something quite petty !!
20:04 – Apparently according to the Yank commentators there is a team called dag and red
19:59 – first shot by villa, easy for keeper
19:58 – Atlanta miss a glorious chance after a deflected through ball
19:51 – Albrighton on for Petrov, Lichaj booked
19:51 – Davies OG after a decent cross
19:50 – that looks bad for Petrov as he landed awkwardly on his shoulder
19:43 – What is sidwell doing ? pulling the goalie’s hair, pathethic
19.40 – Stream dodgy but American commentator cracks me up !!
19:36 – Very slow start playing 4-3-3, Heskey on the right
19:31 – Kick off
19:00 – Guzan, Lichaj, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey; Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Petrov, Young; Carew, Heskey, no surprise Guzan gets a run out but as expected the same team as of Saturday
18.40 – Streams for the game are available search for veetle
Team News will appear here
I will try and provide another update service again but this is dependent on finding a working stream and also may miss the first half.
Atlante vs Aston Villa Preview
This is the last group game in the Peace cup and Kicks off on Wednesday 29th July at 19:30BST, streams are available and I will update you when I can.
After Atlante’s impressive 3-1 defeat of Malaga we will have to win by two clear goals to progress to the Semi Final’s of this pre season tournament.
Nice Claret and Blue Kit !!
I could give you some details on Atlante but frankly whoever the opposition is it does not matter. What matters is the level of fitness we obtain and also to see if we are developing a good team spirit and pattern.
Against Malaga we did fine but lacked sharpness up front, the hot and humid conditions did not help. Wednesday nights game promises to be hotter as the kick off time is two hours earlier so expect the same kind of game like Malaga again.
The team choice I can not guess on, maybe some will be rested but Luke Young has been sent home and Heskey doubtful after his head injury.
I will be doing an update service again on Wednesday after the success of the first attempt, I hope you enjoy it as much.
Malaga vs Aston Villa – Peace Cup 1-0 FT
Not much to write about really, hot humid conditions led to a slow game in which we did OK without threating and a weakened Malaga team had the better of it, without looking like scoring. However a poor parry from a cross from Freidel led to the winning goal.
Malaga could have had two players sent off but frankly who cares. But we hd some good performances, Lichaj for me at RB showed great promise and was MOTM, Cuellar in his proper position did well, young showed bags of Energy, but Sidwell and NRC disappeared too much.
Not too much to get worked up about !
And thanks to those who have read this, the blog got over 2000 hits from KO and this was for only a friendly, I can not always do this (I do go to games you know !!) but let me know what you think of it.
23:22 – Final whistle blows as Freidel saves and game is over 1-0 defeat
23:17 – 3 minutes left and shot over from Osbourne
23:11 – Booking for Sidwell
23:09 – GOAL – Malaga score from a weak Freidel parry from a cross, seen that before should not just push out into the oppositions path
23:07 – From a long Lichaj throw, shot blasted over by Osbourne
23:00 – Cuellar heads over from a corner
22:58 – Albrighton involved in a nasty clash with the Malaga defender, he should have been sent off, deliberate rake down the back of the leg
22:55 – Bannan and Osbourne on Petrov and Young
22:52 – Harewood on for Carew
22:50 – save again from Friedel, we look tired, no subs yet
22:47 – Lichaj has some throw on him just did one at least 40 yards
22:45 – good block from Lichaj to stop a goal bound shot
22:41 – Lots of Malaga subs
22:34 – 2nd half starts, no changes
22:17 – Not a lot to shout about, a really nasty injury to Heskey, very hot there and just the one chance with a great save from Friedel
22:13 – Petrov booked for a foul from behind
22:00 – great save by Friedel
21:54 – Halfway through, pretty slow paced as expected but we look fine, Young in a free role since the injry, NRC making a play for the first team
21:43 – No real chances, Malaga slightly on top but Young looks dangerous
21:34 – Heskey has a bad knock after a clash of heads, Albrighton on
21:30 – Kick off, with an American commentator, interesting
21:00 – Team Friedel, Lichaj, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Petrov (c), Young, Heskey, Carew. Subs: Bannan, Albrighton, Harewood, Lowry, Clark, Guzan, Parish, Herd, Osbourne.
So Petrov is now the club captain ? also interesting to see that NRC is on the right and playing despite rumours he could be the next one out.
20:50 – No team news yet
Peace Cup Squad and Preview
Villa have just announced the squad for the Peace cup in Spain. The sqaud is as follwos with no shocks and even Salifou in it ! Encouraging that Bouma is in the squad !!
It should be noted that James Milner and Craig Gardner are missing but this would be I guess due to the very late finish of the U-21 championship.
Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Elliot Parish,
Ciaran Clark, Carlos Cuellar, Curtis Davies, Zat Knight, Eric Lichaj, Shane Lowry, Nicky Shorey, Luke Young, Jonathan Hogg, Wilfred Bouma
Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, Chris Herd, Isaiah Osbourne, Stiliyan Petrov, Nigel Reo-Coker, Moustapha Salifou, Steve Sidwell, Ashley Young, Jonathan Hogg
John Carew, Marlon Harewood, Emile Heskey, Andreas Weimann.
We play the first game against the co-hosts Malaga on Saturday 25th July followed by Atlante of Mexico on Wednesday 29th July. It will be an interesting test for us as some players have had work behind them and others just returned to pre-season training. It would be nice of course if we had some other players as the squad lets face it looks light !
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