REAL MADRID TRANSFER NEWS 2008: BAPTISTA GOES TO AC ROMA
August 14, 2008
Local Sports daily “Marca” has published on its web that Italian Club
AC ROMA has finally signed REAL MADRID Brazilian International
midfielder JULIO BAPTISTA
The transfer fee is 12M€ plus incentives & the player signs for Roma
for the next 4 years. The player is expected to fly off to Rome this
Sunday for all the formalities & latter be presented to media & fans
by the Italian Club.
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2008 Men’s Olympic Football Quarter-Final Line Up
August 13, 2008
And just like that, the group stage of the 2008 Men’s Olympic Football tournament is over.
The quarter-finals look like this:
Nigeria vs Cote d’Ivoire
Italy vs Belgium
(winners play each other)
Argentina vs Netherlands
Brazil vs Cameroon
(winners play each other)
All matches on August 16th.
Highlights from the final round of group games below (USA fans look away now.)
Argentina 2-0 Serbia - Group A
The albiceleste bear Siberia 2-0 to top Group A with three wins out of three. Angel Di Maria will be embarrassed with his missed pen, but Diego Buonanotte has a nice free kick to add to his highlight reel.
Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 Australia - Group A
Salamon Kalou banged one into the top right corner to give the Ivorians a 1-0 win, and a place in the quarterfinals.
Nigeria 2-1 USA - Group B
The USA paid for their disciplinary problems in this one. Already shorn of the suspended Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu and in need of a result against Nigeria, they lost left back Michael Orozco in the third minute to a foolish elbow. Goals from Isaac Promise and Obinna Nsofor put Nigeria top of Group B, while an 88th minute Sacha Kljestan penalty was all the US had to show for the days work.
Netherlands 1-0 Japan - Group B
Following his dramatic last minute free kick equalizer on Sunday, Gerald Sibon had more bad news for the USA this morning. His penalty giving the Netherlands a 1-0 win over Japan, so one more point than the USA and a place in the last eight.
Belgium 1-0 New Zealand - Group C
This Faris Haroun header was enough to secure second place in Group C for Belgium. Maybe Hamburg will let Vincent Kompany stick around a little longer now?
Brazil 3-0 China - Group C
Ronaldinho put Diego through for the first, and Thiago Neves added two more (a free kick and a blink and you’ll miss it low shot) to make it three-nil and three out of three for Brazil. It still made Bruno sleepy though.
Italy 0-0 Cameroon - Group D
These two shared a goalless draw that put them both through. Italy finished top, Cameroon second.
South Korea 1-0 Honduras - Group D
Kim Dong-Jin scored a great goal with his right foot - apparently - to give Korea a 1-0 win. But Italy and Cameroon’s goalless draw meant Korea never had a shot at making the quarters. Honduras go home three defeats and CONCACAF is left thinking that Mexico would have represented the region a lot better.
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Brazil on Prozac 3 - 0 China
August 13, 2008
Come back later for a full review. With such a boring match, I need to sleep now. The two goals by Thiago Neves are hidding his poor performance as a playmaker. And Diego, who just had a decent performance, might have been the best on the pitch. One good thing: Marcelo is the future on the left side.
Update:
Ok. A draw was going to qualify Brazil in first. That meant, the players did not need to run as much, and Dunga could use the match for a few experiences and save players with yellow cards. But, why being so lazy?
Dunga brought to the pitch Ramirez replacing Hernanes. Thiago Silva replacing Alex Silva (he had a yellow card), Ilsinho replacing Rafinha and Thiago Neves replaced Anderson. Giving how little our midfield created in the first two matches, the one replacement to watch was Thiago Neves. Pato and Ronaldinho were the forwards
In the first minutes, it became obvious that the mix of lack of commitment + lack of playtime was going to make this match difficult to watch. Diego and Thiago Neves were not the playmakers expected, and Ronaldinho left the attack to get the ball in the midfield. Too bad the number 10 established this match as the one he wasn’t going to run at all. This resulted in some booing by the fans still in the first-half. Indeed, very annoying even for those who are happy with whatever Brazilians deliver. With this, the midfield relied on long passes that did not work once. The only three times Brazilians put the arrogance to the side and exchanged a few passes, the opportunities appear. The first one ended on Diego’s feet, and he had no trouble dribbling the goalie and pushing the ball against the net. Pato and Ronaldinho, on the other hand, failed in similar situations for being over confident.
The fact that Diego is aware he never plays well for the national team at least made him to put effort. Pato was replaced by Rafael Sobis for lack of effort. Ronaldinho remained on the pitch in a clear effort to get him in shape. But somebody forgot to tell him, he had to run. In the second-half, little changed. Thiago Neves was a disappointment as a playmaker, even thought his final records suggest the opposite. In fact, many time sat Fluminense the same happens. He fails as a playmaker, but score from free-kicks and long ranges. And this is exactly what happened. Two very beautiful goals. At the end, Jô and Rafinha came in, but very little changed. Again, the player who impressed me the most was Marcelo, despite the general laziness of the team. I think we have a new number 6 for the adult team as well.
On the next stage, we will take on Cameroon. Despite the feeling for revenge for what happened in the 2000 Olympics, I’m a bit worried, given how we love to lose against African nations in this competition. Some things like repeating themselves (Brazil losing against France, Argentina being humiliated by Brazil, and so on…). I hope this time, this curse changes. In order for that to happen, a little less laziness would be great.
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DJALMINHA : THE "FORGOTTEN" BRAZILIAN MAGICIAN OF SPANISH & WORLD FOOTBALL
August 13, 2008
While the World marvels at the increible skills, plays & dribbling
of Brazilians like Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho…etc, we ( & perhaps
the youngsters) forget that before them was DJALMINHA
(pictured below) who played in DEPORTIVO DE A CORUÑA,
who helped take them to their first Liga title in the year 2000.
Why bring this up now? Because it seems most contempary Football
followers only talk about Ronaldinho & company, & SFS though it
maybe the moment to remember that Djalminha has a place in
Football history: as one of Brazil´s & World Football´s great
talents.
Their is no denying, Djalminha was difficult, controversial & some
may say a little crazy, but are´nt most Brazilian Stars? He is
best known for his time in Spanish Football were he was vital in
Deportivo winning: La Liga (2000), Spanish Cup (2002) & 2
Spanish Super Cups (2000-01 & 2002-03).
The odd piece in this story is that he was only 14 times International
for Brazil . His controversial character played a part here & halted
his progression in the Brazil National side, it also halted him from
performing on the World stage & grabbing more media attention.
However, its his Football that we are here for & wish to remember
him. Here is a GREAT video on the player - in Spanish - that
deserves to be watched in full. Highly recommended. You will soon
see that his skill was beyond words at times…making Ronaldinho
look like (stop)…well, they are all good really. Let you judge:
Go to Source
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Premiership Preview–3. Chelsea
August 13, 2008
Chelsea has not finished outside the top two in five seasons, a span in which they’re averaging a mind-blowing 88.5 points a season. They’ve won two Premiership titles, two Carling Cups, an FA Cup, and, for what it’s worth, a Community Shield, during this stretch. They have an impressive, slightly overrated in my opinion because of the number of draws, unbeaten streak at home in the league — 82 games and counting.
For all of that success, though, the one trophy most coveted by the West London club and its fans, the Champions League, has painfully eluded their grasp over that time. Counting last year’s run, the Blues have made it at least to the semifinals of Europe’s top club competition in four of those last five years, but they failed to win the whole thing every time.
Chelsea literally was inches away from putting an end to that on that rainy May night in Moscow against Manchester United, but as we all remember, John Terry slipped on his run-up and missed the penalty kick that would’ve won the final in a shootout, and Nicholas Anelka’s effort was saved three rounds later by Edwin van der Sar to give United their third European Cup/Champions League title.
The big story at Stamford Bridge this summer is the hiring of Luiz Felipe Scolari, a former World Cup-winning manager with Brazil and two-time winner of Copa Libertadores in the ’90’s. Scolari doesn’t have any experience with European club soccer, much less at such a high-profile post as Chelsea boss, but this is a man who can deal with big egos and make sure the team comes first. Unlike his predecessor, Avram Grant, Scolari has been around the block a few times and won’t simply be a “yes man” for wealthy owner Roman Abramovich.
The problem with Scolari is his age — almost 60. He’s at a point in his career where most managers are leaving club jobs to either retire or take up less demanding international posts. Scolari is doing the exact opposite, and while there’s no question that he’s a fiery, passionate guy in spurts, which we’ve seen with Brazil and Portugal more recently, I’m not sure that he can bring the energy necessary to the position over the course of such a grueling season. He reminds me of a fire in a way — when first lit and provided with kindling, he can burn quickly and the light and heat is there, but as the fuel runs out, the flame dies down. That’s the scenario I expect to see with Scolari this season, one that may provide a shock to him as far as how difficult the transition from international to club management truly is.
He’s brought a couple of the Portuguese stars he coached during his tenure with the Iberian country with him in Deco, who was a steal for million, and Bosingwa, who will provide much-needed stability to the right back position that had become a revolving door under Grant and José Mourinho before him.
Those two were Chelsea’s only acquisitions so far, but they haven’t lost a whole lot either. Steve Sidwell never should have went to Chelsea in the first place. He was just a spare part at the Bridge and his talent was wasted there, so he moved to Aston Villa and will reap the personal benefits from doing so. Tal Ben Haim was nothing more than cover at center back but the emergence of Branislav Ivanovic, who has spent the past couple seasons at Lokomotiv Moscow, meant Ben Haim was surplus to requirements. Claude Makelele was a great player in his prime and is what all defensive midfielders aspire to be, but as age has caught up with him (he’s lost more than a step) and Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel continue to develop, the Frenchman’s services were no longer needed.
Essien and Obi Mikel are two cogs to a Chelsea midfield that is absolutely stacked. They don’t have much quality on the wings aside from Joe Cole, who isn’t even a prototypical wide player anyway. Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips don’t cut it at a club as big as Chelsea, simple as that, though they do have their good moments. Essien, Michael Ballack, Deco, and Frank Lampard are all great center midfielders, and Obi Mikel may be on his way to that status if he could manage to stay on the field and not pick up silly bookings. Scolari has to find a way to get as much of this talent on the field at one time as possible, so you could see a narrow diamond in the middle, similar to what AC Milan and the Italian national team employ, a 4-1-4-1 with Didier Drogba as the lone striker, or the same 4-3-3/4-5-1 that’s been used in recent seasons.
Projected Starting Lineup (4-3-3/4-5-1):
GK: Petr Cech
RB: Bosingwa
CB: John Terry (captain)
CB: Ricardo Carvalho
LB: Ashley Cole
RCMF: Lampard
DMF: Essien
LCMF: Deco
RMF/RWF: Wright-Phillips
ST: Drogba
LMF/LWF: Cole
This midfield and front line will be very fluid based on fitness and form; Nicholas Anelka will get a chance to play up top or wide left, as will Salomon Kalou. Malouda plays there too. Wright-Phillips brings pace to the right flank. Scott Sinclair, like Kalou, is a speedy winger/striker that can make an impact. Obi Mikel can be brought on late to lock a game down in place of a more attack-minded player and clog up the midfield. Chelsea paid a lot of money for Andriy Shevchenko, so he’s going to play up front at some point. Scolari has plenty of options depending on his strategy in a given game.
Chelsea’s Premiership schedule sets up relatively comfortably through November; their road games (Wigan, Manchester City, Stoke City, Middlesbrough, Hull City, Blackburn, and West Brom) are all very winnable, and the other teams, who, granted, will provide stiff opposition for Chelsea, all come to Stamford Bridge and Chelsea just doesn’t lose there. Those teams: Portsmouth, Tottenham, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Sunderland, Newcastle, and Arsenal. By no means am I saying Chelsea will waltz through the first half of their league campaign, but they do have the significant advantage of playing those tough teams at home.
The schedule balances out in the second half, obviously, so Chelsea has to visit all those sides at some point. However, there isn’t one month that stands out above the rest from December on as being much trickier than another. December is Chelsea’s easiest month — they visit Bolton, Everton, and Fulham and host West Ham and West Brom. Their toughest month is probably March, because even though they play Manchester United and Liverpool in January, those are the bookend games of their four total and the middle two are at home against Stoke and Middlesbrough. In March, Chelsea goes to Portsmouth and Tottenham and welcome Manchester City to West London in between.
Bottom Line: I’m not exactly going out on a limb by saying this team is very, very good. There are no obvious weaknesses; they do need some more quality on the wings, but Scolari has the personnel to not even use wingers in the first place if he doesn’t want to. Chelsea’s fortunes depend largely on Scolari and how he adapts to the Premiership, because while the on-field talent is there, there’s no question in my mind that Scolari is the least capable manager out of Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez, and Sir Alex Ferguson. If Scolari makes a seamless transition, Chelsea can make a run at their third title in five seasons and their first Champions League. If his act wears thin like I believe it will, Chelsea will find themselves out of the running in both competitions by February or March.
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