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Daily tabloid Correio da Manhã warned Monday of possible unrest within the Portuguese squad come the Euro 2004 tournament given the domestic tax laws that will mean that footballers resident in the country, i.e. players like Simão of Benfica and Deco of FC Porto, will have to pay tax on any earnings from the competition, while 'emigrants' like Figo and Pauleta will not.
Portugal are in Group 3 for the World Cup qualifiers. It's a relatively accessible group ,,, in theory. Portugal's opponents will be: Russia, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia . Games will be played between September 4th 2004 and October 12th 2005. The winners of each group will qualify, along with the two best second teams. The remaining six second teams will play off.
Portugal will be seeded in Friday's draw for the 2006 World Cup, to be held in Germany, thus avoiding the theoretically most difficult teams. The pots look like this:
POT A - Portugal, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, England, Turkey;
POT B - Holland, Croatia, Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, Poland;
POT C - Bulgaria, Romania, Scotland, Sebia and Montenegro, Swizerland, Greece, Slovakia, Austria;
POT D - Ukriane, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Israel, Bosnia, Latvia, Wales;
POT E - Hungary, Georgia, Bielorussia, Cyprus, Estonia, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, Macedonia;
POT F - Albania, Armenia, Moldovia, Azerbaijan, Fa roe Islands, Malta, San Marino, Liechtenstein;
POT G - Andorra, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan.
The draw for the finals of the European Championship at U-21 level will take place on February 12th, 2004 in the country that will host the Championship. The host country will be decided by UEFA on December 10/11th. The only countries to have applied to host the competition were Germany and France ... but were knocked out in qualifying by Portugal.
Portugal thrashed a weak Kuwait side 8-0 Wednesday in a friendly to mark the inauguration of the Leiria Municipal Stadium, which will be used at Euro 2004. The result will do wonders for the squad's confidence and will go some way to reconciling the team to the fans, who had appeared to lose faith of late. But as a test or preparation for the battles to come at Euro 2004, it was next to worthless.
There were four goals in each half and were scored by Pauleta (4), Nuno Gomes (3) and Figo.
Portugal lined up: Quim, Miguel, Fernando Couto, Jorge Andrade, Rui Jorge, Costinha, Deco, Rui Costa, Figo, Pauleta, Simão - plus: Rogério Matias, Beto, Caneira, Boa Morte, Nuno Gomes.
Portugal's U-21s pulled off a famous comeback over the two legs of the European Championship qualifying play-off against France Tuesday. Trailing from a 1-2 defeat on Portuguese soil at the weekend, Portugal mirrored the 2-1 score to make it all square over the two legs. Extra time brought no deciding goal so it went to penalties, which Portugal won 4-1. Portugal's first goal had come on 36 minutes from Cristiano Ronaldo , but France were level on 42 through Cissé. There was still time before the break for the same Cissé to get sent off, and Portugal were grateful for the help. Bruno Alves headed the 'winner' on the night a quarter of an hour from the end.
Portugal lined up:Moreira, Mário Sérgio, João Paulo (Makukula, 52 m), Bruno Alves, Ricardo Costa, Tiago (Carlos Martins, 90 m), Raul Meireles, Hugo Viana (Lourenço, 46 m), Ricardo Quaresma, Hélder Postiga, Cristiano Ronaldo
Following a controversial week in the life of the Selecção, the FPF president Gilberto Madaíl gave a defiant interview to the radio station Antena 1 Monday, speaking of his "sadness and bitterness" at the way the National Team is being treated by the fans: they were whistling within five minutes of the kick-off against Greece Saturday. "Players like Figo can't be treated the way they were in Aveiro," he said. "The fans' behaviour was shameful ... We were invited [to inaugurate the stadium] and UEFA, who were present, also didn't like what they saw and heard in the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, one of the venues for Euro 2004 ... I hope that the disgraceful behaviour of the public in Aveiro is not repeated in other stadiums ... if it is, we'll have to look for stadiums where the public supports the Selecção ... We have to be aware that we have a good national team, but that it's not the best in Europe and the World."
Luís Figo also reacted to the whistling: "If you want to whistle, whistle me, but let the Selecção play ... you can't crucify anyone for making simple mistakes."
The police withdrew a banner put out at the National Stadium during the team's training Monday. "You earn millions; at least put in some decent performances", it read.
Portugal's U-21s are in France ahead of the second leg of the play-off for entry into the European Championship for that level. They lost the first leg 1-2 in Guimarães Friday, despite the presence of players like Hugo Viana, Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portugal drew 1-1 with Greece Saturday in a friendly that was simultaneously an excuse to inaugurate the Municipal Stadium at Aveiro, one of those to be used at Euro 2004. Portugal had a prime opporunity to take the lead on the half hour when Karagounis was sent off for a hand-ball in the area, but Figo's spot kick was saved easily by Nikopolidis.A minute into the second half, Venetidis crossed for an unmarked Lakis to head home. But Figo redeemed himself a little on the hour when he crossed for Pauleta to eventually hit home.
Portugal lined up: Ricardo, Miguel, Fernando Couto (Beto, 69 m), Jorge Andrade (Marco Caneira, 76 m), Rui Jorge (Rogério Matias, 72 m), Costinha, Figo, Rui Costa, Deco, Boa Morte (Simão, 46 m), Pauleta
The stadium was full (30,000) for the inauguration, but the atmosphere not so good. The Portuguese are still coming to terms with some unfortunate declarations from coach Scolari Friday (including the implication that he is prejudiced against the North and FC Porto in particular, the absence of Baía in the squad being criticised the length and breadth of the country). He was jeered throughout, and the less than brilliant performance by his side really was not able to warm the fans to him.
The almost 30,000 tickets issued for Saturday's friendly between Portugal and Greece, which will inaugurate the new Municipal Stadium at Aveiro, had to be returned and replaced. The plan of the stadium printed on the tickets was wrong.
Petit is out of the Portugal squad for the game through injury.
The players mysteriously failed to show up to a post-training press conference at the National Stadium Thursday.
Felipe Scolari has named his squad for the upcoming friendlies against Greece and Kuwait. Surprises are the return of Caneira, Petit, Nuno Gomes and Rogério Matias. Players like Ronaldo, Quaresma and Hélder Postiga have been called up for the U-21s.
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Sporting), Quim (Sp. Braga);Defenders: Miguel (Benfica), Caneira (Bordeaux), Jorge Andrade (D. Corunha), Fernando Couto (Lázio), Rogério Matias (V. Guimarães), Beto and Rui Jorge (Sporting);Midfielders: Petit (Benfica), Rui Costa (A.C. Milan), Luís Figo (Real Madrid), Costinha and Deco (FC Porto);Forwards: Luís Boa Morte (Fulham), Simão (Benfica), Pauleta (PSG), Nuno Gomes (Benfica).
Luís Figo told cable TV channel SportTV Monday that he will give up the Selecção after Euro 2004, but will continue to play for Real Madrid [or for whichever other club he finds himself with at the time]. Assistant to Felipe Scolari with the National Squad, Agostinho Oliveira, has already begun to single out possible substitutes for the influential player: Simão Sabrosa (Benfica), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Ricardo Quaresma (Barcelona) and Marco Ferreira (FC Porto) are some of the possiibe options, according to the veteran coach.
Portugal drew the short straw in the draw for the U-21 Euro play-offs Monday: they got France! First legs are on the 15th/16th November, second legs 18th/19th. The tournament itself will be played out May 17-June 8. The complete draw was:
Germany - TurkeyPORTUGAL - FranceDenmark - ItalySerbia and Montenegro - NorwayBielorussia - PolandSweden - SpainCroatia - ScotlandSwitzerland - Czech Republic
Portugal beat Albania 5-3 Saturday, but the score belied various failings in the Portuguese side, apart from the fact that at least two of the Portuguese goals were gifts from a shaky Albanian 'keeper.
It was the 100th game for central defender and captain Fernando Couto, and a record 36th in a row for PSG's Pauleta (beating the record previously set by Mário Coluna in the 60s), but the Selecção das Quinas never impressed, and indeed, in the first half it was the Albanians that looked the more 'together' side.
Figo scored a typical Figo goal on six minutes, cutting in from the right and feinting past two defenders to drive a shot through the 'keeper, but although Pauleta hit the woodwork twice, it was Albania who proved the more effective, nabbing two before the break through Aliaj and Tare, the latter on the stroke of half time, which brought a chorus of jeers as the Portuguese side went off at the break
In fact, there weren't many fans at the game, played at the Belenenses Stadium in Restelo, on the outskirts of Lisbon. But those that were there were at least treated to a kind of comeback (although this is not what was needed - a comeback against Albania!?) in the second half. With Simão, Hugo Viana and Ricardo Carvalho on the pitch, Portugal looked a little better, and Simão it was who equalised on 50, followed by goals from Rui Costa and Pauleta to make it 4-2. Aliaj forced another goal on the hour, though, and it was left to Miguel on 65 minutes to finally give Portugal a bit of breathing space.
This was a victory for Portugal, it's true, but what is worrying is the fact that for long spells, Portugal seemed like they didn't have any smooth cohesion between the sections, while Albania regularly showed that they had automatisms created and working. With only half a dozen preparation games left for Portugal before the real thing, Scolari should be worried. And if he isn't, then Portuguese fans should be worried.
Portugal lined up:Ricardo (Quim, 68m), Paulo Ferreira (Miguel, 62m), Fernando Couto, Jorge Andrade (Ricardo Carvalho, 46m), Rui Jorge (Nuno Valente, 62m), Costinha (Beto, 75m), Tiago (Hugo Viana, 46m), Figo (Boa Morte, 68m), Rui Costa (Frechaut, 64m), Ronaldo (Simão, 46m), Pauleta.
Portugal U-21s strolled past Slovakia 4-1 Friday to go into the play-offs for next year's Euro Championship for the level. Barcelona's Ricardo Quaresma gave Portugal an early lead on nine minutes, and the only time they looked at all rattled was when Slovakia managed an equaliser on 14 through Jez. The rest of the half belonged to Portugal, Lourenço of Sporting and Hélder Postiga of Tottenham adding one each. Portugal took their foot off the accelerator in the second half, but were home free with a fourth goal five minutes from time through Hélder Postiga once again. The draw for the play-offs will take place on Monday in Frankfurt, and the games will be over two legs on the 15th and 19th of November.
Portugal lined up: Moreira, Mário Sérgio, Ricardo Costa, João Paulo, Hugo Luz, Bosingwa, Raul Meireles (Ednilson, 74 m), Danny (Carlos Martins, 49 m), Ricardo Quaresma (Cândido Costa, 85 m), Hélder Postiga, Lourenço
Felipe Scolari called up FC Porto's in-form central defender Ricardo Carvalho for the upcoming friendly against Albania. Also called up are Ronaldo of Manchester United and Hugo Viana of Newcastle. Out are Fernando Meira of Stuttgart, FC Porto's Maniche and Sérgio Conceição of Lázio. Fernando Couto of Lázio is set to make his 100th appearance.
The squad:Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Sporting), Quim (Sporting Braga)Defenders: Nuno Valente & Ricardo Carvalho (FC Porto), Fernando Couto (Lázio), Jorge Andrade (Deportivo), Beto & Rui Jorge (Sporting), Miguel (Benfica)Midfielders: Costinha & Deco (FC Porto), Frechaut (Boavista), Rui Costa (AC Milan), Hugo Viana (Newcastle)Forwards: Luís Boa Morte (Fulham), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Pauleta (PSG), Figo (Real Madrid), Simão (Benfica)
The National Team will play Albania at Belenenses' Restelo Stadium on October 11th, and they will play Kuwait at what will be the inauguration of Leiria's Stadium on November 19th. (see results/fixtures)
National Team Coach, the Brazilian Felipe Scolari, is back in Brazil. He walked 18 kms to a Sanctuary near Goiânia to thank God for helping to get Brazil their fifth World Cup last year. He said "it just depends on faith and work" to achieve everything in life.
All being well, captain Fernando Couto will make his 100th appearance for the Selecção on October 11th in the friendly against Albania. His début was on 19/12/90 against the USA. He has scored six goals and has seen one red card.
While it was not a perfect performance, Portugal improved greatly on Saturday's form against Spain to beat Norway 1-0 in Oslo. The Portuguese appeared to have more heart for the fray, and there was more cohesion between the various sectors. Pauleta got the goal after just nine minutes from a neat through pass by Rui Costa. On the hour, Norway had a goal (Iverson) disallowed for an offside that didn't exist.
Coach Scolari refused to get euphoric, however: "We've still got a long way to go, and we may slip up again. But today we recovered well and the future's looking bright for us."
Portugal lined up:
Ricardo, Miguel, Fernando Couto, Jorge Andrade, Rui Jorge, Costinha, Frechaut (Beto), Figo, Rui Costa (Deco) Boa Morte, Pauleta.
A much-improved Portugal U-21 side (relative to the recent disappointment against Turkey) needed a goal scored with the hand of Tottenham's Hélder Postiga to beat England Tuesday at Everton's Goodison Park stadium in the North of England. Portugal got off to a bright start, Barcelona winger Quaresma clipping a free-kick from out wide on the left inside the near post. The first half hour then belonged to Portugal, but they let England claw their way back and on 37 minutes, the Portuguese defence failed to clear its lines and Barton rammed his shot past Moreira.
It was Moreira who kept Portugal in the game in the second half with a series of vital saves, while Hugo Viana of Newcastle was the most influential outfield player, tying the visitors' game together. Then ten minutes from time, Hélder Postiga guided the ball into the England goal with his hand and the three points were won, albeit illegally. Portugal keep their hopes alive of going through to the final stages of the European Championship at this level. Their final game is against Slovakia.
Giant striker John Carew is out of Norway's squad to play Portugal in a friendly Wednesday's friendly after he was in a tussle with Riise in training. The Valencia (loaned to Roma) player was sent home.
Meanwhile, coach Felipe Scolari is likely to make three changes to his starting line-up relative to the team that played and lost so dismally to Spain Saturday. Andrade, Boa Morte and Frechaut will replace Fernando Meira, Sérgio Conceição and Maniche respectively, the latter injured.
FC Porto midfielder Maniche has been relieved from national team duty with an injured thigh. There is a slight doubt over whether Figo will be fit for the midweek friendly against Norway. The real Madrid forward has a shoulder problem, picked up in the Spanish game.
The National squad's training session scheduled for Sunday was cancelled, the players spending the day in their hotel "recuperating", according the the FPF, after their demoralising defeat at the hands of Spain Saturday.
Portugal put in yet another sorry performance in their preparation for next year's EURO 2004, this time against eternal rivals Spain, losing, and deservedly so, 0-3. (See match reports). Portugal haven't beaten Spain in over 20 years, and Portuguese coach Felipe Scolari was the first to admit that Spain were superior on the night. The match was the first international at Vitória de Guimarães newly upgraded D. Afonso Henriques stadium.
Portugal's U-21s lost 1-2 at home to their Turkish counterparts Friday and put at risk their qualification for the European Championships at this level. Portugal, with on paper a dream team of a midfield/forward line (Hugo Viana, Tiago and Bosingwa in the middle, Cristiano Ronaldo, Hélder Postiga and Quaresma in attack) had most of the possession but could not convert the many chances that came their way, while Turkey had few attacks but made the most of them. Kemal put Turkey in front ten minutes before half-time, Sporting's Lourenço, on as sub, equalised ten minutes into the second half but Halil qualified Turkey automatically for the finals a quarter of an hour from the end.
Spain's coach Iñaki Saez has admitted that he would really rather not be playing such a difficult team as Portugal (scheduled for Saturday) at this time, given that Spain have not yet qualified for EURO 2004 and have a vital tie against the Ukraine next Wednesday.
Benfica winger Simão Sabrosa has been released from international duty because of an injured foot. He will miss the upcoming friendlies against Spain and Norway (06/09 and 10/09 respectively) but will not be replaced.
Felipe Scolari's squad was named Saturday to face Spain and Norway in upcoming friendlies. Vítor Baía is still not in Scolari's good books, but Boavista's Frechaut returns as does Sporting Braga's 'keeper Quim as understudy to Sporting's Ricardo.
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Sporting), Quim (Sp. Braga)Defenders: Fernando Couto (Lazio), Rui Jorge (Sporting), Beto (Sporting) Fernando Meira (Stuttgart), Jorge Andrade (Deportivo), Miguel (Benfica), Nuno Valente (FC Porto), Frechaut (Boavista)Midfielders: Rui Costa (AC Milan), Deco (FC Porto), Maniche (FC Porto), Costinha (FC Porto), Sérgio Conceição (Lazio), Luís Figo (Real Madrid)Forwards: Simão Sabrosa (Benfica), Pauleta (Paris Saint-Germain), Boa Morte (Fulham)
Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Vale, Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana, Hélder Postiga and Tiago have all been called up for the U-21s who face England and Turkey shortly in the European qualifiers for that level.
Portugal beat, but far from convincingly, Kazakhstan Wednesday. Simão Sabrosa got the only goal on 64 minutes after a faulty clearance by Soloshenko.
Ricardo (Bruno Vale(, Miguel, Fernando Meira (Jorge Andrade), Fernando Couto, Rui Jorge (Nuno Valente), Costinha (Maniche), (Rui costa (Cristiano Ronaldo), Hugo Viana, Luis Figo (Simao), Pauleta (Heeder Postiga)
Felipe Scolari has named his squad to face Kazakhstan next week. The surprises are a call-up for 18-year-old winger Cristiano Ronaldo, recently signed by Manchester United from Sporting, and FC Porto's third choice ´keeper Bruno Vale. The latter choice has caused some consternation in the Porto camp, being seen as a snub to first choice ´keeper Vítor Baía, inexplicably out of favour with Scolari.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Sporting), Bruno Vale (FC Porto).Defenders: Miguel (Benfica), Fernando Couto (Lázio), Fernando Meira (Stuttgart), Jorge Andrade (Coruña), Rui Jorge (Sporting), Nuno Valente (FC Porto)Midfielders: Costinha/Maniche/Deco (FC Porto), Rui Costa (Milan), Hugo Viana (Newcastle)Forwards: Figo (Real Madrid), Simão (Benfica), Cristiano Ronaldo (M. Utd), Pauleta (PSG), Postiga (Tottenham).
Portugal have dropped one place in the FIFA rankings to 16th, mainly due to the lack of competitive games (Portugal qualify automatically for EURO 2004 as hosts). The top places:
1. Brazil 2. France3. Spain4. Holland5. México6. Argentina7. Turkey8. Germany9. USA10. England11. Czech Republic12. Denmark12. Camaroon14. Italy15. Ireland16. Portugal
Portugal lost 0-2 to Italy in the final of the U-19 European Championship Saturday. Della Rocca and Pazzoni got the goals for Italy on 2 and 26 minutes respectively. Portugal put pressure on in the second half, but their heads eventually went and they were guilty of some horrific clashes with Italian players (Amoreirinha should have been sent off twice, once for stomping on the head of an Italian forward, once for kicking another forward in the back), Flávio Igor actually did two minutes from time for a potentially leg-breaking tackle in midfield.
Portugal's U-19s beat Austria 6-3 Wedensday to go through to the final of the European Championship, in which they will play Italy (who beat the Czech Republic 1-0). Portugal had to go to the Silver Goal to beat Austria (3-3, 6-3)
Samsung is the new sponsor of the National Team.
Portugal's friendly away to Norway, scheduled for September 10th, will probably not now take place owing to a disagreement between the respective associations with regard to fees. Portugal are likely to re-arrange another game for the same date, this time on home soil.
Portugal have dropped from 14th to 15th in the FIFA rankings, overtaken by the Republic of Ireland. Brazil remain top, while France take over from Spain in second place.
Portugal U-20s beat Italy 3-1 in the final of the Toulon Tournament Saturday. They had beaten Turkey to earn their place in the final, and started strongly. After 26 minutes, however, Hugo Almeida was sent off for elbowing. But Portugal did not fold, and before the break, Italy also had a players sent off: Vovo.
In the second half, another Italian player, Gastaldello, saw a red, but nevertheless they went in front on 68 minutes through Ruopolo. Portuguese coach Rui Caçador amde changes and these were to prove vital. Sub João Paiva equalised on 73, then another sub Danny put Portugal in front for the first time on 77. Following the goal, there was trouble between the two benches, and an Italian coach appeared to have been assaulted. The game was held up for around ten minutes, but when they resumed, Portugal showed all the composure in the world to hang on to their lead and then extend it in the dying seconds through João Paiva once again.
It is Portugal's third Toulon win; they also won in 1992 and 2001.
Portugal's U-20 side faltered Tuesday in the Toulon Tournament. After beating England and Argentina, both by 3-0, the Portuguese came up against a brick wall in the form of the Japanese, and despite dominating they lost to a goal in added time. Portugal must now beat Turkey in their last group game to be sure of going through to the next phase.
Portugal beat Bolivia easily in a friendly at the National Stadium near Lisbon Tuesday in front of a poor crowd; it was a national holiday (Dia de Portugal) and the weather was more conducive to the beach than football.
The game, arguably irrelevant as preparation for Euro 2004, was notable for the 4-0 scoreline, Scolari playing two strikers, the two goals by young FC Porto striker Hélder Postiga and the début at the top level of Sporting's winger Ricardo Quaresma, on as sub.
Portugal dominated throughout and were 3-0 up at half time, all headers from Jorge Andrade, Fernando Couto and Postiga. Postiga added a second to his tally in the second half, knocking in at the back post an inch-perfect long pass from Hugo Viana.
Portugal lined up:Ricardo (Quim, 60 m), Paulo Ferreira (Silas, 64 m), Fernando Couto (Beto, 57 minutos), Jorge Andrade, Rui Jorge (Rogério Matias, 46 m), Sérgio Conceição, Maniche (Luís Loureiro, 46 m), Tiago, Hugo Viana, Hélder Postiga, Pauleta (Quaresma, 46 m).
FC Porto midfielder Deco has pulled out of the Selecção's friendly with Bolivia Tuesday through injury. A torn muscle in his thigh has betrayed him. Scolari has already had to call up young players Tiago (Benfica), Hugo Viana (Newcastle) and Quaresma (Sporting) to replace Figo, Rui Costa and Fernando Meira (see below).
Figo, Rui Costa and Fernando Meira will be rested for the friendly against Bolivia at the National Stadium Tuesday. The FPF have decided to pre-empt any potential problems with their release by the respective clubs for future preparation games in the run-up to the Euro 2004 proper. FIFA regulations state that clubs are only obliged to cede players for eight games in any calendar year. By December, Portugal will have played 12, thus the caution.
Portugal drew 0-0 with Paraguay Friday in a friendly played at Sporting de Braga's 1º de Maio Stadium in front of 17,000 spectators. Portugal had most of the possession and most of the chances, but they could not make the domination pay against a well-organised Paraguayan defence.
Portugal lined up:Ricardo, Paulo Ferreira (Silas, 75 m), Fernando Meira, Fernando Couto, Rui Jorge, Luís Loureiro (Deco, 46 m), Maniche, Rui Costa; Figo, Pauleta (Hélder Postiga, 60 m), Sérgio Conceição.
Meanwhile, in Group 7 of the qualifiers for the European Championship, Portugal's U-21 team did a little better against Macedonia in Skopje, beating the local side 4-1 with goals by Makukula , Tiago, Jorge Ribeiro and Bruno Alves, Postolov getting a consolation five minutes from time.
Portugal lined up:Moreira, Pedro Neves, Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Jorge Ribeiro, Ednilson (Bosingwa, 72 m), Tiago (Manuel José, 73 m), Hugo Viana, Ricardo Quaresma (Lourenço, 85 m), Makukula, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portugal play Paraguay in Braga on Friday in a friendly to prepare for next year's Euro 2004 championship. The squad:
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Boavista), Quim (Braga)Defenders: Paulo Ferreira (FC Porto), Beto and Rui Jorge (Sporting), Fernando Couto (Lazio), Rogério Matías (Vitória de Guimarães). Fernando Meira (Stuttgart), Jorge Andrade (Dep. Coruña)Midfielders: Luis Loureiro (Gil Vicente), Maniche and Deco (FC Porto), Sérgio Conceição (Inter Milan), Figo (Real Madrid), Rui Costa (AC Milan), Hugo Viana (Newcastle), tiago (Benfica), Silas (União de Leiria).Forwards: Quaresma (Sporting), Pauleta (Bordeaux), Hélder Postiga (FC Porto).
Silas has been called in to replace the injured Simão Sabrosa.
Portugal are Champions of Europe at Under 17 level. In a thrilling final in Viseu against Spain, midfielder Márcio Sousa gave Portugal the lead with a dipping volley on the run from the edge of the box after 21 minutes. Sanchez headed Spain level just after the break, but it was Sousa again who hit a lofted free-kick from the right to give Portugal the trophy. Austria were third, beating England 2-1 in the consolation game.
Portugal's U-17 side beat England 3-2 Wednesday to go through to the final of the European Championship being held in Portugal. They now meet Spain in the final on Saturday.
The friendly between the USA and Portugal, scheduled for June 5th (see below) has been cancelled, apparently due to differences over sponsorship of the game and other marketing factors. The Portuguese team may still travel to the USA later in the year. Meanwhile, Paraguay and Colombia have been mooted as possible oppents for the Selecção, this time at home, on June 6th and 10th (yet to be confirmed).
Portugal will play the USA on June 5th (early morning of the 6th in Europe) at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The match will be preceded by a Major League Soccer match between Revolution and Dallas.
Portugal drew 1-1 with Holland in Eindhoven Wednesday in another game of preparation for Euro 2004. In a game of varying phases of pressure, Kluivert put Holland in front on 26 minutes and Benfica winger Simão's shot deflected off Frank de Boer on 77 for the equaliser. Portugal lined up:
Ricardo, Miguel, Fernando Meira, Fernando Couto, Rui Jorge, Tiago (Luís Loureiro), Maniche (Sérgio Conceição), Luís Figo (Hugo Viana), Rui Costa (Deco), Simão, Pauleta (Nuno Gomes).
The U-21s drew 2-2 with Norway in a friendly Tuesday. Makukula and his substitute Pedro Oliveira got Portugal's goals, sandwiching those by Karadas and Ystaas . Portugal lined up:
Moreira, Pedro Neves (Ricardo Pessoa), Bruno Alves, Santamaria (Cadu), Jorge Ribeiro; Ednilson (Joca), Manuel José (Lourenço), João Paulo (Raul Meireles), Ricardo Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo (Danny), Makukula (Pedro Oliveira).
Felipe Scolari named his 19-man squad Friday for the upcoming friendly with Holland in Eindhoven (April 30th). There are no real surprises, except perhaps the continued absence of Vítor Baía ; the FC Porto goalkeeper is going through an excellent patch of form, and his confidence level is high. The full squad:
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Boavista), Quim (Sporting Braga)Defenders: Rogério Matias (Vitória de Guimarães), Fernando Meira (Stuttgart), Fernando Couto (Lázio), Beto and Rui Jorge (Sporting), Miguel (Benfica)Midfielders: Luís Loureiro (Gil Vicente), Deco and Maniche (FC Porto), Tiago (Benfica), Hugo Viana (Newcastle), Sérgio Conceição (Inter Milan), Rui Costa (Milan), Luís Figo (Real Madrid)Forwards: Nuno Gomes and Simão (Benfica), Pauleta (Bordeaux)
Portugal's Brazilian coach Felipe Scolari told CBN Radio (Brazil) Wednesday that after Euro 2004, he hopes to stay in Europe for four or five years, but with a club because he misses the day-to-day contact with the players.
Scolari will name his squad for the friendly with Holland in Eindhoven (April 30th) on Friday, after the possible injury situation is known of FC Porto and Boavista players, involved in Thursday night's UEFA cup semi-finals.
Portugal maintain 12th place in the FIFA rankings published Wednesday. Brazil remain top.
The FPF are heading for a clash with the clubs, specifically FC Porto and União de Leiria. The clubs want the Cup Final to be brought forward to give the players more of a break in the summer,. but the FPF is sticking to the date (June 15th), saying that it was set in May 2002 and agreed then by the clubs. The National Team has the dates of June 7th and 11th set aside for friendlies, yet to be finalised since the tour to the Far East was called off. A tour of the USA is now in the pipeline.
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) have announced that the tour of the Far-East, scheduled for June, has had to be cancelled owing to the threat of the burgeoning SARS epidemic.
Portugal continued their good beginning with Felipe Scolari at the helm when they beat Macedonia 1-0 Wednesday in Lausanne, Switzerland. Luís Figo, back in the team after injury, scored the only goal on 25 minutes (his 28th for Portugal) following a touch from Sérgio Conceição. He was substituted on 57 minutes by Simão, and newcomer Deco only came on after 63, so the two have yet to play together. Figo was openly critical of the recent naturalisation of the Brazilian Deco.
Portugal lined up:Ricardo, Paulo Ferreira, Fernando Meira (Jorge Andrade), Fernando Couto, Rui Jorge (Rogério Matias), Costinha, Maniche (Luís Loureiro), Rui Costa (Deco), Sérgio Conceição (Silas), Pauleta (Nuno Gomes), Figo (Simão).
Midfielder Silas of União de Leiria and Rogério Matías of Vitória de Guimarães made their débuts for the Selecção. There have been 19 débuts since the World Cup fiasco, seven of them under Scolari: Paulo Ferreira, João Manuel Pinto, Nuno Valente, Jorge Silva, Neca, Marco Ferreira, Romeu, Ricardo Rocha, Tiago, Jorge Ribeiro, Pedro Mendes and Nuno Assis (with Agostinho Oliveira as coach), and Pedro Mendes, Hélder Postiga, Miguel, Maniche, Deco, Silas and Rogério Matias (under Scolari).
Portugal U-21s beat Slovakia 2-0 Tuesday in Group 7 of the qualifiers for the European Championship at that level. FC Porto's Hélder Postiga got the goals early in both halves. Turkey head the group on ten points, Portugal are second on nine and England third on seven. Portugal play Macedonia away next, on June 6th.
Portugal U-19s drew 0-0 with Russia Wednesday and qualified for the final eight of the European Championship, to be held in Liechtenstein in July.
Luís Figo is fit again and ready to play against Macedonia Wednesday, according to the doctor to the Selecção, Henrique Jones. Figo had been ruled out of the game against Brazil apparently because of 'muscle fatigue', but some thought that it had more to do with a difference of opinion between him and coach Felipe Scolari. Figo was a vociferous opponenet of having naturalised Brazilian Deco in the squad.
The Portugal v Brazil game, screened Saturday by fourth channel TVI, gained 59% of TV audience share. The only other game that has had a similar share was the Portugal v Brazil friendly played at Alavalade before the World Cup campaign in 2002, which had a 62% share. The latter had the bigget audience of the year.
The Portuguese Selecção (at least those who were not starters in the game against Brazil) trained again Sunday ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Macedonia, to be played in Lausanne in Switzerland.
Portugal put in an accomplished performance to beat old rivals Brazil 2-1 Saturday, for the first time since the 1966 World Cup.(See match reports). The friendly, played at the Antas in front of 40,000 rain-sodden fans, was the début of FC Porto players Maniche and, in the second half, Deco - the freshly naturalised Brazilian ... who score the winner. Figo was absent, suffering from muscular fatigue. Roberto Carlos was sent off five minutes from time for a physical gesture against the Egyptian referee.
Rui Costa was 31 on Saturday, and had a good game.
Portugal U-21s beat England 4-2 in Rio Maior Friday. The game, a qualifier for the European Championships at this level, was littered with defensive errors. It was 2-2 at half-time, Helder Postiga and Quaresma scoring for Portugal, Ameobi two for England. Sub Carlos Martins and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal the points in the second half. The teams lined up:
Portugal: Moreira, Mário Sérgio, Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Jorge Ribeiro, Bosingwa, Tiago, Hugo Viana( Carlos Martins), Ricardo Quaresma (Lourenço), Hélder Postiga, Cristiano Ronaldo (Makukula).
England: Bywater, Samuel, Bramble (Crouch), Barry, Konchesky, Carrick (Stewart), Dawson, Prutton (Pennant), Joe Cole, Ameobi, Defoe.
There are going to be 350 police on duty at the Antas Stadium in Porto for the friendly with Brazil Saturday. The game is expected to be a sell-out (50,000).
Rogério Matias, the Vitória de Guimarães defender, has been called up to the Portuguese squad ahead of Saturday's Portugal v Brazil friendly, to replace FC Porto's left back Mário Silva, who has withdrawn through injury. The squad has joined up and began training Tuesday at the National Stadium on the outskirts of Lisbon.
Felipe Scolari has named his squad for the two upcoming friendlies (see below), and as expected, FC Porto's recently naturalised 'Brazilian' midfielder Deco is amongst the chosen. Also present is another FC Porto midfielder Maniche, who has had a magnificent season at the club. The squad is:
FC PORTO: Deco, Maniche, Costinha, Mário Silva and Paulo Ferreira.BENFICA: Miguel, Nuno Gomes, Ricardo Rocha and Simão.MILAN: Rui Costa.BOAVISTA: Ricardo.BORDEAUX: Pauleta.GIL VICENTE: Luís Loureiro.INTER MILAN: Sérgio Conceição.LAZIO: Fernando Couto.D. CORUNHA: Jorge Andrade.REAL MADRID: Figo.SP. BRAGA: Quim.SPORTING: Rui Jorge.U. LEIRIA: Silas.STUTTGART: Fernando Meira.V. GUIMARÃES: Pedro Mendes.
The main absences from the squad are FC Porto's ´keeper Vítor Baía, Sporting's João Pinto and Benfica's Petit. Tiago of Benfica and Hélder Postiga of FC Porto, who might have expected to be called up, are in the U-21 squad to play England in the European Championship qualifier on March 28th.
Portugal play Brazil on March 29th in FC Porto's Antas Stadium, and Macedonia on April 2nd in Geneva. The players come together on Tuesday March 25th at the National stadium on the outskirts of Lisbon.
Scolari will be using a Brazilian psychologist, Regina Brandão, to help him prepare the players for these friendlies and ultimately for Euro 2004 itself.
Felipe Scolari will name his squad for the upcoming friendly against Brazil on Thursday. There is great anticipation in Portugal as to whether FC Pporto midfielder Deco will be included.
The time is fast approaching for Scolari to name his squad for the friendly against Brazil on March 29th, and all the talk is of the possibility of him calling up the recently naturalised Brazilian/ Portuguese midfielder Deco. Luís Figo and Rui Costa have already intimated that they would not welcome his call-up, and the latest poll run by A Bola On-line backs-up their view: "Do you think the call-up of Deco could destabilise the Selecção?" was the question. 60% said that it would, 40% that it wouldn't.
FPF President Gilberto Madaíl said Friday that he is in favour of clubs being recompensed if their players are called up to play for their respective National Teams. But he also said that the respective federations could also be recompensed if players are transferred at a profit on the basis of having played for their country.
According to a poll run by Rádio Renascença and SportTV, 59% of Portuguese welcome Brazilian midfielder Deco, naturalised Portuguese, into the Selecção. 34% do not want him there.
National coach Felipe Scolari has begun his scouting trips at Portuguese clubs, beginning with Benfica. He watched the team's training session at Massamá Thursday.
Portugal maintain 11th place in the FIFA rankings announced Wednesday. Brazil remain top.
13/02/03The 'Scolari Era' got off to a less than famous start Wednesday when the Selecção lost 0-1 to Italy in Genova. Despite the insistence from the Brazilian coach that he will only begin to make the players responsible for results in five months' time, there was some disappointment that the new-look National Team did not come up with a better display and result. Luís Figo said: "This is a phase in which we're still trying to assimilate the new coach's ideas. In the first half, Italy were more dominant and controlled the game, while we improved in the second half, although we conceded the goal in that period. No one likes to lose and we're upset about it, but it's better that this type of result happens now."
Corradi got the Italian goal on the hour, following up a shot from Miccoli parried by Ricardo.
The teams lined up:
Italy: Toldo (Buffon), Panucci, Nesta, Cannavaro (Legrottaglie), Zambrotta, Camoranesi (Fiore), Perrotta, Cristiano Zanetti (Ambrosini), Delvecchio (Birindelli), Miccoli and Corradi (Filippo Inzaghi).
Portugal: Ricardo, Ricardo Rocha (Luís Loureiro), Fernando Meira, Fernando Couto (Jorge Andrade), Sérgio Conceição (Paulo Ferreira), Tiago (Hélder Postiga), Rui Costa (Pedro Mendes), Nuno Valente (Rui Jorge), Luís Figo, Simão (Luís Boa Morte) e Pauleta (Miguel).
12/02/03The National Team flew out to Genova, Italy, Tuesday ahead of their friendly Wednesday. The squad had two training session on Portuguese soil and will not train again before the game.
The U-21 team beat Switzerland 2-1 in a friendly in Faro to prepare for the U-21 European Championship, the first game of which is against England on March 28th. Portugal scored early, Makukula converting a Quaresma cross, and they were two-up after 27 minutes, Carlos Martins cracking in a shot from the edge of the area. Switzerland got a consolation late on through Andre Muff, with 'keeper Moreira at fault.
FPF president Gilberto Madaíl said Wednesday that outstanding bonuses to National Team players will be paid shortly. Madaíl will be eager to avoid the type of disruption caused by discussions with the players over taxation of bonuses during the ill-fated World Cup campaign.
11/02/03Filipe Scolari took his first training session as National Team Coach Monday at the National Stadium, on the outskirts of Lisbon, ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Italy . If the practice match that took place was anything to go by, Scolari's first team for the game should be:
Ricardo, Jorge Andrade, Fernando Meira, Fernando Couto, Sérgio Conceição, Tiago, Nuno Valente, Figo, Rui Costa, Boa Morte, Pauleta.
FC Porto's midfielder Costinha was injured in Sunday's league match against Vitória de Guimarães and was replaced in the squad by Luis Loureiro of Gil Vicente.
The building of The Casa das Selecções, a training camp planned to accommodate the National Teams, has had to be halted. The location of the camp, near Sintra on the outskirts of Lisbon, was found to have valuable traces of the Roman civilisation and.
U-21 coach José Romão has announced his squad for the friendly against Switzerland next Tuesday:
Carlos Martins and Manuel José (Académica), Bruno Aguiar and Pedro Neves (Alverca), Bosingwa (Boavista), Beto (Casa Pia), Danny (Marítimo), Bruno Alves (Farense), Santamaria (Marco), Makukula (Nantes), Mário Sérgio (Paços Ferreira), Ricardo Costa (F. C. Porto), Moreira (Benfica), Cristiano Ronaldo, João Paulo and Ricardo Quaresma (Sporting), Hugo Almeida (União de Leiria), Jorge Ribeiro (Varzim) Cândido Costa and Mário Carlos (Vitória de Setúbal)
06/02/03Filipe Scolari made his first call-up as National Team Coach Thursday. The squad to face Italy in Genoa on February 12th is:
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Boavista), Quim (Sporting Braga)Defenders: Nuno Valente and Paulo Ferreira (FC Porto), Ricardo Rocha (Benfica), Caneira (Bordeaux), Fernando Couto (Lázio), Rui Jorge (Sporting), Jorge Andrade (Deportivo)Midfielders: Costinha (FC Porto), Miguel and Tiago (Benfica), Rui Costa (AC Milan), Sérgio Conceição (Inter Milan), Pedro Mendes (Vitória de Guimarães), Fernando Meira (Stuttgart), Silas (União de Leiria)Forwards: Hélder Postiga (FC Porto), Simão (Benfica), Pauleta (Bordeaux), Luís Boa Morte (Fulham), Luís Figo (Real Madrid).
There are one or two surprises in the squad. Miguel and Silas make their débuts in the 'A' Team, and there is no place for Vítor Baía, having one of his best seasons for FC Porto, João Pinto , until recently suspended from international activity, and Benfica's Nuno Gomes and Petit. Asked about the absence of these players, Scolari said that he only comments on those who are in the squad.
José Romão has been appointed coach of Portugal's U-21 team. He replaces Rui Caçador, who shifts to the U-20s. Romão was an assistant to António Oliveira during Portugal's ill-fated World Cup campaign in Korea.
22/01/03The Portugal 'B' Team beat Slovenia 3-2 Tuesday in Rio Maior, 60 kms north of Lisbon, in the first match of the Torneio Vale do Tejo. Slovenia scored first on 17 minutes through Ermin, fed by Benfica midfielder Zahovic. Three minutes later, União de Leiria midfielder Silas, wanted by various English clubs, equalised with a fine solo effort. Zahovic himself was on the scoresheet on 36 minutes, converting a penalty given away by Porto's Ricardo Carvalho. Vitória de Guimarães midfielder Nuno Assis provided some relief before the break by equalising once again for Portugal.
Portugal proved marginally superior to their vistors in the second half and clinched the win on 70 minutes through Rui Miguel of Vitória de Setúbal, finishing off a cross by Bessa. The match was watched by National Team coach Felipe Scolari, who can only have been pleased with what he saw.
Portugal lined up: Paulo Lopes (Salgueiros), Bessa (Vitória de Guimarães), Ricardo Carvalho (FC Porto), Ricardo Silva (Vitória de Guimarães) (Pedro Henriques - Santa Clara), Fredy (Académica) (Miguel - Benfica), Lucas (Académica) (Flávio Meireles - Moreirense), Nuno Assis (Vitória de Guimarães) Silas (União de Leiria), Fangueiro (Vitória de Guimarães) (Tonel - Académica), Rui Lima (Vitória de Setúbal) (Ricardo Sousa - Beira-Mar), Rui Miguel (Vitória de Setúbal).
Portugal will play the USA in the 'final' of the tournament Wednesday. They beat Russia on penalties after the game had ended in a 1-1 draw. The Portugal v USA match will be a chance for the Portuguese to get a little bit of revenge for the shock defeat at the hands of the Americans in the opening match of last summer's World Cup. Slovenia and Russia will play for third place, also on Wednesday.
Portugal will play South Korea in early June, probably the 8th or 11th. The news was confirmed by the new South Korea coach Humberto Coelho. The game will be part of a tri-nation competition called 'The Korea Cup', Argentina being the other country to take part.
The Portugal 'B' squad for the up-coming Torneio Vale do Tejo has been named by coach Agostinho Oliveira, 'demoted' since the arrival of Felipe Scolari as 'A' Team coach. The squad looks like this:
Vitória de Guimarães: Bessa, Fangueiro, Nuno Assis, Ricardo Silva, Rogério Matías;Académica: Fredy, Lucas, Tonel;Beira-Mar: Areias, Ricardo Sousa, Toni;Santa Clara: Pedro Henriques;FC Porto: Ricardo Carvalho;Moreirense: Flávio Meireles;Sporting Braga: Castanheira;Salgueiros: Paulo Lopes;Benfica: Miguel;União de Leiria: Silas;Varzim: João Paulo, Miguel;Vitória de Setúbal: Rui Lima, Rui Miguel.
Portugal 'B' open against Slovenia next Tuesday.
Portugal remains in 11th place in the FIFA rankings, published Wednesday. The top eleven looks like this:1 BRAZIL2 France3 Spain4 Germany5 Argentina6 Holland7 Turkey8 England9 Mexico10 The USA11 PORTUGAL
The Brazilian Felipe Scolari has arrived in Portugal to take up his post as national team coach. His first comments were that he was going to "revolutionise the attitudes of the Portuguese players" and that while FC Porto's star midfielder Deco remains Brazilian, he will not be considered as a potential reinforcement to the squad. Scolari begins Tuesday to prepare the ground for his first test: Italy in Genoa on February 12th.


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|Central Florida Zoo
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|Central Florida Zoo
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Seen on a kitchen plaque: God must have loved calories...He made so many of them.ReplyDelete
Yeah, and I know where most of them are...on my butt and gut.Delete
I was in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 today (go and read it, its not a long chapter).......Anyway, here was some thoughts I had about it; maybe it can relate to you, maybe not, but I thought of it when I read your post.
Steps of victory based on what Jehosphat did in 2 Chronicles 20.
He identified the problem (vast army coming against them)
How he addressed the problem:
1. Inquired of God.
2. Proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
3. People came together to seek God.
Admit you can't solve the problem on your own. Jehosphat says "for we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We don't know what to do but our eyes are upon you (Lord).
When they got word from God what to do, they believed and trusted. They had waited until they heard from him, they did not act on their own.
They immediately worshipped God even before the battle was won, praise dhim.
Even going into battle, they praised him, praised him for the splendor of his holiness, saying "give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever."
They saw God's great deliverance, they didn't even have to fight the battle and all their enemies were killed. After they got the plunder, they praised the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and went to the temple with harps, lutes, trumpets (I'm thinking all along praising God).
So I characterized it as problem solving God's way:
resolve to ask God
seek him
wait to move on it, don't act on your own
but when told to act, do so
Go into it always praising God and worshipping him
give thanks for him, even while going through the problem.
Realize God is the one fighting your battle, allow him to fight it,
don't take it back
don't try to control it.
Now to live like this.
now my thoughts about your situation, I truly understand.
God has said he has given you freedom, you need to grasp that, as you know and not let that pesky addiction sneak in.
Give it to God, as I know you have, don't take it back. Worship him, praise him, even in the struggles.
any of this make sense?
I'm sure I have the answer already, somewhere in my head. I wonder if is as simple as putting Him first, saying no to the desires of the flesh. Confusion can swallow me if I let it. I really like what you said here. God is fighting my battle, but I am doing my level best to control it. I think at one time I had that settled in my mind. Now, I don't even know if I can fast without an ulterior motive.
I don't know how I got from there to here...back in the pit. (However, today has been good...after one of the worse days EVER yesterday.) Surely there is some justice for me, for us who have struggled so, for everything that has been stolen from me because of this affliction.
I don't know why we do end up back in pits, but if you read through the Bible, I'm spending lots of time looking at the kings of Israel and Judah these days, it is amazing how some started out well, following God, and then turning and following idols. Makes you wonder why they would do something like that, yet in our own ways we are "guilty" of the same thing. I give something to God and take it back before "the ink has dried" so to speak.
Maybe retrace steps and see if there was some "event" that got you back there. A word said, a memory remembered, who knows. Might be interesting to bring it to God and ask him to reveal if there was something that did "set it off" so to speak.
"Who knew that getting back on the wagon after a fall would be much more difficult than the first time up there? Addiction doesn't care that I'd rather be riding in the wagon than walking this road."
Unfortunately, I knew. And if you recall my years long struggle to get back on plan, you'll see that I knew. So much failure made it look like I never had victory, I suppose...but I did.
What I DON:T know is "why"? Why is it harder to get back to victory. Or as I so frequently ask, "What switched the victory switch off to begin with--and why doesn't it switch back?"
All of the victorious "God has given me freedom" posts you wrote--I nodded thru them all. KNew the victory. Knew the feelings. Knew God's work on my behalf just as you did. Except that I read them with that knowledge being a memory, not a current event. As I read, my current event was failure and struggle and confusion. Some of what you'r feeling now.
I'm hoping that you, fresh from the fields where victory was won, will be able to figure out what's up with this. Why IS it so hard to get back--and I guess, how did we snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory to begin with?
Like you, I am certain God will be big in this situation and has a plan. I just don;t know what it is.
ack. This comment is much less positive than I feel about our eventual success. Hard to put a positive on this much confusion and struggle here in the trenches, tho.
The why! oh, if only we had the WHY of it... I do wonder if it's spiritual, like the the unclean spirit that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 12....how it comes back with seven times the vengeance, and I have ended up in worse shape than before. I know it's not the same thing, but I wonder if there's not a connection somehow.
In no way will I give up. I really need my former mind frame back...knowing it was not on my strength that I was successful...a horse is a vain hope for deliverance..or a diet plan is useless (Ps 33)
I flat refuse to stay in this state of confusion in the bottom of this pit. It was home too long for me. Justice...we are due some justice.

subset: commoncrawl


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John F. Kennedy once said, when speaking about America's dream of landing a man on the moon:
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
That is the perfect epitome of what drives animal-free food innovation. Many times, the most important dreams, goals, and aspirations we have are also the most difficult and challenging to achieve. But that is precisely what makes them worth striving for.
Fifteen years ago, when the destructive nature of meat production was well-known but useful alternatives were few, most people would have said that making meat without animals was impossible - that you could never fully replicate the taste, texture, smells and look of animal meat without animals. The only alternatives to meat at that time were veggie burgers and tofu products, which were uniformly terrible. So most people would likely have scoffed at the idea of animal-free food production as a solution to industrial meat farming. Conventional wisdom said the only way to make meat, dairy and eggs was with cows, pigs and chickens - period. Anything else was unrealistic or just delusional.
And yet, thanks to the sheer awfulness of industrial meat production, some people woke up to this global issue and decided that there had to be a better way - a new, innovative approach to producing meat, milk and eggs without sacrificing the environment, human health or our ethics towards animals. Some incredibly stubborn people kept imagining, working, and believing in a better way to make meat and animal products - and their efforts have finally paid off. Cultured and plant-based meats cannot only match or exceed the qualities of conventional meat; they have the potential to fully revolutionize our food culture, food production systems, and our collective imagination in how we think about meat and where it comes from. Animal-free meat production has untold benefits for the environment, health, animal welfare and enriching our overall consciousness toward food. And all because some intrepid individuals refused to settle for the status quo, and continued to push for a better way.
The innovation of meat is a powerful example of what's possible with dreams, imagination, and unyielding optimism, and illustrates why we should never give up on improving the world, no matter how impossible an idea might seem.


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OR Homes for Sale
Real Estate Listings: Homes for Sale in Oregon & Washington
2499 Beach Loop Dr SW
Bandon, OR 97411
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Type:Single Family
Source ID:17651292
Listed:501 days ago
2499 Beach Loop Dr SW
Bandon, OR 97411
Type:Single Family
Source ID:17651292
Listed:501 days ago
Published with Century 21 on 05/12.
Updated 08/14.
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Jean Lyon
Century 21 Best Realty, Inc. - Coos Bay
Phone: 541-347-9431
Century 21 Best Realty, Inc. - Coos Bay
605 North Bayshore Drive
Coos Bay, OR 97420
Phone: 541-267-2221
Home Description
Home Description
Outstanding OCEAN VIEW CUSTOM BEACH HOUSE built in 2006 by Stephen Bruce Fine Home Building. CEDAR shake siding. Professionally designed low maintenance landscaping with automatic sprinkler system, outdoor lighting, cedar fencing, flagstone paths. Inside features: 9 ft ceilings with can lights on dimmers, under cabinet lighting, large view windows, skylights. Flooring is tongue and groove bamboo in master bedroom, living room and dining area; porcelain tile in kitchen; marble with granite edging in master bath, slate floor in sun room. Custom birch cabinetry throughout with mahogany and purple heart trim. Granite tile counter tops. High-end appliances include Sub-Zero refrigerator, Dacor propane cooktop, Dacor electric oven, Dacor warming drawer, Miele dishwasher, LG front load washer and dryer. Spa master bath with 2-person Jacuzzi Whirlpool tub and 3x5 shower with two heads. Fireplace insert is Valor gas with granite tile and cabinetry surround. Upstairs: open floor plan with dining area, kitchen, living room, enclosed SUN ROOM, master suite. Downstairs: 2 bedrooms, bath, laundry. Generous storage and beautiful quality details throughout. Located within minutes of beach access at Face Rock Wayside! Watch the drone video for 2499 Beach Loop Dr SW, Bandon, OR on www.youtube.com
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text: Sipani Diamond Import Export Data - Import Export Company Sipani Diamond Export Import Data Sipani Diamond, is a premier company that exports and imports goods from countries including Hong Kong, and host of other countries. Sipani Diamond, is a premier company that exports and imports goods from countries including Hong Kong, and host of other countries. Address: 118 Prasad Chambers, Swadeshi Mills Compd. Opera House, City: Mumbai ,Maharashtra, State: Maharashtra, Pin: 400004Export ShipmentsSipani Diamond is a leading exporter of DIAMONDS CUT & POLISHED IN INDIA, having HS Codes 71023901. The company has its head office at 118 Prasad Chambers, Swadeshi Mills Compd. Opera House, Mumbai ,Maharashtra, Maharashtra400004. The company primarily exports products to Hong Kong and ships its consignments mainly to Kowloon.DateHS CodeProduct Exported India PortForeign CountryForeign Port QuantityUnit07-07-200371023901DIAMONDS CUT & POLISHED IN INDIABombay AirHong KongKowloon27Nos Sample Data Download * The above data is procured from the custom department of Indian Ports hence is highly reliable and authentic * The above pages is refreshed and updated on daily basis the current page was refreshed on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Top Similar Exporters:Suresh Brothers C Mahendra Exports Blue Star Shairu Gems Gitanjali Gems Ltd Dia Man Exports Pvt Kpsanghvi Sons Single Cut Star Diam Revashankar Gems Ltd Mehta Rattonsey Expo Uni Gem India Pvt Lt Ambika Diamonds Jbdiamonds Royal Diam Mohit Diamonds Impex Firestone Vallabhbhai Dhanjibh Dharmanandan Diamond Mehta Brothers D A Jhaveri B Vijaykumar Co Ippatel Co Niru Impex Vishindas Holaram Dimexon Diamonds Ltd Browse by Products : ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Browse by Companies : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Latest Export Import News DateSubject 26-09-2018Sale of VAT 69 and Smirnoff banned in Delhi for two years 26-09-2018Exports promotion & import checks to rein in CAD: Commerce Secretary 26-09-2018IGST exemption for EOUs, Software Technology Parks extended till March 31 26-09-2018Bank nod for MSME loans of up to Rs 1 crore in 59 mins: Govt 26-09-201820% cashback on GST likely on RuPay, BHIM using QR codes 25-09-2018Income tax relief for businesses: Return filing deadline extended; ample time to reconcile with GST 25-09-2018Larger picture: Joining PICS a big boost for drug quality 25-09-2018Oilseed farmers to get direct assistance of Rs 3k-5k per hectare 25-09-2018Steel import share to come down with capacity augmentation 25-09-2018GST relief for MSMEs: Disappointing news – Sector may not get more benefits before 2019 polls Get a Sipani Diamond Import Export Data Sample Report Which service(s) are you interested in? Export Data Import Data Both Buyers Suppliers Both OR Exim Help + =


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Zimmer NexGen® MIS™ Tibial Components
Did you receive a NexGen® MIS™ Tibial Component? A recent recall released on September 13, 2010 alerts implant patients about its high failure rate and potential need for revision surgery.
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What Problems Are Linked to NexGen® MIS™ Tibial Component Knee Implants?
If you have knee problems, you know that being able to walk, sit, or climb stairs can be very painful. Everyday activities become challenges, and you may have received a partial or total knee joint replacement to help.
Zimmer Holdings, the nation's largest manufacturer of orthopedic devices, offers the NexGen® MIS™ Tibial Component product, which was the first to be designed for minimally invasive procedures. Patients who underwent surgery and received the NexGen® MIS™ Tibial Component are having issues, because their bones are not fusing with the components, causing them to become loose and unstable. This can cause many medical complications, including the need for a revision surgery to fix the problems.
The recall was issued on September 13, 2010.
Did You Know?
It's the manufacturers' and suppliers' responsibility to protect and warn users of their products against injuries. Find out more about the manufacturer's liability for defective products.
What Should I Do if I Have Problems With My NexGen® MIS™ Tibial Component Knee Implant?
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ARABIC 2018 book is released
December 4, 2017, 1:41 pm (Beirut's Time)
December 4, 2017, 1:41 pm (Beirut's Time)
After a hard year's work, my Carmen 2018 Book ARABIC is released and available in the market. The book is an authentic work of astrology written by me in its original language. No translation, no adaptation but rather a direct effort of creativity and dedication.
I am very proud of my achievement and hope you this year's 2018 book.
Tweets by @CarmenChammas
Carmen in the Media
Carmen on TV
Saturady 28th November 2015, Carmen will be interviewed on Future Tv at 11:00 a.m. Beirut time....


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Hereford Rustic Oak Triple 3 Door Wardrobe with Drawersproduct code: HR13
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This Hereford Rustic oak triple wardrobe is a very large wardrobe that offers maximum storage space for your clothes and bedding. The upper section of the wardrobe features three doors that open up to a full length internal clothes hanging space. The solid base section features two large and deep drawers that give plenty of storage capacity for your bits and bobs.
This Hereford rustic oak range will suit anyone looking for chunky oak furniture that is rustic and traditional in design. Not only is it beautiful to look at, it is backed up by its premium quality, chunky frame design and 40mm thick oak tops with softly rounded corners. It will fit well in most home decors from modern new build homes to more traditional country homes.
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This Hereford Rustic oak furniture range is built with strength and durability in mind and will no doubt last for generations to come.
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We offer FREE 2 Man delivery to the room of your choice as standard on this wardrobe and we also offer assembly service upgrades at checkout if you would prefer to not have to assemble the wardrobe yourself.
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FREE DELIVERY - The above price includes standard FREE 2 man delivery to a room of your choice by our own in house delivery team
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SILVER (£25) - This service includes unpacking of your furniture out of the boxes and we will remove all the packaging for recycling. It does not include assembly if required.
GOLD (£50) - This service is the same as the Silver service but with the addition of Assembly of all your furniture if required. This is our most premium delivery service and you won?t need to lift a finger, just sit back and enjoy your furniture.
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copyright The Furniture Market.co.uk Ltd - 2018 | Company No. 06491540 | VAT No. 904103182


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"It's absolutely one of the most important moves in marine conservation, probably in my lifetime," Academy biologist Healy Hamilton said.
Hamilton knows a lot about the remote pacific - she did some of the research that helped the president make his decision.
Palmyra is a group of tiny islands 1,000 miles south of Hawaii that is just a small part of the ocean territory now protected.
"The area that's been protected is larger than the state of California, so it's a vast expanse of Pacific Ocean," Hamilton said.
The president established three new national monuments - all near U.S.-controlled islands scattered around the Pacific. The areas include the Mariana Trench near Guam, the Rose Atoll near American Samoa and a cluster called the Pacific Remote Islands.
"They are all basically uninhabited, a few of them like Wake Island became famous because of World War II, and the Japanese took over the island for a short period of time, but for the most part hasn't been anybody out there, so the seabird population and the coral reefs and the fishes have all been left there to go about their merry life without any impacts from humans," Lance Morgan of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute said.
The monument designation means there will be no commercial fishing, no oil or gas drilling, no fancy resorts.
The island cluster is one of the few places birds can stop and rest in the middle of the pacific and it is a haven for birds that nest on the ground.
Palmyra is also home to endangered coconut crabs, the world's largest land invertebrates.
Being able to study a pristine habitat like this is critical.
"It's like jumping in a time machine when you jump underwater there," Hamilton said. "We spend a lot of money all around the world trying to protect and restore coral reef eco systems, if we don't understand what they even look like or how they even function in their natural state, we don't have a goal we don't have an end for our efforts.
Even with the new declaration, less than 1 percent of the ocean around the world is protected. But the Marine Conservation Biology Institute says President Bush has still made a great step forward.
"He certainly set a high mark for the oceans by doing this, and hopefully an example for many other nations of the world," Morgan said.
Conservationists point out that protecting large underwater areas actually helps the entire ocean, because many creatures born in the protected areas will swim or fly away and replenish other eco-systems.
Related links:
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
California Academy of Sciences, Research on Palmyra Island
White House Briefing on the declaration of new Marine National Monuments


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Campaign url: https://www.mygfa.org/pagosaforwomen/
This is your page to share with others.
Before you share your campaign
Make sure to personalize it with
Your Photo
A message from you
I really want to help women learn the basics, to read and to learn basic math, things that will help them in everyday life. When they learn to read they will be able to read the Gospel for themselves, to be able to read God's word, just as we do. Please join me in raising money to help these women. If you can"t afford much, even a small amount will help. Thank and God Bless you.
There are over 250 million women in South Asia who are illiterate. Because of this, Gospel for Asia-supported workers are training thousands of women every year to read.
Your donation will enable GFA to provide books, training materials, and classes for women in Asia. This will empower them to care for their families, avoid bad contracts that cause debt, and overcome abusive employers who take advantage of their ignorance. They'll also get better prices at the marketplace—just because they can do math. Finally, churches will be strengthened as women are able to read the Bible for the first time.
About Gospel for Asia
Since 1979, GFA has existed to fulfill one passion: seeing communities in Asia discover the same joy, hope and lasting peace we've found in Christ.
We serve to equip missionaries to minister throughout Asia. The projects funded through myGFA each play a significant part in helping missionaries serve more effectively and in transforming communities with the love of Christ.


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Author's Notes:
This story has a prequel, "Alone in an Alley, a Slayer is Born." Reading it is not necessary to understand this story, but may be interesting. The prequel is about Kagome coming to terms with being a slayer on her own, without Inuyasha for backup.
If you have previously read the first few chapters of Slayer of Nightmares I invite you to read them again -- as I noted, Nightmares was something I'd had on my hard drive for awhile and was posting to see if there was interest in reading it. There seems to be some (though it's obviously not as popular as my Swordsmen 'verse stories) so I have rewritten the first few chapters. I've added some exposition, a few extra scenes, fixed a few inconsistencies, and found and corrected a number of punctuation errors!
For people who are just finding this story, it is a Buffy/Inuyasha crossover. However, all you really need to know about Inuyasha is that it's an anime series with a strong "Beauty and the Beast" theme -- Kagome, a Japanese teenager, travels through a magica. well into the past where she is recovering shards of the Shikon jewel. (Which she accidentally broke.) She is very much in love with Inuyasha, the half dog-demon "hanyou" Inuyasha -- a character with more snark than Spike, and a heart of pure gold.Spuffy and InuKag, eventually. (Also, this story eventually contains non-explicit s-e-x between consenting adult characters. I "don't do plumbing" in fanfiction but I do create scenes of romance on occasion ...)
Los Angeles' darker alleyways had significantly more dark in them these days. There were leftovers of a night three years ago, when the gates of hell themselves had opened.
Spike padded silently past a stinky puddle of water draining from a Dumpster, stepped over a bum whose scent was too vile even for the lowest vampire to consider as a meal, and slipped down a two-foot-wide space between two large buildings. The trash was ankle deep here, and rats skittered out of the way.
It was cold -- not bitter cold, but the sort of winter damp that settled over the southern California during a wet spell. They were between storms, but the weatherman promised another rain tonight. The news was full of reports of houses sliding down hillsides or hillsides sliding down onto houses; he'd watched for a moment before flipping over to a sports station. Not his problem if some fool planted a house where it was likely to be destroyed.
A shout, ahead.
He snapped to attention. The shout had been human, and loud, and close.
"HIYAAA!" The shout came again, and then a muffled boom.
Spike broke into a run, lean predatory grace, heading for the rescue. As always. Some damn fool had wandered down here into the worst slums in the worst part of the city and he needed to play hero. Well, that was why he was out here tonight, of course -- patrolling for trouble. But it didn't mean he wasn't annoyed at the idiots who kept wandering into trouble. You'd think they'd collectively learn ... but no, they never did.
Idiots are job security. Too bad the benefits suck, Spike thought -- then realized there were multiple puns he could make of "the benefits suck" and filed the thought away for use later when he needed a good snark.
The fight was in the middle of a dark, deserted street. He pulled up short when he saw the "victim" -- he realized after a moment's observation that little of his assistance was likely to be needed here, and the four demons surrounding the girl were the ones who were in trouble, not their quarry. She was fighting with efficient grace, and no fear, and a great deal of power in her blows.
A Slayer. Nobody I know. Pretty, though. I might introduce myself when she's done here. See what she's about.
Spike figured the Slayer could either be an ally -- and sure he wasn't adverse to having the local Slayer on his side, particularly one so good looking -- or a mortal enemy. Either way, it was good to know where he stood with her.
The Slayer was armed with a crossbow, which didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was what happened when she kicked a demon away from her and out into shooting range, then leveled the crossbow at it and fired. The arrow lit with a pinkish flame, hit the demon, and the demon went kerblooey. Demon bits rained down all around, spattering and smoking on the street.
He lifted an eyebrow in appreciation. Nice -- she had some sort of ju-ju beyond the usual Slayer strength. Either the crossbow was enchanted or she was throwing a bit of magic around.
No reason a Slayer can't be a witch. They just don't usually bother. Hit Hard Until Dead -- that's the Slayer motto.
The other demons bolted and scattered; she slipped a longbow off her shoulder and took them out one-two-three. Her shots had been sure and calm, unafraid. Boom, boom, boom. Spike guessed that meant that the magic was her own, and not an enchanted weapon -- unless both crossbow and longbow were magicked.
Show over, Spike applauded.
She whirled, and he found himself staring at the business end of a knocked arrow. He wasn't surprised by this and he only quirked an eyebrow at it. "Ooh, pointy. But if you kill me you'll never know what I want."
Uncertainty crossed dark eyes. He padded closer, and she tensed and hissed something in a foreign language. He didn't need to speak her language to recognize the word for vampire.
"Yeah, I'm a vampire. I'm a good vampire. With a soul. Name's Spike."
The arrow wavered, a bit.
"You speak English, woman?"
She blinked at that. He asked calmly, "Buffy ever figure out I'm alive?"
"Blond girl, 'bout your height?"
"I don't know a Buffy."
Huh. That was unusual. And her confusion was honest; she wasn't playing games. "What are they teaching you bints in Slayer School these days?"
"... Slayer School?" The woman said, then said, with a bit of a grin, "I'm afraid I must have skipped class for the lessons on Slayers. Let's try this from the beginning -- who are you , what do you want, and why would a vampire have a soul?" So she did speak English -- her words were accented, but clear enough that he thought she'd been speaking English for awhile. She was Japanese, he thought, judging by her appearance and her accent.
He quirked one eyebrow, very high, and asked "You don't know what a Slayer is?"
"I've been called it before. Generally, I don't get a chance to pursue the subject because the demon doing the name-calling ends up dead." She tossed her hair back and studied him, curiously.
"Tell you what," Spike offered, eying her weapons with continuing wariness. "Put the sharp pointy wooden arrow away and I'll tell you what you need to know."
She hesitated, then said, "Fine, but answer my questions about who, what, and why first."
"Right. Like I said, name's Spike. Ask around and most of the good guys and bad guys alike know who I am. I don't want nothing from you, I was just being curious 'n all. As far as the soul goes -- well, I wanted it and earned it fair and square. I needed to impress a girl, see." He shrugged and grinned.
She laughed, which he'd intended -- the I got it to impress a girl line was both true (at least partly) and believable -- and it seemed to work better than anything else for convincing strange good guys that he was on their side. She shook her head, apparently in disbelief, put the arrow back in her quiver, and said, "My name's Kagome."
"You old enough to drink?" He asked, "I'll buy you a beer if you are."
"I'm twenty." She said, shrugging. The tension and wariness was leaving her frame; her eyes were clear and only curious now. Still, he was actually pleased by her street-smarts when she added, "And I'm not inclined to drink around strange demons anyway. How about a cappuccino?""
Spike's warm British accent washed over Kagome as she sipped her cappuccino and watched the man with interest.
Vampires had fascinated her since the day she'd run into her first one living (unliving?) in the modern world -- it had been a vampire that had taught her that the modern world was, in fact, not void of magic and demons of varying descriptions. They'd just gotten better at blending in.
Very shortly after that she'd gotten swept up in the worst fight of her life. Sometimes, she still woke screaming. She'd been alone when the alley had filled with demons, and for most of that fight she'd had no help, no friends, nobody to save her butt. She'd had to save herself -- and she'd done it. And to this day, she had no explanation regarding where the demons had come from, or why there had been so many of them.
She'd had been barely eighteen. That had been a desperate fight, and she could have died.
But back to vampires ... vampires intrigued her.
In a way, they were hanyou too, like Inuyasha, half demon and half human. Other demons often despised them; humans feared them. She'd felt sorry for them at first -- and in truth she had tried to befriend a few. She had the scars to prove what a disastrous idea that was. The essential difference between hanyou like Inuyasha and vampires was that vampires lacked a human soul.
She was 100 certain Inuyasha had a soul.
This Spike claimed to own a soul too. Earned it fair and square, he said.
She believed him. Oh, she wasn't fool enough to trust him, but she believed him.
Now, the story he was spinning about Slayers and vampires, gods, demons, powerful magic and terrible prices paid ... it all sounded pretty familiar, actually. Given her own past, she was willing to believe it -- except, maybe, the whole Vampire Slayer bit. That was just too weird. Except I've had demons call me that before, just before I slay them.
Spike himself was amusing; she'd actually liked him from that first snarky, "You speak English, woman?"
comment. And she was honest enough to admit to herself that it was because he reminded her quite a bit of a certain dog-boy who said woman! in the exact same exasperated tone of voice. Her instincts were telling her, despite his very obvious rough edges, that this vampire was on the side of the light.
It felt so strange to have a name for what she had unexpectedly become, a little more than three years ago. She repeated, "So you're saying I'm one of these Slayers?"
"You haven't noticed how hard you can hit things and how quickly you heal?" He lifted an eyebrow at her.
"Well ..." She hesitated, unwilling to simply accept what he was telling her without any questions. "I'm a miko -- it's kindof like a white witch, I think you would say here in the America. I thought it might have had something to do with that. And a friend sort've hit me with some mojo awhile back ... right after that, I found out I was so strong, so fast ... it was very weird. Kinda cool, but weird. -- Is this when Willow did her spell?"
Spike snorted a laugh. "Yes. And you really need to meet the other Slayers, Chibi, if only so you know who all the players are. I can give you some names to look up -- Rupert Giles should be in the phone book in Britain, he'd be the place to start. Can't say as I actually like the wanker, but he's useful. And you don't have to join their little tea party if you don't want to, but you might want to let them give you the orientation so's you know who's who and what's what. There's quite a few girls operating freelance, so to speak."
Chibi. She bit back a laugh and didn't protest the nickname. I think being tagged with a nickname by this man's probably a compliment. I can live with 'Chibi' ... And she'd take his comment about not joining up under advisement. There was something haunted in this man's eyes. She was 100 percent certain he hadn't told her the whole story about his involvement with this group.
"So," Spike sipped his own coffee, and then asked, "if you're not here on Slayer business, what brings you to LA?"
"College, partly, but I'm trying to find an old friend who might be in trouble." She reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out an envelope with a letter and a photograph. She seriously doubted Spike could read the letter, but she showed him the photograph. It couldn't possibly be as easy as, "Oh, hey, I know that guy! He lives on Elm Street!" After three years of searching. But she had to try.
"This your friend?" Spike frowned at the picture. "He's either not human or somebody did a good job on special effects."
"He's half-demon -- a hanyou." She confirmed, still bemused by the picture after looking at it for years. In it, Inuyasha looked much as he always had -- save he was dressed in thoroughly modern blue jeans and a bright red t-shirt. Still likes red. His fire-rat haori was nowhere in sight, but she knew he would have had to give it up eventually because it would have been very conspicuous in the modern world. He could wear a hat to cover his ears, and contact lenses might even change his eyes, if he needed to blend in. If he still has the fire-rat outfit he can put it on before a fight, I guess.
It was impossible to tell where the photograph had been taken; she could see trees in the background, and part of a house. No real clues there. "His name's Inuyasha. And he's a very good friend."
To her, he looked wonderful in that picture. She'd never expected to see him again -- now, she had evidence that he'd at least survived into the modern world, attitude and all. Somehow. Some way. "He grows on you, trust me," Kagome indicated the letter. "This came three years ago, with the photograph. It says that if I'm reading this Inuyasha needs me, here in LA. No details and no signature. There's an address for an house in Malibu but nobody had lived there for six months and the landlord said the woman renting it had died and he'd never seen Inuyasha there."
"You don't know who sent it?"
"Nope." She sighed. "I said my goodbyes to Inuyasha five hundred years ago ..."
That got Spike's attention. "I thought you said you were twenty."
"Well, yeah," she shrugged easily. "Time travel was involved."
"I see." He blinked, contemplated that, scratched his head, and said, "You really need to meet the Scoobies."
His easy acceptance of time travel made her almost smile -- she hadn't met many people whose history came close to matching hers in the number and variety of adventures. However, Spike's past seemed to be every bit as colorful as hers. Maybe moreso. He's older, she thought, with some amusement. Give me a few more decades and we'll see how we compare then!
"Err. I said my goodbyes to Inuyasha three -- no, four -- years ago my time. I thought that was it, you know? I thought I'd never see dog-boy again. Then the letter comes, a month later."
"You loved him." Spike said this with his head tilted to one side and with an intent, curious expression on his face.
"Well, yeah. But for a variety of reasons, he couldn't come forward to my time. And I ... I didn't want to stay in the past. He knew this ... and he made a wish on the magic jewel that was the object of our quest. It was for me to go home and be happy -- and to make as much of a difference in my time as I did in his." It still felt like a betrayal, deep down, that he'd sent her away. It hurt. She understood why he'd done it -- it had been utterly selfless, he only wanted her to be happy, and she was still stunned that Inuyasha had made a wish that very selfless. But he had, and she was equal parts pissed that he hadn't talked to her about it first -- and impressed that he'd been so very self-sacrificing.
Because, at the end, he'd loved her too. And she'd known it.
"You have no idea who sent the letter?"
She shook her head in a negative. "It's obviously someone who knows about Inuyasha and me. But otherwise I don't know. It's been three years -- he could be dead, for all I know."
"Mm." Spike said, thoughtfully.
"Anyway, I figured if Inuyasha was here, I should find a reason to come here -- I got accepted to a college here. I'm a history major. On an athletic scholarship, for archery and track," she explained.
Spike snorted. "How much do you hold back?"
She grinned slyly. "I don't."
He lifted an eyebrow. A Slayer in college athletics was unprecedented. He asked, with a smile that matched hers, and a great deal of amusement, "Break any track records yet?"
"A few school records." She lifted an eyebrow. "What? Half my competitors are on 'roids. At least I don't have facial hair. It's not cheating if I'm using what fate gave me."
"Chibi, I like you," Spike breathed, with a laugh of open amusement.
"Oh, good. So you're not going to eat me later?" She blinked innocently at him.
He barked a startled laugh. "God, no."
She sighed, suddenly, sobering, and said, "Inuyasha's trail's three years cold -- not that it was much of a trail to start with. I don't know if he's even still alive.."
Spike blew a short, sharp breath out. "I've got some contacts you probably don't. Want me to see what I can turn up? Demons will talk to me what won't talk to a Slayer or a human."
"I'd welcome any help. I've had a hard time getting information out of the local demons, you're right. The fight you saw? Was a double cross. Somebody said they knew about Inuyasha but when I showed up for a rendezvous they ambushed me." Kagome huffed a sigh of aggravation. "Ah, well. I should know to expect that from demons now ..."


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Nick Hook
Fool's Gold Records
Relationships (Colored Vinyl) Vinyl 2LP
↳ debut full-length from versatile NYC producer
Long-awaited full-length from new york super producer nick hook! The longtime Lab friendo and former East Village Jesus is known for his infamously kitted-out Greenpoint studio that will make any gearhead salivate. For his debut album, he turns to his most prized possessions: his relationships. Who else can get Prefuse 73 on a strip club bubbler, or ILoveMakonnen crooning over a LinnDrum? With a guest list hotter than a bag of Red Hot Riplets, Nick flexes his versatility with Hudson Mohawke, Bulletproof Dolphin, DJ Paypal and more showing up for co-production duties, and fresh-faced MCs Junglepussy, 24Hrs, 21 Savage (who ever thought he'd end up on a piece of vinyl?) and more on vocals. The highlights, for us, are a pair of DJ Rashad features bookending the album. "+3" is very much in the same vein as Rashad's opus Double Cup, and album closer "The Infinite Loop" (also featuring Deftones frontman Chino Moreno) is a perfectly smoked-out nightcap to the record with some dreamy, White Pony-esque guitar and a few well placed vintage drum & bass samples (we won't snitch). O.G. Lab homies Spank Rock and Prefuse 73, grime prodigy Novelist and uptown R&B songstress Rahel also turn in excellent contributions. Trap, footwork, mumble rap; love it or hate it, this is what New York sounds like in 2017. Nick peppers the tracks with field recordings of NYC streets for enhanced city vibes. 16 tracks spread over two white colored vinyl LPs, housed in a gatefold sleeve featuring photos and Nick's handwritten liner notes.
- white colored vinyl
- deluxe double vinyl pressing
- gatefold sleeve
- limited edition
- music label: Fool's Gold Records 2017
reviewed by Ted Drewes 04/2017
Questions & Answers
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Be the first to ask a question about this.


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Portrait Painting Workshops
Recently I attended portrait painting workshops hosted by artist Juan Martinez. An amazing painter and instructor. Seeing him doing a demonstration is very inspiring. I learned most just from observing. - More portraits will follow...
3 comments:
- red bean said...
very sensitiv brush strokes!
- 15/12/09 10:29
- Florian Fiebig said...
thanks for your comments red bean.
- 27/12/09 19:34
- Silvio said...
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Portrait Painting
- 30/10/10 05:53
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I am equally grateful to the faculty and staff for their earnest and resourceful efforts to minimize the disruption to summer courses, research activities, and other essential services and functions of the college.
The Cleveland police chief said Friday that after the Dallas shootings the city would be changing its security plans but did not go into detail. Dan Williams, a spokesman for Mayor Frank G. Jackson, also declined to describe how Dallas had reshaped the city's security plans, or whether officials were concerned about the state's gun laws.


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Once upon a time my life was free of manga and anime. Then one day, in my final year at university, I had some free time on my hands after handing in all my coursework and my friend suggested I should watch Fullmetal Alchemist. And I did. And I enjoyed it. And it all began to spiral out of control from there.
Hi, I am a self-diagnosed otaku.
Until 2013 the only anime I had watched was Pokemon (as everyone in my generation had), Cardcaptor Sakura (which I didn't even know was an anime until I got sucked into this crazy culture) and most Studio Ghibli films.
Then I started watching more anime thanks to the influence of my then (and now) housemate and also by then boyfriend (now just friend).
I started off with Fullmetal Alchemist, then moved onto Death Note, Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I consider to be an anime rather than a cartoon even if it is American), then Eden of the East, and Free!, and it just kept on going from here, to the point where now (June 2015) I have watched 100+ anime series….
Then in September 2014 my now housemate and I decided to write a manga together, which tripped me into another new world. In September 2014 I owned 12 volumes of manga, and now (June 2015) I now own 284 volumes…which is constantly rising!
I started this blog because 1) I really missing blogging, and 2) because I feel that after spending this long growing into the person I am now I have a lot of opinions about anime and manga that I want to write and talk about.
I'm not a expert on the subject – after only being into this culture for the past two years I still have a lot to learn, so I'm hoping that my starting this blog I can learn a lot by talking to you guys and by researching information for posts.
This blog will mostly be used to discuss my opinions and ideas on anime, manga and Japanese culture. I'll also be reviewing anime and manga series, talking about the manga my housemate and I are working on, and talking about the whole culture behind anime and manga (for the sake of sparing time, let's just call it animanga).
I'm also on Twitter: @seadragongod. Feel free to follow me for more animanga madness!