EURO 2008 TOURNAMENT WRAP-UP

Wow! Is it over already? It seems like only yesterday the tournament has just started and everyone was backing Italy to win! Those are just memories now and Spain will have been partying long and hard in to the night after winning Euro 2008 with style.......

Moment of the Tournament

Spain comfortably beating Russia 3-0, to dispell any lingering doubts that they didn't have the bottle for the big one. It was a consumate and utterly professional performance in what could have been a massive banana skin of a fixture.

Goal of the Tournament

For us it's still Wesley's Sneijder's effort against France. A flowing, pacy, counter-attack that was started and set-up by a defender and finished by Sneijder, after a delightful knock-down from Dirk Kuyt. It looked at that point that no one would be able to live with Holland, but ultimately what it proved was how poor  France were as Holland got dumped out at the quarter-final stage by Russia.

Player of the tournament

Well it could be any of the Spanish midfield - they were all incredible. But this award goes to David Silva, who despite not being one of the big boys of the competition was able to produce industrious and creative performances everytime he took to the pitch.

Disappointment of the tournament

The way the Aristocrats of European football have got themselves stuck in to a rut of conservatism both in their selections and their tactics. Did any of us really think that the likes of Benzema and Toni were going to score up front on their own? If you were having trouble sleeping during June, watching either Italy or France may have helped......

Thank you everyone for playing and please enjoy the short break before the start of the next Goal Cup game!

TOP 5 SURPRISES

1. Spain and Holland lived up to pre-tournament hype and delivered the goods
2. Croatia stunned Germany, who looked so assured in their win over Poland
3. Italy's fall from grace - the indomitable team of WC2006 seems a distant memory
4. The small nations of Austria & Switzerland have been able to host a lively and colourful tournament
5. Austria scored a goal!

TOP 5 GOLDEN MOMENTS

1. Wesley Snjeider's goal v Italy - poetry in motion and a master-class in counter-attack football. Special mention must go to Dirk Kuyt for his contribution to the goal
2. Ronaldo and Deco in flow v  Czech Republic - the two looked sublime when they combined in attack and how much would Scolari love to have these two at his disposal when he takes over Chelsea
3. David Vila's hat-trick v Russia - ignore the amatuerish Russian defending, this was excellent finishing
4. Croatia's joy - the way the Croatians celebrated when the final whistle went against Germany was a moment to savour
5. Van Bronckhorst's goal v Italy - the defender was superb all game and capped his performance off with a fully deserved goal

TOP 5 TEAM PERFORMANCES

1.  Croatia v Germany - The Croatians defined a team performance against Germany with all eleven players putting their all in to get the victory
2. Netherlands v Italy - They may have got a bit of luck for van Nistelrooy's goal but there was no doubting the class of their performance
3. Spain v Russia - From Casillas, to Puyol, to Iniesta and of course, Villa and Torres - the whole side was excellent
4. Portugal v Czech Republic - scored when it mattered and always looked in control, can Ronaldo and Deco inspire them to greatness?
5. Austria v Poland - stuck with it and kept their hopes of a last eight finish alive

TOP 5 DISAPPOINTMENTS

1. England were meant to be in this tournament weren't they?
2. Group C - this was meant to produce the classics of the tournament but all it proved was that France and Italy are stuck in the past
3. Miroslav Klose - he was everybody's favourite for the Golden Boot but it seemed like he hasn't even been playing in this tournament
4. The Hiddink luck - Guus Hiddink's famed luck and knack of bringing success to smaller football nations has expired since the qualifying stage
5. The tournament ends on June 29th!

What do you think? Do you agree/disagree? LET US KNOW!

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The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the author, and the author is responsible for them, not any employer or other agency. This blog and its posters will never intentionally malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Some images on the Goal Cup blog do not belong to the authors, and have been posted for public viewing. It is not the author’s intention to breach copyright, and if asked, any media will be removed without question. The blog owner and authors are not responsible, nor will be held liable, for anything anyone says on the blog in the blog comments, nor the laws which they may break in this country or theirs through their comments’ content, implication, and intent.

Hello loyal Goal Cup-ers,

It's been a while! The team at Goal Cup have been extremely busy trying to get ourselves in shape in time to get selected for Euro 2008 - but none of us actually made the squads!

It took the staff a while to get over this devastating blow - but we have now decided to dedicate our time to providing you guys with another fantastic Goal Cup game, so we are proud to present - The Euro Goal Cup

The game is about to get underway and is bigger and better than ever before and best of all, it is still FREE TO PLAY!

New Features

- Full Teams - Instead of just selecting the six players you think will be the top scorers in the   competition, you now get to select a full squad of eleven players out of Europe's finest!

- In-depth scoring - Although goals are still the main feature in the Euro Goal Cup, points can also be scored for Assists, Starting matches, clean sheets and penalty saves! But beware players could also lose points for yellow or red cards! 

- Daily Transfers - Gone are the days of having to wait each week for your changes to become active. You can now change your team on a daily basis to get the most out of your players! 

Classic Goal Cup Features

- Absolutely Free - The game is Free to play! Need we say more?

- Easy to enter - Having played in The Goal Cup, your login details will still work to login to the Euro Goal Cup!

- Simplicity - The game is still as easy as ever to play. Simply select your team and let the real life players do the work for you!

- Mini Leagues - You will be automatically entered into a mini league with fellow supporters of your favourite team in the Euro Championship! You can also set up your own mini league to challenge your friends, family or even your enemies to see who is the best! 

- Team Changes - You will be allocated 15 transfers for the competition, so if your players are injured or if they're just not performing up to scratch, you can replace them with the click of a mouse button! 

So there you have it - we're back and better than ever!

Who do you fancy for Euro 2008? Who will be the stars? Why not pick them in your Euro Goal Cup team and take on the rest of the Goal Community!

Until next time - Thanks and good luck!  

Here we are, a week into the new year. Most of the new year's resolutions are probably already starting to wilt... So as you sit in front of your computer screen instead of hitting the treadmill at the gym, you might as well get some sort of enjoyment out of it by checking out The Goal Cup 2007 review!

2007 was a special year in which plenty of goals were hammered home. The players in the Goal Cup were enjoying a successful season, lets see how the positions scored in 2007:

Defenders - 68 points. It was slightly predictable that the defenders were going to have the least number of points, however some spirited performances, by Sergio Ramos and Steve McManus in particular have got the defenders well and truly on the board. Ramos and McManus both managed to score two away goals each to end top of the defenders with 12 points. Barcelona's Carlos Puyol and Marseille's Taye Taiwo each scored an away goal to end up as the closest challengers on 8 points.

Midfielders - 536 points. The midfielders have been putting in some big performances and scoring some beautiful goals to get up to this mighty total. The king of the middle of the pitch goes to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo who scored a massive 57 points in 2007. Ronaldo is by far the lead scorer overall in the Goal Cup. His nearest challengers in the midfield section were Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Lyon's Juninho who scored 39 and 28 points respectively.

Strikers - 918 points. The strikers make up the biggest player list in the Goal Cup, so it is no surprise that they show such dominance in the goal scoring stakes. Leading the illustrious pack is Marseille striker Mamadou Niang who edged ahead with 28 points . He was closely followed by a pack led by Lazio's Goran Pandev, Robinho and Robbie Keane all of whom are on 25 points.

Elite Strikers - 309 points. As the name suggests, this group are the elite when it comes to football, and it is an elite name that is on top of the list. Real Madrid's Ruud van Nistelrooy is an icon fort goal scorers the world over, and proves he still has what it takes by notching up 29 points in 2007.  He is followed by good company with Afonso Alves and Didier Drogba scoring 25 and 24 points respectively.

We hope you have enjoyed the progress of the Goal Cup in 2007 and continue to enjoy 2008. If you have no idea what it is, check it out at www.thegoalcup.com and start playing one of the most Worldwide fantasy football games on the planet!

The Goal Cup is nearing the end of a glorious 2007 in terms of football. There have been hundreds of goals scored across all of the leagues taking part in the Goal Cup.

Although most of the leagues taking a break over the Christmas period, the English Premiership has soldiered on, along with a couple of games from the Dutch Eredivisie.

The action this weekend was focussed on Dimitar Berbatov of Tottenham. He managed to score four out of his team’s six goals against Reading which gave him an amazing 8 points from a single game!

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz has been on a rich string of form, scoring eight goals throughout December. He managed to score a clinical header yet again, as Blackburn ousted Derby by two goals to one.

Back to England, where Cristiano Ronaldo’s superhuman feats continue as he scored for Manchester United yet again. Ronaldo tops the leaderboards in the Goal Cup with an incredible 57 points. He sits on his throne, 18 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Steven Gerrard on 39.

There are a number of games in the English Premier league tonight and the other leagues are all back to regular weekly action starting this weekend. Be sure to make your changes for 2008, and remember that you only have 20 to use. There is a weekly cut off for transfers and new teams which occurs at 17:00 UK time.

Will 2008 bring much of the same for the young Portuguese star? Or will a new star be born? If so make sure he is in your team as the Goal Cup rolls on into 2008!

This week's top scoring players were Barcelona's resurgent Samuel Eto'o and Blackburn's Paraguayan goalscoring sensation Roque Santa Cruz.

The two newest Goal Cup heroes notched nine points each. Eto'o scored a Champions League goal as Barcelona romped to a 3-1 win against Stuttgart, before grabbing two league goals against Valencia at the weekend.

This week’s top scoring players were Everton’s Yakubu and Markus Rosenberg of Werder Bremen.

The two strikers grabbed six points each, with Yakubu smashing in a Premier League hat-trick against Fulham and Rosenberg scoring twice away at Hannover, despite his side losing 4-3 in a thrilling Bundesliga clash.

                                    

Cristiano Ronaldo scored yet again against Derby to give him a total of 43 points so far, extending his lead at the top of the Goal Cup charts to 13 points over Steven Gerrard.

Those of you thinking about making changes for the Christmas period should be made aware of two major injuries this week – Chelsea’s powerhouse forward Didier Drogba is a big doubt for the next few weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

               

In Spain, Barcelona’s Thierry Henry has missed the last couple of games with a back injury, and has been ruled out “indefinitely” by club doctors.

The French forward is expected to miss the next four weeks of action, and should be a candidate for the chop if he features in your team.

At the top of the Goal Cup leaderboard, Spain’s Juan Antonio Flores and Morocco’s Aziz Ayoub are locked together on an impressive 151 points.

Remember that you have twenty transfers for the season, and the transfer cut off time is 17:30 UK time every Tuesday.

It might pay to go with Inter Milan players this week, who will face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday before taking on bottom-placed Cagliari in Serie A on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic? Suazo? Even Materazzi? The choice is yours!

The weekend’s action was extended by an extra game on Monday played between Manchester United and Fulham, and although it was a showpiece, the weekend had goals galore for a number of players in the Goal Cup!

In Portugal Ricardo Quaresma managed to finish off a superb solo run with the outside of his boot to clinch all three points for and maintain FC Porto’s unbeaten run this season.

In La Liga Real Madrid cruised to another victory over Racing Santander with Raul chipping in with another two goals. Iniesta managed to score Barcelona’s only goal to force a 1-1 draw with Espanyol.

In the English Premiership Robbie Keane scored a brace before being sent off on the weekend. Steven Gerrard also managed to continue his goal scoring form as he slotted another penalty to take his total up to seven goals in just over a month and 26 points in the Goal Cup.  Cristiano Ronaldo continues to set the world alight with yet another two goals in Monday’s game between Manchester United and Fulham. Ronaldo is also on top form and leads the scoring in the Goal Cup with an incredible 40 points!

The Goal Cup leaderboard has started to spread out ever so slightly as Javi Pardo from Spain takes a three point lead. He is currently on 144 points, but there is still plenty of time to catch him for the rest of the season!

Remember that you have twenty transfers to make, and the transfer cut off time is 17:30 UK time. There are a number of games being played this week which may spark interest for Goal Cup players. AC Milan take on Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday, and a lot of UEFA Cup action is taking place on Wednesday. Also don’t forget Arsenal’s second game this week on Wednesday night against a struggling Newcastle.

To login simply go to www.thegoalcup.com and get your goal scorers ready for action!

The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the author, and the author is responsible for them, not any employer or other agency. This blog and its posters will never intentionally malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Some images on the Goal Cup blog do not belong to the authors, and have been posted for public viewing. It is not the author’s intention to breach copyright, and if asked, any media will be removed without question. The blog owner and authors are not responsible, nor will be held liable, for anything anyone says on the blog in the blog comments, nor the laws which they may break in this country or theirs through their comments’ content, implication, and intent.

The UEFA Champions League this week had a number of predictable results which would have made Goal Cup managers very happy.

Two goals apiece for Chelsea's Drogba and Liverpool's Torres, secured Chelsea and Liverpool a position in the next round. The two elite strikers have been out of sorts of late and the brace would have worked wonders for their confidence.

Other elite strikers to find the back of the net were Real Madrid's Van Nistelrooy amd Manchester United's Carlos Tevez.

Strikers Messi and Kanoute both scored from the penalty spot for Barcelona and Sevilla respectively.  Robinho continued his awesome scoring run for Real Madrid, and Ibrahimovic was on song again for Inter Milan. Peter Crouch made a rare appearance for Liverpool and managed to put a goal away to help Liverpool to the next round.

In the midfield Liverpool's Gerrard scored a penalty and AC Milan star Pirlo scored his second in three days. Cristiano Ronaldo has bolted to the top of the scoring lists on 34 points. Is it possible to leave him out of your team in his current form?

There have been some major shifts in the leaderboards in the last few weeks, Javi Pardo from Spain now tops the leaderboard on a massive 134 points! If you think you can challenge Javi for the top spot in the Goal Cup remember that the transfer deadline is on Tuesday at 17:30 UK time every week. Get your friends involved and start up a mini league! See you in the leaderboards!

After a week of international football the leagues took off once again this weekend and lit up the world stage with goals galore. Just the thing that everybody involved in the Goal Cup wants to see!

In the English Premiership Liverpool brushed Newcastle aside with a 3-0 win away from home. Steven Gerrard scored a scintillating free kick to keep his points in the Goal Cup ticking over. Dutchman Dirk Kuyt also managed to net a goal in the game.

Tim Cahill scored a brace as Everton crushed Sunderland 7-1. Cahill now has now scored four goals in six games since coming back from injury. If he can keep that strike rate up he may be challenging the likes of Kaka and Ronaldo!

 

In the Spanish La Liga, The Goal Cup’s most popular player, Lionel Messi scored a penalty to ensure Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Recreativo Huelva. Robinho kept up his prolific scoring rate, again scoring for Real Madrid to get a draw against Murcia.

On Sunday Maxi Rodriguez scored a brace in a goal fest against Valladolid. Atletico Madrid were the eventual winners 4-3. The 4^th goal coming in the dying minutes from an own goal!

 

In Italy Kaka missed a penalty which would have left many Goal Cup players fuming! But Gilardino and Pirlo both managed to score for AC Milan and improve their Goal Cup standings. Juventus thrashed Palermo 5-0 with two goals for Del Piero and Trezequet and Iaquinita both managing to strike home.

Super Striker, Miroslav Klose and Midfielder Franck Ribery both scored goals for Bayern Munich to ensure that they stay top of the German Bundesliga.

In the Portuguese Liga, Benfica had three scorers from the Goal Cup helping them to a 3-1 win on Saturday. Rui Costa, Adu and Luisao, two midfielders and a defender respectively all scored for the Portuguese team.

Don’t forget to look for who may have an easy run this week as there are Champions League games as well as the league games to come on the weekend! Barcelona are up against Lyon on Tuesday and on Wednesday Real Madrid are travelling to Werder Bremen.

On the weekend Liverpool are up against Bolton who are fresh from upsetting title challengers Manchester United and Lyon will be hosting Strasbourg who are coming off two losses and a goalless draw.

Remember that there is a weekly cut off for your teams every Tuesday at 17:30 UK time. So any transfers made during the week will only be effective for your team from the next Tuesday onwards.

 

You have 20 transfers, so make them wisely. Think about who will be playing the most games. Stack your team with UEFA Cup and Champions League players for the best chance to maximise yur score! If you have not got a team yet, you can join up whenever you like - the sooner the better - to challenge for the almighty Goal Cup. Just go to www.thegoalcup.com to register a team! It is completely free to play and is loads of fun!

The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the author, and the author is responsible for them, not any employer or other agency. This blog and its posters will never intentionally malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Some images on the Goal Cup blog do not belong to the authors, and have been posted for public viewing. It is not the author’s intention to breach copyright, and if asked, any media will be removed without question. The blog owner and authors are not responsible, nor will be held liable, for anything anyone says on the blog in the blog comments, nor the laws which they may break in this country or theirs through their comments’ content, implication, and intent.

It has been a quiet week in the Goal Cup as nine out of the ten leagues involved in the competition were on international duty. The only game over the weekend that would have counted for the Goal Cup was the USA Major League Soccer final between New England and Houston.

Houston won the game even after going a goal down through New England's star striker, Taylor Twellman. Twellman has been in scintilating form of late and has scored five goals since the Goal Cup started and earned himself and anybody who was smart enough to pick him 11 points.

De Rosario scored his second goal in the Goal Cup to win the game for Houston. Houston have now managed to retain the MLS championship for the second year running. De Rosario, playing in the midfield managed to score  a  notable seven points in the Goal Cup.

Managers need to be wary that these players (and all the players in the MLS for that matter) have now finished their season and should be transferred out of any team so that a player is not wasted in your team. Remember to make your changes before Tuesday at 17:30 UK time in order for your changes to take effect for the upcoming weekends games.

Look out for some easy fixtures coming up this week as Chelsea take on a struggling Derby, Rangers travel to Falkirk and Barcelona host Recreativo Huelva. So check out the players who will be likely to score this weekend and get them into your team!

The weekend’s football has been overshadowed by the unfortunate fatality of a Lazio fan who was stuck by a policeman’s stray bullet as he sat in his car. A number of games in Italy were called off and postponed as fans from both sides were rioting in protest against the police.

In the few games that did take place, Udinese striker Fabio Quagliarella scored a goal against Fiorentina as the visitors secured a surprise win. Quagliarella has now secured his first points in the Goal Cup and will be hoping to score many more.

Barcelona again failed to score away from home in La Liga, but David Villa of Valencia managed to score twice at home against Murcia. Villa scores his first points since the 3^rd of October to take his tally up to seven. The usual suspects were again slotting the goals for Real Madrid. Robinho managed to score another two goals, and Raul and Van Nistelrooy scored one each as Real Madrid beat Mallorca in a 4-3 goal fest.

 

The newly crowned top goal scorer in the Goal Cup continued his impressive form with another two goals over the weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace in 120 seconds to give Manchester United a 2-0 victory over Blackburn. Liverpool’s Elite striker Fernando Torres scored a good goal against Fulham and Steven Gerrard netted a penalty for the Reds to help their league title bid. Tim Cahill gets full marks for style as his late overhead kick secured a point for Everton after elite striker Drogba had put the Blues in front.

Nuno Gomes also managed to score two goals over the weekend to help Benfica to a massive 6-1 victory over Boavista.

 

The overall leader is once again Moneer Monsour of Jordan who sits in top spot on 113 points. It is a close battle at the top though, with first, second and third positions all being separated by a single point.

Remember that there is a weekly cut off for your teams every Tuesday at 17:30 UK time. So any transfers made during the week will only be effective for your team from the next Tuesday onwards.

With 20 transfers to make in the game, there are plenty of reasons to keep coming back and refining your team until you have a well oiled, goal scoring machine. If you have not got a team yet, you can join up whenever you like (obviously the sooner the better) to challenge for the almighty Goal Cup. Just go to www.thegoalcup.com to register a team! It is completely free to play and is loads of fun!

The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the author, and the author is responsible for them, not any employer or other agency. This blog and its posters will never intentionally malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Some images on the Goal Cup blog do not belong to the authors, and have been posted for public viewing. It is not the author’s intention to breach copyright, and if asked, any media will be removed without question. The blog owner and authors are not responsible, nor will be held liable, for anything anyone says on the blog in the blog comments, nor the laws which they may break in this country or theirs through their comments’ content, implication, and intent.

The Goal Cup has stretched to all four corners of the world and truly epitomized the spirit of the beautiful game. Football is played in every single country over the world in some form or another, and these countries have all embraced the Goal Cup to make it the most far-reaching fantasy football game in the world.

Out of the 198 countries listed in the World there is a Goal Cup website user in a grand total of 193! It stretches all the way from New Caledonia through Burundi to Guatemala. All over the world people are enjoying the great challenge of selecting the World’s top goal scorers in a bid to become the first holder of the Goal Cup!

The country with the most users in the Goal Cup is Spain, closely followed by Italy and Turkey. There are still 5 countries which are yet to learn about the glory of the Goal Cup - Central African Republic, Chad, Western Sahara, Turkmenistan and North Korea. So if you know anybody who lives in these parts of the world, get them to sign up so that we have a truly Worldwide competition.

 

Bring on the games and share the joy of the beautiful game the world over! The current joint leaders of the Goal Cup, Mustafa Sheibani and Moneer Mansour are from Canada and Jordan respectively. Will you or one of your countrymen eventually lift the Goal Cup? Keep an eye on those transfers to stand the best chance of winning, and remember – it is FREE to play!

The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the author, and the author is responsible for them, not any employer or other agency. This blog and its posters will never intentionally malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Some images on the Goal Cup blog do not belong to the authors, and have been posted for public viewing. It is not the author’s intention to breach copyright, and if asked, any media will be removed without question. The blog owner and authors are not responsible, nor will be held liable, for anything anyone says on the blog in the blog comments, nor the laws which they may break in this country or theirs through their comments’ content, implication, and intent.

The Champions League has had its record books rewritten twice in the space of two weeks. First Arsenal equalled the record number of goals scored by a team in a game when they beat Slavia Prague 7-0, only to be overtaken by a rampant Liverpool team which thrashed Besiktas by a massive eight goals to nil!

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch scored a brace to claim his first six points in the Goal Cup. Gerrard also managed to put a bullet passed the Besiktas goalkeeper to claim four points.

Stuttgart Elite Striker Mario Gomez has been on fine form following his opening points in the Goal Cup over the weekend, he followed up with a brace of away goals in the Champions League to earn himself another eight points. That makes 11 points in less than a week for Gomez!

Sporting Lisbon Elite Striker Liedson managed to score a brace at home to secure six points in the Goal Cup. Although not the most popular player amongst Goal Cup managers, he no doubt managed to put a smile on some of your faces.

On the other end of the popularity list, the two most popular players in The Goal Cup, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and AC Milan’s Kaka scored goal a goal apiece in the Champions League. Messi scored a home goal to gain three points, and Kaka scored an away goal for five points.

But the ultimate award goes to Cristiano Ronaldo, the third most popular player in the competition scored a home goal for Man United against Dinamo Kiev to score himself four points and become the newly crowned top scorer in the Goal Cup competition with 24 points!

The overall leader(s) in the Goal Cup have both been in this position before. They are rapidly becoming comfortable with their spots at the top of the leaderboard. Mustafa Sheibani from Canada and Moneer Monsour from Jordan have both got a massive 103 points. Who is going to be there next big challenger to the crown? Will it be any of the six players in third place on 101 points? It is time to select the goal scorers and become the next leader in The Goal Cup.

Remember that there is a weekly cut off for your teams every Tuesday at 17:30 UK time. So any transfers made during the week will only be effective for your team from the next Tuesday onwards. The same goes for entering new teams. They will only start scoring from the next Tuesday after they were entered.

With 20 transfers to make in the game, there are plenty of reasons to keep coming back and refining your team until you have a well oiled, out of control goal scoring machine. If you have not got a team yet, you can join up whenever you like (obviously the sooner the better) to challenge for the almighty Goal Cup. Just go to www.thegoalcup.com to register a team! It is completely free to play and is loads of fun! See you somewhere in the leaderboards!

The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the author, and the author is responsible for them, not any employer or other agency. This blog and its posters will never intentionally malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Some images on the Goal Cup blog do not belong to the authors, and have been posted for public viewing. It is not the author’s intention to breach copyright, and if asked, any media will be removed without question. The blog owner and authors are not responsible, nor will be held liable, for anything anyone says on the blog in the blog comments, nor the laws which they may break in this country or theirs through their comments’ content, implication, and intent.

This weekend’s games were quiet in comparison to previous weeks in the Goal Cup. It was a gameweek in which heroic goalkeepers performed admirably or unfortunate defenders were credited with scoring own goals. The slight break before Champions League Gameweek 4 will give participants some time to decide on their changes before tomorrow’s transfer cut off (06/11) at 17:30 UK time.

The midweek European fixtures need to be taken into account as your players can benefit even more with extra points from Champions League and UEFA Cup games. Make sure that your line up is crammed full of Europe’s best, and make sure the changes are done before Tuesday’s cut off to stand the best chance of maximising your points for the week!

Looking back on the weekend, the huge crunch game saw Manchester United and Arsenal play out a thrilling 2-2 draw in front of 60,000 fans. Goals from two of the best midfielders in the English Premier League, Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo again gave many Goal Cup managers good reason to smile. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard was also on the scoresheet this weekend.

In La Liga, Fernando Morientes scored a brace away from home to ensure Valencia grabbed all the points against Mallorca. Real Madrid, the leading goal-scorers in the Goal Cup, did not manage to score at all this week, going down 2-0 against FC Sevilla. Barcelona’s Elite Strikers were on top form on Sunday, with Ronaldinho scoring twice and Thierry Henry netting to secure a 3-0 victory against Real Betis.

The Italian Serie A also played host to a blinder of a game as Palermo striker and Goal Cup player Amauri scored in the 90^th minute to secure a point in a 3-3 thriller against Genoa.

Lionel Messi and Kaka are still the most picked players in the game. A little extra pressure is on these players to impress the Goal Cup masses every time they go out and play. On the other side of the spectrum, Rennes striker Mickael Pagis has only been selected in two teams (although making the Goal Cup player list is an achievement on its own).

Afonso Alves is still the highest point scorer on 23 points, although Cristiano Ronaldo has closed the gap to just 3 points after the weekend’s performance. Steer clear of the strugglers to ensure that you have the ultimate team selected to win you the Goal Cup - 103 players are still yet to score a goal since the competition got underway.

Currently in the lead on an incredible 91 points is Moneer Mansour from Jordan. Moneer has made a great start to the game with an awesome starting line up. He has only made one transfer thus far and even though he is only one point clear of his nearest challenger, he is looking very good in the race to win the Goal Cup.

If you think you could do better than Moneer, or if you just want to have some fun and pick the greatest goal scoring lineup, then why not get involved? To register a Goal Cup team, simply visit www.thegoalcup.com. The game is great fun and is free to play! Just remember that the cut off is on a weekly basis every Tuesday! Good luck to all those already in the game!