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Brazil vs United States friendly
2007-09-11 16:08:00
Quick post with the highlights of Brazil 's 4-2 win over the United States . Although the scoreline was good, the performance was still less than convincing, with Dunga not at all satisfied. At least Kaka' and Ronaldinho were playing well (and at the same time too!). Enjoy (Length about 5mins).
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Slim Ronaldo not far away!
2007-09-09 13:54:00
It seems that the main reason for Ronaldo 's weight problems over the last few years has been found. Milan labs have discovered that hypothyroidism caused him to gain a considerable amount of weight, even though you could hardly call him unfit. It seems that a strict training regime in conjunction with medication for the condition has helped him shed an extra 5kgs and he is well on track to returning to his ideal weight and hopefully, the amazing form that lead to him being known as the phenomenon.The illness means that insufficient thyroid hormone is produced in the thyroid gland and this can cause weight gain among many other symptoms that wouldn't have helped Ronaldo to be his best either! The spanish media and fans were ruthless in ridiculing his weight problem, calling him "el gordo" (the fatty) and constantly questioning him over it. Apparently when he arrived at the 2006 world cup training camp he was over 100kgs. Thankfully he is already appearing much more slimmed down, so...
More About: Slim , Aldo , Naldo

Quaresma
2007-08-30 16:44:00
I still find it hard to believe that Ricardo Quaresma isn't playing for one of the big clubs in Europe (not to say Porto isn't a good club but it isn't thought of as a Madrid or Liverpool or Milan, etc.). I guess he did have a good chance to really take the world by storm when he was younger and Barcelona purchased him but he never really made an impact there. Maybe it was too much expectation, maybe the style of play was difficult to adapt to, Maybe Rijkard and him had some real issues or perhaps any number of the common reasons that players can struggle when changing clubs and leagues.It's not that he's that old (24) but it does seem like he's been around a while now. Recently he's regained the form that attracted such interest in the first place. He is a powerful, fast winger with incredible technique and vision and in my opinion, very much the same player as Christiano Ronaldo. Both share almost all the same qualities and with these wingers on the Portuguese national squa...
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Brazil vs Algeria friendly
2007-08-25 05:52:00
So Brazil recently defeated Algeria 2-0 in a friendly match. The first half was not a great display by the Selecao but they did have a few shots on goal. The second half was quite a different affair and it was obvious why, the bringing on of Kaka' and Ronaldinho . There's a reason why they've been the most important players at their respective clubs for several seasons now, they make the difference.The first goal came about from a well directed Ronaldinho corner which Maicon of Inter converted. The second involved Ronaldinho setting up Diego who's deflected shot was calmly placed by Ronaldinho to seal the 2-0 victory. One of Kaka's characteristic blazing runs almost resulted in a goal as he tore past several defenders, cutting across the face of goal, requiring a simple tap in of Vagner Love that just could not keep up. Which brings me to an important point. Vagner Love is a good striker but certainly should be 6th or 7th on the Selecao list of strikers. He did little during the...
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Right back fever
2007-08-23 17:12:00
There's been much interest in right-backs of late!Cicinho's on-again, off-again transfer to Roma seems to be finally complete. It seems that Roma went to great lengths to sign him, going from a 5 million euro offer to 8 million and finally 9 million with 2 million extra based on performance.Chelsea have given up on Daniel Alves after offer upon offer has been knocked back by Sevilla. It's good to see a club that values it's players and future more than a one-off pay cheque and it's good to see that Chelsea can't always buy whoever they want! The last offer was in the region of 36 million euros! They have instead settled for Belleti who's had a tough time going from champions league hero to bench warmer after Barca brought Zambrotta in from the demoted Juventus. Not of the same calibre as Alves but a good right back that opens up attacking options on the flank.So the Brazilian shuffle continues (also with Emerson joining many compatriots at AC Milan)...
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The next Ronaldinho?
2007-08-21 16:43:00
Okay maybe not, I think there's a bit of hype surrounding Celsinho mostly because of his looks. It may take a few minutes of watching the clip below before you can see that it actually isn't Ronaldinho ! hehe. Celsinho really is the spitting image of Ronaldinho but he definitely has some skill, check it out!Apparently Sporting have signed him up, taking him off Lokomotiv Moscow's hands where he only spent a year. Corinthians were in a battle to bring him back to the sunshine of Brazil but may have lost out. He used to play in Brazil for Portuguesa of all clubs, so may already be suited to a Portuguese adventure. Personally I think his face looks more like Andersons...

Latest Transfers Update (21st Aug 07)
2007-08-21 16:18:00
Chelsea continue to throw their money around and build on their ability to field 3 first-class teams (talent-hoarding, hehe). They've offered Sevilla 30 million euros for Daniel Alves, I wonder if the temptation will be too much for them.Tottenham have put together 15 million euros in a bid for Riquelme , a steal for such a quality player. Problem is that creative players like him don't always do well in the fast-paced and physical EPL. Don't forget Veron's less than memorable spell at Manchester United.It seems that the Cicinho deal may be off (yet again) as now Real Madrid appear to want to feature him in their plans for the current season. Either way Panucci doesn't seem to be worried about losing his spot in the starting 11 suggesting that Cicinho would have a tough battle to take his position.
More About: Chelsea , Transfers , Update

Ribery Magic!
2007-08-20 17:31:00
Just a quick post to show a youtube clip of Ribery 's excellent ball control which helped Bayern demolish Werder Bremen 4-0. Left the defender swinging in the air.Bookmarkz
More About: Magic , Bayern Munich

Lots of transfer action in Serie A
2007-08-20 16:55:00
It seems that the big Italian clubs have been busy securing (or at least trying to) transfers before the deadline.Roma seem to have sealed the Cicinho deal which works out well for the player since Real Madrid's new coach has him playing on the left but mostly had the Brazilian out of his plans anyway. Since Cicinho has an Italian passport, he won't take up a foreigners spot which is advantageous for Roma.As for Juve, they're madly chasing after Gilberto Silva, but will Arsenal sell another of their experienced, core players? It seems that they're at least considering it by asking for about 50% more than Juve have offered so far...Inter have Deco in their sights but so do Newcastle. Inter has more money to throw at Barca but an auction isn't going to help get Deco for a reasonable price. He's definitely a player that can make the difference with creative play and hard work, Inter can surely do with him.AC Milan are trying to nab Emerson from Real Madrid. They seem to like thei...
More About: Action , Juventus , Serie A

Milan's new duck
2007-08-18 15:59:00
It seems that Milan have finally got their Duck . The duck I mean is Alexandre Pato from Inter (Inter of Brazil). Pato means Duck in Portuguese and Alexandre was given this nickname as he is from a place near Pato Branco (white duck) in Brazil. It's funny that he played for a team named after Inter Milan but ended up with AC Milan, oh well, all the best to him! He has many Brazilians there to help him accustom.He's probably got a little coverage over the last year as he was involved in Inter's Intercontinental Cup. They defeated Barcelona in the competition that used to be the Toyota Cup that puts the Champions League winners up against the Copa Libertadores winner. Brazil has had a good run over the last couple years actually (Sao Paulo defeating Liverpool the year before).Alexandre definitely has much potential and AC Milan can probably thank Leonardo for bagging them another Brazilian talent (who almost signed up Kaka' from Sao Paulo some time ago). In my opinion, I think they...

Recoba seals it for Inter, against Milan!
2007-08-18 15:47:00
An unlikely heroe of late sealed a 1-0 victory for Inter Milan against arch rivals AC Milan in the final of the TIM cup (A small preseason tournament). See the goal below, pure Recoba of old, so good to see again.I've always admired Recoba, he's been at Inter for such a long time, it's always been said that he could('ve) been the worlds best. What happened to all that immense potential? I guess some of it was realised from time to time but he has always been plagued with injuries. It's pretty tragic and I know what it's like to have long term niggling injuries that don't seem to go away.It seems like he'll move away from Inter finally which is probably a good choice for him as he's now on the wrong side of 30 and probably doesn't have much playing time left. He finds world-class competition for a starting spot with Ibrahimovic, Crespo, Adriano, Cruz and now Suazo.Check out below why he was always highly rated and the moments that etched him into the hearts of many an Inter...

Amazing 9 year old whizz kid signs for Man U
2007-08-17 19:25:00
An amazing young talent has signed up with Manchester United after his grandfather sent their youth staff a DVD of his skills. Rhain Davis is British born but was playing in Brisbane, Australia. It's hard to say who will be the next big thing at this age but you can certainly see he has an amazing amount of skill and talent!Check it out below...Bookmarkz
More About: Signs , Amazing , Year , Man U

Ronaldo R9 - The original and the best
2007-08-17 17:55:00
Okay, first off, I've got nothing against Christiano Ronaldo (I'm half-Portuguese, half-Brazilian so I have loyalties in both camps :) but I got into football during R9's time, when he was unquestionably the best player in the world. He inspired me to start playing soccer (I started quite late) and really got my interested in the world game.Christiano has got so much going for him, his pace, technique, strength and height. The only thing is the ugly side of his game, that is, the diving, etc. (which he seems to be cutting down on thankfully). But while he was still in primary school, Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima was already making a name for himself.He began his professional career with Cruzeiro as soon as he was old enough to sign up. He didn't last long there before he was snapped up to play at PSV Eindhoven in Holland where he scored 55 goals in 57 appearances, a truly phenomenal statistic a testament to his alias "O Phenomeno". A good striker is one with about 1 goal per 2 g...
More About: Original , The O , Aldo , Naldo

First post
2007-08-17 17:39:00
So this is obviously my first post for this soccer blog. I guess I hope to bring you the latest soccer news and add some insightful comments based on my opinions about what's going on in the football world at the moment. I'm probably going to post my favorite youtube clips with commentary cause they're a lot of good ones out there to watch!Anyways, I hope you find this blog interesting and informative, it's sure to grow as I'll try to post as often as I can!
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