According to this article from from UEFA's website, Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand feels confident about his club as he demands high concentration as they look to eliminate La Liga's FC Barcelona in order to reach the final of the European Champions League, the winner of which will advance to December's FIFA Club World Cup, the seven team tournament that features the club champion of every FIFA continental zone.
The first (away) leg of the two-legged semifinal home/away series against Barcelona ended with a scoreless tie. Both clubs must now rely on the second leg at Old Trafford (Manchester United's home field). However, Ferdinand is extremely confident and determined that they can come out with a win but warned his fellow players taht they must concentrate on this goal: "They're a very good attacking side so if we're not on our game for the whole 90 minutes and concentrating that whole time I'm sure they will find the gaps to score goals. I thought every one of our players, not just the back four and the keeper, defended resolutely."
Rio Ferdinand also reminded his players that if they lose concentration for just one minute, FC Barcelona can very easily score. In my experience with watching FC Barcelona, Ferdinand's advice is on the money. I actually had the opportunity to watch the New York Red Bulls suffer a crushing defeat while Barcelona was on a tour of the United States and Mexico to play a few friendlies against some Mexican and American clubs. Brazilian star Ronaldhino, who played for the Spanish club at the time, scored at least 3 goals at Giants Stadium.
I've never liked Manchester United (especially because Wayne Rooney plays for them and simply because of the fact that have been an English Premier League powerhouse for years already). The idea that the English national team and Manchester United could lose big games just months away from each other puts a smile on my face because I can't stand their smug attitude. The only players that really ever respected to come out of Manchester United are David Beckham and current Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo. Stars such as Argentine Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon, and Thierry Henry of France can defintely give Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, and the rest of Manchester United some real probelms despite the home field advantage.
United's recent 2-1 loss to Chelsea (which I blogged about recently) threw the English Premier League title race wide open and was a big blow to the club's morale, and whether or not they will win the EPL title or the Champion's League really depends on Wayne Rooney's fitness. Rooney, according to the article, "hobbled out of the game at Stamford Bridge."
Despite his possible injury, Rooney thinks that Manchester United will indeed come out victorious against Barcelona. Interesting that Rooney would think so! The last time a team Rooney was on played without him, the English national team lost 3-2 in London causing a once soccer powerhouse to sink so low that they had to hire and rely on a non-English coach. However, the stats do back up Rooney's opinion. According to the article, Manchester United has :won a competition record eleven straight UEFA Champions League games." Also, Rooney has added, "We've got a great record at Old Trafford and we're confident of beating anyone there. We'll attack more and we'll try and win the game as we know we can."
No wonder Rooney gets so many injuries and red cards-- the guy thinks he's so good, he looks for trouble even if it means putting his precious English national team in jeopardy (see this post I wrote a while back regarding Rooney's hot temper).
I apologize for not getting a video of the first leg highlights. For some reason, UEFA is not allowing youtubers to put up videos. See this video for audio commentary from BBC Sport.
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