Dear Amigos,
All of us will remember 2008 as “ THE Year of many High’s and Low’s”, in commodity trading you call this volatility and I can tell you this year the volatility in the markets were at an all time record highs never ever seen and experienced before by anybody !
Just to give you a few of the HIGH’S, The Beijing Olympics, The Opening of the World Financial Tower in Shanghai (Yamada-san’s building), The weather in Shanghai during the summer was one of the best ever, many blue skies !, Bush is leaving the white house, Hairy Crab is sold at a discount, Less taxi queue’s, Property Prices are coming down, you can buy the Shanghai stocks at a 70 pct discount, Spain was crowned Champion of Europe in Soccer/Football ! Lions won the SPL Championship 2008 (or was that a Low ?), THE SANTA CUP !!! All of the SPL Players respected each other and there was only Friendship and Fairplay on the battle field ! Many people in life can learn from us !
Now here are a few of the Low’s, The Sichuan Earthquake, The Food problems in China, esp the milkpowder melamine contamination for baby’s, Bush agreed to move to Shanghai after the White House, Shanghai stock market crashed 70 pct in four months, Credit Crunch, Cancellation of the SPL Cup Final on the day of the final, Job’s are no longer secured ! Next year there will be no more American cars !! So we go back to the Donkey Society ! (no pollution and you can even convert them into a Donkey Burger).
Last Sunday we had the last three games of the year played under perfect weather conditions :
10 AM E-Rouge – Hawks 2-4, First half was dominated by the Hawks who took a comfortable lead at 0-3, second half especially the Brasilian part of the team took it rather easy and thought the games was in their pocket, indeed they scored 0-4 but in the end “Les Rouges” fought back and scored two goals. Hawks are the “Herbst Meister” this year, so its up to the other team to kick them out of the first spot. Congratulations !!
12 PM Lions-Vlis 7-1, First Half was even the Lions played uncharacteristic defensive (main reason was that they only had eleven players, so 1-1 was the result. After the break the Lions went all out to attack and the Vlis players surrended quickly to swallow the defeat.
14 PM Galacticos-Dulwich, 3-1 “Time is on my side”, famous Rolling Stones song. That’s what it is for the Galacticos give them the late kick of game and they will be on their best. Only 10 man they looked strong on the counter with a few promising young players and an “old” solid defense they bang in the three points !
To look back at the first half of the season performance we can conclude the following :
8) Galacticos 3 points, rare position for them but mainly due to the formula 1 (Lewis Hamilton Craze……) and the change between summer and winter time, they couldn’t figure it out how long they could party more ! So the main problem I foresee is that in 2009 Shanghai GP will be in March and the change of winter into summer time will be in March as well !
7) Vlis much better than last year but the only scored 3 goals. Hopefully the birth this week of Fredrik’s son Willem will add quickly to the strength of the team !
6) E-Rouge they surely can perform better as they have a strong team, 25 sponsor’s and the best website !
5) Dulwich the only team to beat the Hawks this year and maybe they can be proud of that ! After that it went down-hill, injuries woes bcs of their severe dulwich trainings camps are rumored to be the cause….!
4) Japan they only played 3 games but they love it as underdogs will suit them perfectly to make a surprise run in 2009 for the title, the Santa Cup final was a good indication of what we can expect from Japan. So Captains don’t tell me I didn’t warn you……!
3) Bulls well leave it to Bilgin, he is in the category of Bill Gates, Kasparov and Hillary Clinton. Nobody likes to play against the Bulls as they can score even during half time when you are having a tea. He can substitute 10 players in 5 seconds so it leaves all of the defender puzzled who is playing where. On top he tend to start late irritating the opponent…..so don’t tell me I didn’t warn you…..!
2) Lions after the departure of Brian its good to see that there are still some Lions left behind who want to pick up the pieces so pls don’t celebrate to hard if you beat them but we are happy they are still competing strong !
1)Hawks great team this season perfect mix with Brasilian/Italian/Chinese players. 100 pct deserved to be on top ! Pleasure to play against them as only when we play tough games we can see our own weaknesses and know what to do next time to beat the hell out of them !
So I am confidence that 2009 will bring a great SPL competition I hope that all of you will have a good time with your families and friends to celebrate Christmas and we are looking forward to have you all back “healthy and in good shape” on the Pitch in 2009 to continue our League !
As an extra gift in Santa's stockings, you can find the Santa Cup Pictures below.
Feel free to comment.
Unfo for now, you can not comment yet on individual pictures.
Best Wishes to All of You ! Cheers / Freek SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee
PS January 11 we have matches pls check our website www.shanghaipremierleague.net
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