Stalteri makes his way back to Germany

Canadian soccer captain Paul Stalteri received an early Christmas present this year… a release from Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend. He then promptly signed with German club Borussia Monchengladbach of the Germany’s Bundesliga.

Stalteri was seeing regular action when he first joined Tottenham from Werder Bremen under the Martin Jol campaign. After a loan stint with Fulham last season, the Toronto native saw his playing time decrease and ultimately without a number and a chance to play under new manager Jaunde Ramos’ regime.

Things improved when Harry Redknapp succeeded Jaunde Ramos, but after picking up an ankle ligament injury sustained November 19th while on international duty for Canada against Jamaica, Paul started to become frustrated.

Stalteri made 35 appearances in his debut season at White Hart Lane in 2005-06, but that number was trimmed to just 14 the next season. In 2007-08, he only made six appearances for Spurs before being loaned out to Fulham where he played weekly. He hasn’t featured at all for Tottenham this season.

Although his play decreased each year, Stalteri feel his England experience wasn’t all bad.

Borussia Monchengladbach has won just three games this season and is last in the 18-team Bundesliga, but after talking with countryman Rob Friend, the squads forward, Stalteri says the decision was an easy one.

Stalteri will join the club on January 3rd to begin training and hopes to be in the squad for Borussia’s first game back after the winter break against VfB Stuttgart on January 31st, 2009.

For the complete interview, download the Full-Time here.

Listen to Full-Time, Vancouver’s Soccer Show with Tyler Green and Mike Martignago on Sunday nights at 10pm on the TEAM 1040.

-TG

The actual draw...

So in reality... we got 1 out of 8 in our draw... here's how it actually went down:


Chelsea v Juventus

Villareal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Athletico Madrid v FC Porto

Lyon v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v AS Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

Full-Time's Champions League Draw

Last night on Full-Time, Vancouver's Soccer Show, Tyler and I made soccer/football history by drawing the teams LIVE, ON THE AIR, for the knockout round of matches for the UEFA Champions League.

The results were shocking to say the least, with some mouth-watering (Full-Time's word of the day) matchups for the next phase.

While I said we made football history (I like to exaggerate), we're confident that you won't even need to watch or listen to this Friday's draw... because our results are 100% correct.

Thus, the matchups drawn include:

Juventus - Arsenal

Panathinaikos - Villarreal

Bayern Munich - Real Madrid

Liverpool - Lyon

Manchester United - Atletico Madrid

AS Roma - Sporting Lisbon

FC Porto - Chelsea

Barcelona - Inter Milan

After the completion of the formal draw, we'll have no problem accepting any awards and accolades.

Cheers!

-MM