Thanks to Football's oldest competition,the FA cup,a town called Barnsley is under the spotlight.Having reached the semifinal stage this season in which a record 731 teams were included,they have no reason for disappointment from now.Barnsley town which boasts of no star player have already eliminated defending champions Chelsea and European giant Liverpool.History told me that they have already won the tournament in 1912 but that is a different story.The secret behind their success is simple.
No expectation,no pressure,loads of inspiration,disciplined defending,sharp attack(though rarely),excellent team coordination. 
They only enjoyed about 30% possession in both their big games but they defended brilliantly and put their noses in front when it mattered.Kayode Odejayi,who is still waiting to be called up for the Nigerian national side was Barnsley's trump card against Chelsea.He scored for the first time for Barnsley in 28 games and that was enough to wrap things up.The players themselves,the manager,the crowd,the world gasped for a moment and it took a while to digest the fact that Barnsley were ahead against defending champions Chelsea.Previously they came up with another stunning performance against Liverpool.Suddenly,the FA cup has grown almost impossible to predict.Out of those 731 teams,take a look at the last 4:
Barnsley
Cardiff
Portsmouth
West Brom
Considering the run for the semis..Barnsley now appear favourites:)
It certainly appears as if the big teams have neglected the tournament and concentrated more on the premiership and the champions league.Teams like Manchester United and Arsenal are well known for undermining the tournament considering it an opportunity for younger players.But,only last year did we witness a Chelsea vs ManU in the final.I have no clue as to why things have turned around this way.Is it sheer luck driving teams like Barnsley or is there more to it than that meets the eye?
btw..i am going to the India vs South Africa test match tomorrow.It is the Day 2 of the match and i hope it is interesting.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Barnsley's bull run
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3 comments:
nyc topic dude of barnsley who thrashed chelsea and liverpool
thinkin about it now,i think u'd have rather bought the third day's ticket i guz...neways as the commentary goes in ea's fifa,football's pretty unpredictable sometimes...i mean look at arsenal now.........
as it so turned out..i went on both day 2 and day 3:)
day 3 would have been more super had dravid got out and we would have got a chance to atleast see sachin walk in
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