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Last weekend was much awaited by
every Nigerian because of the long holidays. For tennis lovers, it was the
second week of the US open, for football fans it was the resumption of play in
the leagues after the international break, for boxing fans, it was the much
awaited fight between Wladimir Klithscko and our own Samuel Peters. Sure it was
a fantastic weekend for some and a terrible weekend for some like me.

My weekend started with Venus
Williams’s semi-final match against Kim Clijsters at the recently concluded US
Open. Venus came into the tournament not having played a single match since
Wimbledon but was always the favourite especially as her game improved as the
tournament progressed. She made it to the semis without dropping a set. She
took the lead against Clijsters, up a set, played a great second set and fell
like a pack of cards in the second set tie-break. Her first serve was
nonexistent and a series of double faults led to her demise. Though conditions
were tough, she really should have wrapped up the match in the second set. I
didn’t even bother watching the third set; it was too painful to go on.

United
unravelled at Goodison

Next stop, Manchester United away to Everton,
without Wayne Rooney. But United had a fairly decent game when they came from a
goal down to lead the home team by 3 goals to 1. Though we led, I had a bad
feeling about the match. My heart didn’t stop beating all through. You can’t
imagine how shattered I was when United conceded 2 goals in extra time to
secure just a point and leaving fans like me shattered. It is easy to console
one’s self by saying United never start well but we saw what losing against
teams like Burnley cost us last season.

Well we had a home match on Tuesday to make up
for Saturdays madness. It went from bad to worse against Rangers. The match
which ended in a draw was not only boring but ended with United losing Antonio
Valencia for the rest of the season. I always say it takes a strong character
to come back from career threatening injuries; sure Eduardo will have something
to say about it.

Federer
express derailed in New York

Just as I was trying to recover from United on
Saturday, Roger Federer sent me right back to the hole of pain and
disappointment. It was never going to be easy against a rejuvenated Novak
Djokovic on hard court but then the Fedexpress went to New York City with his
new coach Paul Annacone sending a message across that he is not ready to hang
his racquet. He showed us flashes of why he has been tagged GOAT (greatest of
all time). And did anybody see the through- the-legs-shot, a replica of last
years’ in his match against Djokovic? It isn’t often you see Federer lose match
points. That is exactly what happened in that semi-final match. Not to take
anything away from Novak, he did very well to save a couple of match points and
to come back and win the match depriving fans of a Nadal vs. Federer final at
every grand slam and of course breaking my heart yet again! Congratulations to
the eventual winner Rafa for completing a career slam after winning the US
open.

Barcelona’s
horror show

Though the EPL is the most popular league in
the world, you have to love the La Liga. I am not a Barcelona fan but a fan of
the beautiful football played by the team. With the likes of Leo Messi, David
Villa, Xavi, Iniesta and other super stars on the team, I expected nothing but
victory every time the Catalans are on the pitch of play.

Shockingly, it wasn’t the case when Barcelona
played against newly promoted Hercules on Saturday. If you thought United were
awful, ask Barca fans how they felt about their team on the day. I can’t
imagine how much people lost betting on that game. In fact Barca have Victor
Valdes to thank for keeping the score line at 0-2 with a couple of unbelievable
saves. Aside from the goal keeper, it was a poor performance by the champions.
For all the noise around Mascherano’s transfer, it is not a debut he would have
hoped for. He was quite slow and out of rhythm. I hope he settles in soon; else
Liverpool fans will have the last laugh.

For Pep Guardiola, it must have been a déjà vu because the
last time his side lost to Hercules in the Camp Nou was during the Alicante
side’s last season stay in La Liga in 1996. The visitors pulled off a 3-2 win.
Pep Guardiola scored an own goal. Bad Karma, you will have to say…