LONDON, England - Arsenal handed their rival from North of England, Manchester United, the Premiership title in silver plater Sunday afternoon after they held on Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates stadium in Islington.

It was United’s 9th Premiership title. I thought the race for the most sought football trophy in UK will last until the last game of the season. But United have wrapped up the race with two more matches remaining putting the waited clash between the Blues and the Red Devils on May 9 immaterial. Both teams will meet again anyhow for the FA Cup title showdown on May 19.

Chelsea played minus a number of their top players against the Gunners forcing Jose Mourinho to let only Shaun Wright-Philips and Joe Cole taking charge of the attack. Didier Drogba and Shevchenko were absent so as Michael Ballack and defender Ricardo Carvalho.

The match actually summed up the defending champion’s season as they were ravaged by injury at the start of the season. The absence of Peter Cech between the posts and the injury to John Terry earlier proved to be costly for them, as they allowed Man U to lead the table most of the way.

I salute Man U for a superb season. Their success according to BBC columnist Alan Henson could be credited to their fantastic start and the positive attitude of players. He also gave credit to the top forms of their defensive backbones, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. However, the tremendous form of midfield duo of Paul Scholes and player of the year awardee Ronaldo assured Manchester United’s first title in four years.

I used to be a loyal Manchester United fan like thousands of Filipinos and millions of Asians in the Far East. I shifted my loyalty to Tottenham Hotspurs when I came here in London six years ago. I live near the Spurs stadium, the White Heart Lane, and every one in this corner of the world is a Spurs fan. I might get lynch if I wear a Manchester United jersey.

Kaka rules Europe

Women would die just to see and touch his angelic face. His football skills are worth more than the GNP of Afghanistan. He is dubbed as the next football legend. In fact he is now a hero in the elegant city of Milan. Of course he is a Brazilian.

Ricardo Izecson Santos Liete is a kilometric name. No one can remember those names. That is why he prefers to be known as Kaka. According to a report on the World Soccer magazine Kaka got that name when his younger brother could not pronounce Ricardo properly when he was still a child. Just like my name Jack (It’s a long story) , the name stuck and now the world call him Kaka.

The report also said that Kaka comes from a rich family. His father is an Engineer. He grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. But unlike many rich boys in Brazil who just ask money from their parents and spend their days on the beach, Kaka was good in school. He was a good student, intelligent and active.

When he was seven, his PE teacher discovered his potentials. He wasted no time and told Kaka’s parents to enrol him at the Sao Paolo football school which was just near their house. At 15 he became a regular player at Sao Paolo football Club and they say the rest is history.

Kaka will celebrate his 25th birthday on May 15, eight days before AC Milan meet Liverpool for the UEFA Champions League title. He has led Milan so far and scored four goals in their semis victory over Man United.

In spite of his young age Kaka has developed as a leader for Milan. He has turned from a play maker at the midfield to a great goal scorer. He scored two goals in their 2-3 loss in Old Trafford but ignited Milan to their 3-0 demolition of the Red Devils in Milan few days later to secure a final seat against Liverpool in Athens on May 23.

The legendary Ronaldo has moved from Real Madrid to AC Milan but can not play in the Champions League as he has already played for Madrid earlier. But with Kaka’s recent form, who needs Ronaldo up front.

MY WRITING IDOL

Talking about legends, a living literary legend from Cebu is once again at his top form covering the de la Hoya vs Mayweather fight in Vegas recently. My long time friend in the USA Homer Sayson once again covered the smashing fight which ended with Dela Hoya losing the bout by a controversial split decision. Sayson remains as the only Cebuano sports scribe who covers the NBA and the countless of Vegas boxing shows. He is based in Chicago but is idolized by thousands of SunStar Daily readers and envied by a handful of jealous peers.

My unforgettable experience working with Homer was when we were just starting in this writing business. We were brought by Cebu’s boxing patron Antonio L. Aldeguer to Manila to cover an Andy Tabanas fight in Mandaluyong city. That was in the mid-90’s.

I covered the bout for SunStar while he came for The Freeman. What was unforgettable was not fight but was when I woke up one morning to find Homer sleeping on the floor of our shared bedroom in Aldeguer’s residence in San Juan. I asked him why he slept on the floor instead of the bed. His response was classic. `I wonder how on earth can your wife bear with your snoring and farting all night’. I was still single during that time but if he asks me now then I will answer tell him, `That is what you call true love mate’.

My former boss

Paulo Taneo was a former boss at SunStar Cebu. He is Liverpool fan and was former goalkeeper from Silliman University in Dumaguete. He is a brave man who can shame former England keeper `Calamity’ David James. Thank you for sending your welcome. By the way Paul, I said I scored two goals from corner kicks when I was still `in shorts’. Not when I was already 300 lbs, although I still love to wear shorts until now.

My former player at USC Jim Karl Akiatan sent me a greeting and asked me if I can write about football in the Philippines particularly in Cebu. Of course I will unless the world will end tomorrow, then that will be a different story. Thanks also to My former classmate Eric Gomez from Singapore and the talented Mike Limpag of SunStar Daily Cebu. Next column will be about the coming FA Cup title match between Chelsea and Man U and more football gossips. God Bless