City 2-1 Barcelona (2003)

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Bored Friday afternoon post but have a watch of this I just came across, highlights from the first match ever at the Etihad.

Watch on youtube.com

Thumping header by Sinclair, good saves by Seaman and a Ronaldinho who just looked unbelievably good.
How times change!

[london blue 2]

Wow, good memories.

1. Atmosphere sounded decent

2. David Sommeil - remember him!

[Im_Spartacus]

Thumping header by Sinclair, good saves by Seaman and a Ronaldinho who just looked unbelievably good.
How times change!

Indeed, I recall that Ronaldinho's every touch was cheered as he had just snubbed the munchens quite spectacularly after leading them on for some time.

[twosips]

Was at that too. Remember shaking Luis Enrique's hand and buzzing over Saviola as I was convinced he'd be as big as Messi was now due to buying him every year on the old Champ Manager on my PC.

We'd just signed Sibierski too and, this is not a joke, I got an autograph from KK at the time and asked him what to expect and he said 'He's got everything - I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised'. Can only presume KK heard me ask 'I've heard Sibierski is really bad and that all he can do is ensure every single shot misses by inches/grazes the bar as if his inbuilt shooting calibration is 30 centimetres off. It's true isn't it?'

No other explanation.

[Moonchesteri]

We'd just signed Sibierski too and, this is not a joke, I got an autograph from KK at the time and asked him what to expect and he said 'He's got everything - I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised'. Can only presume KK heard me ask 'I've heard Sibierski is really bad and that all he can do is ensure every single shot misses by inches/grazes the bar as if his inbuilt shooting calibration is 30 centimetres off. It's true isn't it?'

No other explanation.

Hahahah brilliant!

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Although messi may be statistically the best, Ronaldinho is the most entertaining and best to watch player I've ever seen.

[lovecity8utd]

Although messi may be statistically the best, Ronaldinho is the most entertaining and best to watch player I've ever seen.

loved the chants at the game for Ronnie as he had allegedly snubbed the scum.

[bobby brows]

Manchester City: Seaman, Sun Jihai, Sommeil (Dunne, min 74), Distin, Tiatto, Wright-Phillips, Bosvelt (Barton, min 74), Sinclair (Sibierski, min 74), Ali Benarbia (Berkovic, min 30), Anelka (Wanchope, min 63), Fowler (Macken, min 63).

FC Barcelona: Rustu, Puyol, Andersson (Gerard, min 46), Reiziger, Òscar López (Ros, min 83), Xavi (Márquez, min 83), Cocu, Quaresma (Saviola, min 46), Ronaldinho (David Sánchez, min 83), Kluivert (Iniesta, min 63), Overmars.

[Hutch's Shoulder]

Be great to get a similar result this year, but I'll eat my scarf if Sinclair is on the score sheet this time.

[Slim]

Jesus how young does Iniesta look in this video, back before his hairline made a march back over the top of his head.

Also, Javier Saviola, what happened there then?

[twosips]

Saviola has had a good career. Not a great one, but a good one. He played and scored goals for Barca, Real, Malaga, Benfica, Olympiacos and now Verona in Serie A. Pretty decent to be honest and he's still only 33.

I genuinely thought he'd be considered world class one day but you can't knock that record. It's better than Torres' for example. He's basically the budget Aguero.

[Slim]

Saviola has had a good career. Not a great one, but a good one. He played and scored goals for Barca, Real, Malaga, Benfica, Olympiacos and now Verona in Serie A. Pretty decent to be honest and he's still only 33.

I genuinely thought he'd be considered world class one day but you can't knock that record. It's better than Torres' for example. He's basically the budget Aguero.

He did well for River Plate and Barca in parts....then not so much. He couldn't buy a game for Real, got shipped after one season(maybe two) IIRC and then got handed around like a cheap whore.

I watched him back in the 2001 Youth WC and he was unbelievable, I thought for sure he'd be a legend of the game by now. But then again I also thought D'Alessandro and Collocini would be superstars as well. As a bit of trivia, Argentina's backup keeper for that tournie was none other than Willy Caballero.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

I remember thinking Sinclair was going to be a goal machine for us.
Was a bit off with that prediction, though he did always play really well v the Rags.

[Mase]

With the players we had back then and the squad we should have done better in the league.

[Im_Spartacus]

With the players we had back then and the squad we should have done better in the league.

It was a decent looking side really wasn't it? Should probably have had a shot at top 6, but the squad was a bit thin beyond the first xi

[Wonderwall]

Saviola has had a good career. Not a great one, but a good one. He played and scored goals for Barca, Real, Malaga, Benfica, Olympiacos and now Verona in Serie A. Pretty decent to be honest and he's still only 33.

I genuinely thought he'd be considered world class one day but you can't knock that record. It's better than Torres' for example. He's basically the budget Aguero.

He did well for River Plate and Barca in parts....then not so much. He couldn't buy a game for Real, got shipped after one season(maybe two) IIRC and then got handed around like a cheap whore.

I watched him back in the 2001 Youth WC and he was unbelievable, I thought for sure he'd be a legend of the game by now. But then again I also thought D'Alessandro and Collocini would be superstars as well. As a bit of trivia, Argentina's backup keeper for that tournie was none other than Willy Caballero.

I hate the way the term "Cheap Whore" is bandied about as a derogatory term, its one of the better things in life if you can get one.

Also seeing Reiziger on that list makes me shudder, we were linked with him so many times, I am glad we didnt get him late in his career (as this was our MO in those days).

That City 11 is actually alright apart from Seamen!

[CTID Hants]

Ali B's last game and IIRC he came out before the game along with the Goat to standing ovation?

[Londonblue]

Remember that game very well - scorching hot day darn sarf, drove 4+ hours to Manchester, watched intently for 43 mins, went for a beer and missed the first goal

[Londonblue]

According to the time stamp, must have had that beer earlier than I thought...!

Seaman was shite