The 30,000 capacity Estadio Algarve
Obviously we see the London Olympics kick-off tonight, and what better way to celebrate than by playing a team from the country that gave us the Olympics? Even better is the fact that their name is based around the Olympics. Anyone else starting to feel that it was a set up?
Anyway enough Olympic malarkey. I’m pretty much not interested in it although, unlike some, I don’t especially want it to fail as it will reflect on all Brits whether we like it or not. What I am interested in is the game this evening which will see us go toe-to-toe with a team that has already qualified for the Champions League this season.
The game will kick-off at 8:45pm (there is no time difference between the UK and Portugal) and will be shown live on ESPN. Essentially it is a three team mini-tournament between ourselves, Olympiakos and SC Braga although I don’t know how you can win a tournament when the rules say that even a penalty shootout can end in a draw!
For reference it is called the “XII Trofeo Guadiana” which actually got underway last night as Olympiakos and Braga managed to draw 1-1 over the course of 90 minutes and then drew 4-4 on penalties. Seemingly there is no provision to have more than five penalties…
The game this evening will be Olympiakos’ last of the tournament after two games in two days for the Greeks, which Newcastle will also have to endure as they play SC Braga in 24 hours time. With that in mind I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll be seeing a lot of team rotation over these next two games.
Tim Krul is likely to make his first appearance of pre-season and will share goalkeeping duties with Steve Harper after Rob Elliot picked up a minor injury presumably straining to reach a bit of discarded kebab he found under his bed. Shane Ferguson is also absent while Romain Amalfitano – who missed the last friendly with a groin injury – may be spared as a precaution even though he joined in training yesterday.
Another player set for a first appearance is Yohan Cabaye who is now back from an extended break after his participation at Euro 2012. His compatriot Hatem Ben Arfa won’t feature though as he has been attending a disciplinary hearing to discuss his fall out with Laurent Blanc over the summer. Nothing has come of it but the missed training will likely have an impact in his role these next two games and we may have to wait until August 4th (my birthday, hint hint) to see Benny back in action. Steven Taylor may play a part as he continues to recover from the most serious injury of his career to date.
Anyway I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Once the team news appears I’ll add it in below and we can see where we go from there. Also if you happen to know of any decent links for the match then please feel free to share them as not everyone has ESPN.
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Tim Krul, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Gabriel Obertan, Gael Bigirimana, Romain Amalfitano, Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic, Shola Ameobi.
Subs: Steve Harper, Fabricio Coloccini, Danny Simpson, James Tavernier, Ryan Taylor, Mehdi Abeid, Sylvain Marveaux, Cheik Tiote, Sammy Ameobi, Jonas Gutierrez, Papiss Cisse.
Olympiakos: Roy Carroll, Anastasios Papazoglou, Ljubomir Fejsa, Rafik Djebbour, Ionnis Fetfatzdis, Dimitris Siovas, Claude Dielna, Panagiotis Vlachodimos, Chumbinho, Luis Santo, Vasileios
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108 Comments
God knows what the bench is now. Cabaye and Ba have been withdrawn
Toonsy @ 1 what for ? do you know
Im surprised there isn’t a few more 1st teamers starting
Dave i was thinking that but cant expect more really when theyre playing again tmo
dave ryder says just rested
cabye hasent played yet has he 
Yeah not grumbling about team selection. Another game in 24 hours time
Dave – Just rested basically. Will play tomorrow I bet
Sorry if this has been covered lads but… any links to streams? Just got in from work and can’t get to the pub.
Batts no mate I think he only came back this week but I thought Ba would have been in
Cabaye is on the bench 
Batts what does Ryder know
Toonsy @ 6 our younguns just played their 5th game in 6 days lastnight
Good enough line-up considering we have a game tomorrow too.
As much as I’d love to join in the live fun here, I’m a fucker for pausing and rewinding so I’m gona give the blog a wide berth for a bit….
http://web.thefirstrow.eu/webmaster/footyfire.com/132370/1/watch-newcastle-united-vs-olympiacos-piraeus.html
Toonsy – wonder if they’ve been withdrawn because they are having Medicals tomorrow?
I’m sure one or two reporters may write that tomorrow
We start off by passing it around at the back then Williamson humps it forward. Get him out of that team
Anyone got a link
Just noticed that Elliot isn’t on the bench
TLR Willo doen’t really like the ball
Newkie sorry mate im watching it on espn
Saylor needs to get on the end of one of them
http://www.vipbox.tv/watch/62648/1/newcastle-vs-olympiakos-live-stream-online.html
Argh vuckic
there u gan
Good play by the front three. Vuckic nearly scores. A goal might be all he needs
Whats the craic young Pup
its nice to see Saylor back barking out orders
Like the look of mini Cheik
Shola and Obertan look great as a combo.
Shola’s strength and holding up links perfect with Obertan’s movement. Obertan looks a pacey striker to me.
Is the pitch made of green ice?
bit rough Mr BigDave going to maybe watch the first half then sleep…. iv the worse disease ever
MANFLU
Pup you need to watch that mate as it is a deadly disease
I use to find whiskey was good for it 
Cheers ice pup!
Good on ya Stevie lad!
Saylor the Great
nee probs newkie
aye dave i would love one………if u can send a nice young bit stuff to
60 the gallowgate hamrun ((( i shit u not the name of my house lol ))) i would very much appreciate it
Pup I like it mate
Gosling pulled up as he started to run
He was looking pretty good too.
Been impressed with Perch and Amalfitano so far
Obertan looks really up for it.
I’ve been impressed by Gosling this pre-seaso but he seems so risky to play due to injuries. Nearly off again after nothing happened to him.
That Arsenal git putting his stupid comments in pisses you off though. Southern shandy drinker
We still try the same old free kick routine. A bit more thought required
That wasn’t a bad wee ball from ET there
Its a pity this is a friendly as I don’t remember obertan having many better 45mins for us
Come on lads
Obertan must believe he has a shot as a striker with the transfer situation being dead in the water.
This is a good team and Obertan is tearing them apart. I hope he gets the full game upfront. This is the potential he’s always had.
From the bits I have managed to catch we seem to be playing well, good to see Saylor back in the squad!
Franky- we’ve kept possession rather well and created some good chances early. We slipped a little towards the end of the half but they never really threatened.
Thanks for filling in MDS. They look like dirty cheats mind, but good experience for the team ahead of the European campaign.
Strolla must be getting lessons on shirt pulling from Willo
Good to see Dummett getting some time
The french lad is neat and tidy. Good value
Agreed. Very tidy and good pace.
Yep dirty cheating twats.
Santon seems to be gaining confidence with every game
Is the match finished? Been watching OOS.
We can’t seem to score more than one… and we always let some in
oh close Cisse
Dave
We concede?
Unlucky there…
Whats the score?
Andy not telling you you should be watching your team
1-1
Dave
See Taylor scored, the lads ace, if only we could keep him on the pitch a whole season. What happened with the Olympiakas goal?
Sammy has been dreadful. Poor lad
How are the lads looking ? could not get a link , so started watching the opening ceremony . Is 1- 1 final score BIG DAVE.
Andy
Williamson got raped
Axel yeah it is now
penalties now
nowt like a good old pen shoot out
but not when your own team is involved 
reet come on lads lets have em
Fuckme, never let cisse take a pen
oh Cisse
well done Harris
well done Krul
well in abeid
4-4 on Pens and you wouldn’t have expected Cisse to be the one that missed
Just wrote a huge post and then realised the name and email wasn’t filled in when I posted, can’t be arsed to do another one.
I just go one thing to say, Bigirimana…Mini Tiote! I’m worried about bids coming in now.
DJG
I do that all the time
Is it all over then?
Got my tickets today for our game against ADO DEN HAAG and its been pointed out too me i will be in the same section as their , (how should i put it ?) “ultras “. But bugger it i am still going with me Toon top on .
Axel
Are Den Haag fans renowned for being a bit ‘excitable’ and ‘proud’?
So can someone tell me if we won and who scored?
Weird result…so Olympiakos has what, 10 points…point per goal? Or is it 2 points, for the two draws? So if Newcastle and SC Braga draw tomorrow, it’s a 3-way tie (assuming another 1-1 draw and 4-4 on penalties)?
Confused.
S.taylor scord and we drew, threw it away to 10 men in the last 10 minutes.
Not many big hitters on mind.
I only ask because of this tweet:
Mark Douglas @MsiDouglas
A draw on penalties. Absolutely crazy. The rules are you get points for goals, so everyone is all square
Not sure what he meant there. I almost read that that they get 5 points each. Surely that’s not right…because if Newcastle win tomorrow 1-0, then they still lose based on Olympiakos total goals…that’s not right, right? Is it beer time yet?
ANDYMAG they have links with Millwall , Juventus and Swansea supporters . Think that says it all really , But living near to Den Haag and having worked their for 20 odd years i know a fair few Den Haag supporters and they are certanly not all bad , but like all Clubs their is a few knob heeds .
My general impressions are that…
Bigirimana….impressed with him, can see why we snapped him up, not finished article but perhaps 80% there and will get there.
Amalfitano…has some good control and passing and looks a decent player, wanted a little too much time but I can’t judge yet.
Abeid…had some good movement and passing but also made some silly decisions like the freekick.
Vuckic…I don’t rate him, he’s too inconsistent.
Sammy.. wasn’t his best showing
Obertan..I thought he worked some good openings and was decent, needs to work on his delivery a bit but he isn’t as bad as some try to make out. Has more chance of games next season than any of the youngsters IMO.
Dummet..a reserve LB playing CB shows how light we are at the back.
Axel
?
).
very true
What the hell kind of point system is that that
I’ve been highly impressed with Boyles opening ceremony, looks very cool, not quite Beijing but we didnt have quite their budget. Intersting to see Rio’s reply to this(In Brazil not ferdinand
MEDIA BEARD
MEDIA BEA-AARD
HE’S NOT (QUITE) NOEL EDMONDS…
HE’S MEDHI ABEID
…quite simply got to be the chant, I’d say. What what.
…the lad looks ‘proficient’ to me like. Good buy.
Hello again.
Good to see Vuckic and Gosling getting let out for playtime like anyway.
Young players get bigger, they need the exorcise.
Media Beard and Alfie Tanner look like good buys (as opposed to goodbyes).
…just hope we play the fuckers enough before they get too fat and care-free in the reserves.
Williamson is shit
…can’t head the ball 
…yeah whatever.
I can’t believe it’s not better.
Just seen on SKY that Andy Carroll has said he would consider a loan move too another Prem club so long as they are in Europe . Wonder which team he means
…bit of a shame they played Green Day just before the penalties like.
That was my biggest gripe.
Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters would’ve been better, I reckon.
Axel, I just had a shit on a paper plate and chucked it as hard as I could.
…unfortunately the paper plate flew off real fast, and the turd landed on my head
…re: Carroll
(Fatboy Tactics TM)
My thoughts on the game Amalfitano looked like a tidy footballer, bigi looks like Tiote but more athletic and a better passer of the ball. However Williamson is GASH, we need a centre back behind taylor and colo. He doesnt look comfortable on the ball at all with the ball and he is too slow.
Agreed Alex. I would add that perch was solid at rb and I thought gosling looked good before getting hurt
RODZILLA the lesson to be learned their is , use the toilet and not let your self be exposed .
I reckon Perch would be fucking great at pretending to be a fish
in an unfunny way
…whoop
..thanks Axel, I was halfway through a flood there.
Too much fucking consonant-switching here like.
reet am off for a kebab anyway……..
I got nothing to lose
I saw the sun in May
I’ve got something to hold on to
I fell in love today
I saw the break at dawn
I saw a child in play
I saw the spring in the winter time
I fell in love today
I walk with the birds in flight
I fly with love today
Green grass never looked so good
I fell in love today
I feel like a million bucks
Nothing could break my sway
You people can’t touch me
I fell in love today
All music available from K-Tel, yes that’s right motherfukaz, K to the motherfuckin T homeboy
…kinel.
Hoos turtley caved in there.
Just managed te cleymoot
…malreet like!
NNNNNNOIIIIIIIIISSSSEEEEEEE
NNNNNNOIIIIIIIIISSSSEEEEEEE
NNNNNNOIIIIIIIIISSSSEEEEEEE
NNNNNNOIIIIIIIIISSSSEEEEEEE
dickheads
sack of fucking twats
one fuckin hundrid
, aye quality like.
…aye anar ye wetching like
This is a public service announcement.
There is a serious lack of expletives in use in today’s society.
Every bastard knows enough fucking swear words.
Why hold back, just use the fuckers
..the fucking bastard cunt shit arsehole bollock wanker twatknacker
bollocks then whatever
..a just wanna feel abau-dit
BAYBAAYYY!
Don’t fool about it
AAAAOoooow
a said cheese.
…aye alreet then
Kinel.
Parintli the Limpets is on or sumik?
emfsyboc
aye alreet then
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