Personally, I have nothing against Sania Mirza, and I was really happy when she entered mainstream tennis. Here was a young girl from an ancient city who was putting the country on the global map. From the seat of Biryani, and pearls, came a tennis gem. The serious looking and nervous Sania Mirza who played with a mission. The country sat back and took notice. Tennis became a sport parents wanted their children to play, and there were tennis academies galore because there was money in it.

Then came a peak in her a career, and a dream to better achievements, but Sania failed. Most people fail, and we forget them. Probably that’s when all the advertisement contracts they’ve signed become visible, and we start laughing. Terrible makeover in that girlie bike ad, I agree, but it was meant for Sania Mirza because she was a marketable product.

Her injuries were spoken of as though they were meant to happen. People say that’s what all these people do because they’ve made their money. So, not everyone is waiting to watch Sania Mirza play the Australian women, because there’s a variety of eye candy. She exits the Australian Open quests, and the event is expected. Whatever happened to hope? A few channels make it sound worse than it is. I’m really wondering if some of these bogus reporters can ever get over their cheap suits, ugly makeup, and loud pitch. Just one word for them, losers. Don’t waste time listening to anything they say.

Now, it appears her engagement to Mohammed Sohrab Mirza is called off. Oh wow, something to talk about. Just give her a break. As of now, anyone who’s reading this or anything related to Sania Mirza must realize she’s done something that no one else has done in our damned living decades. Respect sportsmanship.

The group stage of Champions League 2009-10 is over and now its time for the knockout stages. The teams for the knockout stage are finalized by a draw. This is done by dividing the 16 qualified teams in two pots. The first pot will consist the top team from each of the eight groups and the second pot will consist the runners up teams from each group. All the teams will be place in an alphabetical order in their pots as follows;

Pot 1

Arsenal
Chelsea
Man Utd
Bordeaux
Fiorentina
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Sevilla

Pot 2

Lyon
Olympiacos
Bayern Munich
VfB Stuttgart
Milan
Inter
Porto
CSKA Moscow

A random team from pot 1 will be pitted against a random team from pot 2 which will be finalized by a draw. The draw is scheduled on 18th Dec 2009. All the big teams are looking in great shape to qualify for the quarter finals as there were not many upsets in this year’s group stage apart from Liverpool. So all teams are hoping for a weaker team to play against in the knock out stage.

I am sure United fans would remember Villa’s last visit to Old Trafford In April this year, Villa came the closest of beating United at Old Trafford since 1983. Trailing by 2 goals to 1, Villa were looking at their first victory at Old Trafford after a long time. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous 81st minute equalizer and star kid Fredrico Macheda’s injury time winner gave United the much needed 3 points.

But that is history and today’s game will be different altogether. Ronaldo gone and Macheda not even on the bench United will hope to show the same spark with Owen’s killer instinct which was visible in the last match against Wolfsburg. Owen has a good chance to impress England boss Fabio Capello and book his ticket to the world’s biggest sporting event next year.

Good news for Ferguson is that his center back Vidic is declared fit and will be available for the Villa game though the other center back position will be filled in by Michal Carrick, which he’s been doing in the past 3 games as United defenders are all out due to injury.

Giggs is back from rest and will be playing alongside Obertan, Fletcher, Anderson and Scholes. Owen will be the lone striker as Rooney and Berbatov are not match fit due to injuries. Kusczak will be holding the goalie’s position in the absence of Van Der Saar. Villa boss Martin O’Neill will be hoping to break the deadlock and win for the first time at Old Trafford in 26 years.

This Carling Cup quarter final isn’t just another game. They’re confident teams having cemented a strong position in the premier league already. Manchester United sits 2nd on the table, and Tottenham Hotspurs is placed 3rd. Their onslaught on Wigan last week sees them coming in with a very strong frame of mind because a 9-1 victory isn’t easy pull off. This is 1 year that the Spurs look intent, and a win again Manchester United will ensure a better frame of mind because it’s always good t go back home believing that the Red Devils can be defeated.

Sir Alex Fergusson is likely to play a young side once again just like last week’s meet against Besiktas. Of course, that didn’t even yield a draw, leave alone a win. The young team idea has been drawing some flak Sir Alex believes he team can do a lot.

Carlo Cudicini, Ledley King, and Luka Modric aren’t playing and all eyes will be on Jermain Defoe after his 5 goal haul last week. As far as the reds are concerned, we certainly won’t be seeing Owen, Ferdinand, Evans, and O’Shea. A much awaited games, all the best to Man Utd.

United’s 23 game unbeaten record run ended tonight when Besiktas became the first team to defeat the English Champion after AC Milan in April 2007. The defeat was difficult to digest for Sir Alex Ferguson who probably took the tie too easily. Only 3 players from the weekend league game featured in tonight’s game. Ferguson opted to give his young guns much needed experience and his decision backfired as United lost the record to the Turkish champions. Tello’s 25 yard strike was deflected by Rafael’s head towards the far post resulting in the only goal of tonight’s fixture.

Current champions Barcelona could bid an early good bye to this year’s contest if they are defeated at Camp Nou by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, alongside Rubin Kazan needs to win over Dynamo Kiev in Russia. Samuel Eto’o will return to his old club and would want to make sure that he helps Inter in all possible ways to defeat Barcelona.

Bayern Munich see themselves in a similar situation as Liverpool. A win over Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in Munich tonight would be pointless if Juventus manage to defeat Bordeaux in France tonight.

Five time European champions, Liverpool are on the verge of exiting the competition even before qualifying for the next round. Even if Liverpool manages to defeat Debreceen in Hungary tonight, they will still be disqualified if Fiorentina manage to win over visitors Lyon in Italy tonight, who have already qualified to the next round.

Liverpool coach Rafa would surely hope for divine intervention in tonight’s game. Debrecen who is yet to score a point in this competition has allowed 14 goals in 4 games and a Liverpool win is a certain prediction. But seeing Liverpool’s form against smaller clubs of late, a Debrecen win can’t be ruled out.

The qualifications are over and we have the 32 finalists for 2010 FIFA World Cup in order of their qualification; South Africa, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Netherlands, North Korea, Brazil, Ghana, England, Spain, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Chile, Mexico, USA, Switzerland, Slovakia, Argentina, Honduras, New Zealand, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, France and Uruguay.

After facing defeat on home soil, the Irish players were motivated to a win tonight against football powerhouse France. The match was too intense as a place in the 2010 World Cup Finals was at stake. As disclosed by Giovanni Trapattoni, the Italian coach for Ireland’s national team, Irish players were once again successful in scoring an away goal. A beautiful strike from Tottenham Hotspur star Robbie Keane in the 32nd minute made sure that the match was going to the wire.

France was attacking with full strength with every second passing. Anelka and Henry from Chelsea and Barcelona respectively, tried very hard to score but in vain. Manchester United left back, Patrice Evra was also disappointing tonight as he missed some important chances and so did Arsenal’s Gallas and Real Madrid’s Diarra. Gallas’s Arsenal team mate Sagna was impressive throughout the 90 minutes.

Ireland too had a set of good and bad players for the night. Manchester United regular John O’Shea was unfortunate as he was injured and was visibly limping because of which he was substituted in the 66th minute. Manchester City goalie Shay Given made some good saves tonight and kept the score at 0-1 for 90 minutes.

The match entered extra time as the score over two legs remained 1-1. In the 103rd minute, France was awarded a free kick near midfield by Swedish referee Martin Hansson. Malouda lobbed the ball into the penalty box which was clearly controlled by Henry using his left hand near the left post before volleying it towards Gallas who easily headed the ball into the net. The referee allowed the goal and the Irish players pleas fell to deaf ears.

After the goal, France was in control of the game as they had an upper hand now. Ireland tried attacking but their efforts didn’t seem to trouble the French defense. The match ended in a draw after extra time. France goes through to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup Finals and Ireland goes back home as if all their efforts were for nothing.

For all who were heartbroken after Robby Keane’s 33rd minute goal, there was more to come. The Irish played well, and stuck to their plan. The French didn’t seem to have much of a plan but there’s truth when one says fortune favors the brave. The French probably had only 1 thing in mind, to win the game in exchange of anything.

The Word Cup qualifiers can have strange results with many a good team not making the final cut. France certainly was on that list before the game began tonight. With absolutely no luck right through both halves, the French looked a forlorn side and the Irish seemed to make a statement. With the last spat between both teams, even their egos were at stake.

Ireland simply needed to hold onto their 1 goal lead at added time, and move to penalties. Nail biting, that’s what most would expect, France had a lineup that you can write home about, only Benzema didn’t get to play and Malouda came on rather late. Patrice Evra, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Sagna, and Diarra were party of this star studded lineup because they have players who’re key members in popular leagues. This World Cup qualifying play-off second leg match between The Republic of Ireland and France did see a great performance by Hugo lloris, but was that going to be enough?

French fans were already weeping, and the Irish were gleaming, was this going to be a mini victory? But then came the twist, certainly another classic repeat of the Hand of God incident, today Thierry Henry was certainly the chosen one.

A debatable William Gallas goal within the first 15 minutes of extra time will always be discussed. Gallas however didn’t do anything dubious, it was Henry. His handballs were not just prominent but they can be viewed as intentional and referees never saw a thing and the home crowd didn’t mind. The Irish players were hysterical, and the French jubilant. A ray of hope, and that’s all that was needed. We don’t always remember everything around us, but Thierry Henry’s handball incident at the Stade de France will attain historic proportions considering how much was at stake for the national teams of Ireland, and France.

Raymond Domenech couldn’t have asked for more. The 1998 winners have made the cut and will be a strong contender. Giovanni Trapattoni had everything going for him up until the unnoticed handball that saw the French through. French win at the play-off first leg in Dublin may have been a lucky deflection, and this time luck ran out of the Irish beer mugs and straight into Thierry Henrys hand. The French love many a thing, and they sure love their football. Everyone we know was there to support the national team including Zinedine Zidane, Barthez, and President Nicolas Sarkozy.