The National team’s performance was a relatively poor one today, but South Korea’s win over Kuwait helped us go through. We might not be that lucky in the next round, so let’s hope preparations will be better especially that we have a great coach (Theo Bucker) and some great players.
However, I was surprised to hear today that the 10,000,000LL promised to each player after their win over South Korea few months back were not yet paid and await the government’s approval? Why did the government make promises it can’t deliver? These players need all the motivation they can get.
Other World Cup qualifying games were taking place today, and the story of the day was Bahrain scoring 10 goal against Indonesia and almost making it through if it wasn’t for Qatar’s last minutes equalizer.
I met Myriam 3-4 years ago at a physiotherapy center where I was recovering from my football injury (Torn ACL), and I went to see some of her games afterwards. She’s a very talented player and was Al-Ansar’s team captain before moving to Femina FC in Hungary, then to Newcastle United. [Link]
Alf Mabrouk Myriam!
In other Football news, don’t forget to support Lebanon in its game against the UAE today. Brazil 2014 here we come!
I see the Crest & Oral-B Arabia competition has improved from submitting the best smile to spreading a smile. It’s definitely better than last year as there were many people not even smiling submitting their photos, including our famous BlogBaladi Candidate, the girl with the red hat, who lost to Mira Zeidan.
If anyone spots her picture among the candidates, please let us know.
I checked few videos and photos, the top-rated ones are not that funny and some are worth reporting to the police (Check Robert Tannoury’s video in the latest entries) but there’s still time and I am sure Lebanese can get more creative than that!
You can check Crest & Oral-B Arabia Facebook Page [Here] and Spread the Smile competition [Here].
Members of the Lebanese National Football team were on Tony Baroud’s show on LBC the other day and few of them were complaining on how they are being neglected by the government (even though they got 10,000,000LBP for their win over Korea).
I fully agree with their demands to finance properly the football and other national teams, and recruit young talents and train them properly; however football is not a substitute to education or a professional career, at least not in Lebanon.
In fact, one of them was complaining on how he quit university and work to dedicate his life to football and the national team, and was worried he’d suffer financially after he retires and only get to work as a cab driver for example. Well if you chose to dump school and play football in a country like Lebanon where we don’t even have decent football fields, then you are doing it wrong.
Football in Lebanon is weak and needs a major push, so let’s hope a win or draw tomorrow against UAE will encourage investors to pour money into our Lebanese football clubs and the national team.
Lebanon will be playing against the UAE national football team tomorrow in its final bid to book a ticket to the next and final round of World Cup 2014 qualifiers.
Lebanon can qualify by winning or drawing against the UAE. If Lebanon loses, then it can only qualify if Kuwait loses or draws against Korea. What happens if Lebanon qualifies? Check it out [Here].
The odds are in our favor but nothing’s confirmed until the final whistle is blown. Check out this new song in support of the Lebanese National Football team. [YouTube]
Sawfar is one of the most beautiful areas you pass by on your way to Zahle or the Beqaa and in Lebanon as a whole. The village consists of old Lebanese houses and a stunning green scenery. The Corniche is one of its most beautiful roads with trees, villas and old Lebanese houses on each side of the road.
You can also find in Sawfar the Donna Maria Sursock’s residence that was built by her husband Alfred in 1909. The Villa looks a little like a small fairy tale castle and is interesting because of its decorative elements in cast cement, a novelty at the time. [Link]
The 70 meter (230 ft) high bridge, near the mountain resort town of Sofar on the mountainous road linking Beirut and Damascus, was hit several times during the first days of the war but on July 21 a 200-metre-long section was completely destroyed as it was bombarded continuously. Ironically, the Americans paid for its reconstruction.
Also and as you can see from the picture, snow is everywhere. I don’t remember the last winter where we had that much snow.
My dad brought me this flyer back from New York as he was in the U.S for past three weeks. What caught my attention is that prices are almost similar to the Manakish places in Lebanon and for some items even cheaper than Zaatar wou Zeit for example.
The normal Cheese Man’ouche costs 2,500 or 3,000 in most Manakish shops while it costs 4000LL at ZWZ (Halloum Cheese Man’ouche at ZWZ costs 5,500LL though). The Regular Cheese Man’ouche at this NY shop costs 4,500LL (3$).
I was at Babel restaurant the other day having dinner with some friends. After we were done with the cold & hot mezza and hot dishes, we were served fruit platters on the house. Noting that we were only 6 people on the table, we got:
The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial [Wiki]. However, putting aside the religious aspect, there are several dishes that I look forward to during Lent, and that are rarely prepared in other periods of the year.
Kibbet La2teen is a Pumpkin Kebbe filled mainly with chickpeas and swiss chard. I usually wait for my aunt to make some or order them from KitchenMarket.
