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As they did in the Premier League, Chelsea underachieved but still managed to bring home the hardware. This was a sloppy, nervy game from both sides. I can understand why underdog Pompey was anxious, but Chelsea -- league champs, world class players up and down the pitch, elite manager -- should've come out like assassins. Instead, they
dropped trou in front of goal multiple times. Sure, they had some bad luck on a few of their misses, but they also whiffed on the easy ones, too.
Everything seemed to turn when Chelsea's Belletti failed to slide in for the ball and clumsily clattered the Portsmouth attacker in the box -- penalty for Pompey! Sadly for them, nerves go the better of Kevin Prince Boateng. He scuffed the top of the ball and it dribble-rolled into Cech. About 3 minutes later, Drogba placed a perfect free kick at the base of the far post and it bounced in for the only goal of the game.
With just a few minutes to go, Lampard drew a penalty to seal the win... only he couldn't even put the shot on target. It was a complete choke. What I can't figure out was why. Chelsea were winning, the game was almost over -- this should've been a chance to blast a celebratory ball home. Instead, every England fan immediately started fretting about penalties in the World Cup. Lots of chokers on that team from the spot...
Chelsea did the double, and hats should be tipped to them. But this was far from their finest performance. I guess being able to win despite underachieving is one way to show your greatness....
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Posted by
Marc on 12:55 PM •
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I swear, I tried to wake up for this game. But as a West Coaster, the 7:00 am start was just not going to happen. I set my alarm! I turned on the TV! And….then I went back to sleep about ten minutes later.
Mostly, I was just hoping to see Portsmouth win for sheer schadenfreude against Chelsea. I suppose I’ll have to make do with the fact that while Chelsea won, it was a crap game and is making some English NT fans shake in their boots a bit.
GOOD! KEEP SHAKING! USA USA USA!
Whoa, sorry. 
Meanwhile, in Glasgow, Dundee United beat Ross County for the Scottish Cup, in front of a television audience of dozens…
As much as I admire the performance of stars in the EPL, the concentration of money and talent in a few televised super-leagues is of concern, is it not? What is the likelihood on the current environment of a club from Scotland, or Belgium, or Sweden, etc winning the Champions League? It’s difficult just to stay afloat.
Alison—two out of three of our first round games have 7AM PDT kickoffs! (And they’re both on work days—guess I’ll be going to work late those days. I guess in that sense, it is better than on the east coast, where the games will be 10AM-noon; too late to go to work late, and too early to take a long lunch.)
But that’s better than 2002—the kickoff for Portugal was 4AM PDT. My sister (also in San Francisco) overslept, and called me at 4:20AM and asked if it was a typo when it said “USA 3 PORT 0”
Oh, believe me. I will wake up whenever is necessary for our games This time it was hard because I hadn’t gone to sleep till 3 am the night before, but I’ll be sure not to do that!
Hey James,
I couldn’t agree more that the international system of soccer rather resembles the US economy, which is to say it’s a rigged oligarchy aided by government stooges. It’s totally broken, and we’ll address that from time to time here on the blog—what self respecting American progressive wouldn’t? But the site is mostly about being a fan, the teams, the drama, etc. from the major leagues, it’s true. As Americans, it’s what we have access to and thus what we follow, Catch-22 as it is.
There’s something ironic about sports in and out of the US. We’ve got the most capitalist system, yet our professional sports are about as socialist as they can get. As far as I know, none of the football leagues (or cricket, rugby, etc) outside the US have anything like the amateur player drafts. With promotion and relegation, teams have a truly darwinian existence, and will rise and fall to their appropriate level.
Here, the worst losing teams end up subsidised and get the first opportunity at the best amateur players.
That said, Marc, I understand the view of being a fan—I just see the politics of football being intrinsic to that, particularly for the small market teams. I lived in Scotland for two years when I went to graduate school (during which time, Aberdeen won the Cup Winners Cup and Dundee United reached the semifinals of the European Cup) and I became a fan of those small market teams. I count myself lucky to have actually stood in the terraces at places like Hampden Park, Wembley, Parkhead, Maine Road, Highbury, as well as smaller parks in places like Carlisle and Kilmarnock.
While it is great to see the highest level play, there’s something special about the atmosphere at the match between a couple second division teams fighting for promotion…
Anyway, keep on keeping on…
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I swear, I tried to wake up for this game. But as a West Coaster, the 7:00 am start was just not going to happen. I set my alarm! I turned on the TV! And….then I went back to sleep about ten minutes later.
Mostly, I was just hoping to see Portsmouth win for sheer schadenfreude against Chelsea. I suppose I’ll have to make do with the fact that while Chelsea won, it was a crap game and is making some English NT fans shake in their boots a bit.
GOOD! KEEP SHAKING! USA USA USA!
Whoa, sorry.