Tuesday, June 4, 2013

FC Bayern Munich wins treble

Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 3-2 to seal the club's first treble by winning the German Cup on Saturday in Jupp Heynckes' last game in charge. Mario Gomez scored twice and Bayern became the first German side to win a treble of domestic league, cup and European Cup, and only the seventh team overall to achieve the feat.

 Thomas Mueller opened the scoring with a penalty in the 37th minute, Gomez made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half, and the former Stuttgart striker added his second in the 61st. Martin Harnik pulled one back in the 71st, and set up an exciting finale when he scored again with 10 minutes remaining, but Bayern held on to complete the most successful season for a German club.

''It doesn't get any better,'' former Bayern star Franz Beckenbauer said. ''The Stuttgarters made it exciting for us. But when you look at the 90 minutes, the win was deserved. No other team managed to win all the titles before. This is the best Bayern team ever. I can't remember a season that went any better. This is the absolute highlight.''

Bayern's record 16th German Cup comes one week after it beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in London to win the Champions League and eight after it broke a host of records in claiming its 23rd Bundesliga title, leaving incoming coach Pep Guardiola with a daunting challenge to match Heynckes' achievements this season.

''It's unbelievable what the team and coach have achieved over the whole season,'' Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. ''They were tough months but now we're being rewarded for them.''

Only Celtic in 1967, Ajax in 1972, PSV Eindhoven in 1988, Manchester United in 1999, Guardiola's Barcelona in 2009, and Inter Milan in 2010 previously won the treble.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Sir Alex Ferguson Retires

Manchester United announces that Sir Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the season. "The decision is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly," said the boss. "It is the right time."

Sir Alex Ferguson has managed Manchester United since 1986. During his 26 years at the club, he won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles.

On 8 May 2013, Ferguson announced that he was to retire as manager at the end of the football season, but would remain at the club as a director and club ambassador.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Balinese Greeting

Generally, Balinese are used to meeting and greeting foreigners and non-Balinese, so you will find that most people will greet you with a handshake, as many people do in western countries. You may have noticed, however, that they have a special style of handshake which for men seems almost effeminate. It’s certainly not of the knuckle-cracking variety you’ll receive in many of the more macho of the western countries! After the light handshake the person may touch their chest, as part of the ritual – this is in fact a Javanese tradition that has crept into Balinese society and not everyone does it. The European and Mediterranean tradition of kissing each other on the cheeks is foreign to Bali.

The traditional Balinese greeting is, naturally, a Hindu one – the hands are clasped in front the chest in a relaxed prayer position and the person says, “Om Swasti Astu”, meaning ‘peace and greetings from God’. About five years ago, it was less common to see people greeting each other in this way, but since the Bali Bombings and the active promotion of Balinese cultural values in the mass media (Ajeg Bali) it is much more commonplace. People even answer the phone in this way too.

When you’re meeting or conversation is over, you can say something in Balinese to let the other person know you’re leaving. It is just a pleasantry, really, but people appreciate it more than just saying “bye”, “dah” (Indonesian slang) or, worse still, saying nothing at all. So you can say a number of different things. The most polite is: “Titiang lungsur mapamit dumun” (I’m taking leave now) which is best reserved for people you really respect or people of high caste. Otherwise, you can just say “Pamit dumun”, “Pamit”, “Ngiring dumun” or “Ngiring”. If you know the person well and they are not of caste, you can say “Kalihin malu”, which just means “I’m off – see ya!”