Where in the World is Ronaldinho

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira is more known as Ronaldinho and is one of the best footballers Brazil has produced professionally. He started his stellar football career with the Gremio youth squad and was first taste in top-level football in Europe with Paris Saint Germain. After a contentious stint with the French club and was at odds with its manager, he moved on to FC Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga.

At Barcelona, he helped the club win its first league title and win his FIFA World Player of the Year twice in 2004 and 2005. Though he was offered a top-notch contract to stay with the Barcelona club, the Brazilian midfielder moved on in 2007 after a couple of injury plagued seasons and signed up with AC Milan. Ronaldinho Gaucho has also continued his stint with the Brazilian National Team and is now busy preparing for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

 

 

Cristiano Ronaldo Contemplates Future

Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he would first take time off and vacation before deciding on whether to continue his duties in a Manchester United uniform. This is after the Red Devils’ disappointing loss to FC Barcelona in the Champions League final, two goals to zip. So disappointing was his performance in the championship match that even the Catalan crowd jeered him as he received his second place model.

Hovering around the star striker are rumours of a move to Real Madrid, which he left hanging by neither confirming or denying it. What he did confirm though was his stint with the Portuguese national team for the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup to be held at South Africa. That is how far the FIFA Footballer of the Year has planned for his future, and said beyond that, he would still have to see. That has made many fans of Manchester United biting their nails.

The Legacy of Pele

One of the legends of football is known simply as Pele. He has been acclaimed as the Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and is a national hero in his native Brazil. From his humble beginnings playing for Santos in Brazil, his playing career has been marked with excellent dribbling and passing, his powerful shot, his heading skill and above all his prolific goal scoring prowess.

Though Pele has retired in 1977, he is still the standard that Brazilian players are measured against. He has been acclaimed as the “King of Football”, the all time leading scorer on the Brazilian national football team and is the only footballer to be part of three World Cup winning teams. This is why Pele is still one of the icons of sports and with his current role as the worldwide ambassador for football; he is the symbol of greatness from the humblest of beginnings.

FC Barcelona Caps Perfect Season

The 2008 to 2009 season for the FC Barcelona has been a fairy tale season. The club now has the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League titles for the season. With the superb play of the team lead by Lionel Messi, now acclaimed as one of the finest players of the world, has been the catalyst for the success of the club this year. 

The La Liga title was all in hand by the latter quarter of the season. The Copa del Rey was also a runaway win for the FC Barcelona squad. The last one of the three titles was one filled with drama. The final protagonists had come neck and neck until the last game of the season, with FC Barcelona being able to catch up to the lead built by Manchester United. The game though was anticlimactic as the Spanish club had controlled the game all throughout, leaving the old guard of the Red Devils ending their season with a second place finish and game reels of the FC Barcelona team being awarded the Champions League Cup for 2008.

Everton Wants to Win the FA Cup

The Everton goalkeeper, Tim Howard, bristles at the thought his team is the underdog for the coming FA final against the mighty Chelsea club. His indignance at the thought that Chelsea would run roughshod over them has another thing coming. This Everton club is the only team that the Blues have been shut outs, with the two previous English Premier League draws ending in a nil all deadlock.

This is one of the feathers on the illustrious cap of the American goalkeeper and has entrenched him as one of the outstanding goalkeepers in the Premiere League. His first try in the European football was marred by a forgettable stint with Manchester United and his Tourette’s syndrome only strengthened his resolve to make it good in the fields of England.  And now playing with Everton, this mild mannered man is on the verge of hoisting his newest trophy and help Everton’s fourteen-year title drought.

Everton Edges Manchester United in FA Cup Shootout

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard stopped two penalty shots to preserve Everton’s four to two penalty shootout victory over Manchester United. With the win, Everton enters its first FA Cup final appearance in fourteen years.

The teams were nil all at extra time at Wembley last Sunday before Tim Howard blocked the shots of Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand to help put Everton into the final against Chelsea. The team played by Sir Alex Ferguson were composed of reserves played above par against the Everton side. The winning penalty shot for Everton was scored by Phil Jagielka and Tim Cahill was the only Everton player missing the back of the net.

Everton would be playing Chelsea for the FA Cup, after the Blues beat the Gunners two goals to one. The finals between Everton and Chelsea would be a fitting end to the run of Guus Hiddink as manager of the Blues, who would return to complete his management responsibilities with the Russian football team for the 2010 World Cup.

Jaime Moreno Scores Twice for DC United

Jaime Moreno, in his first stint back in a DC United uniform, scored his first two goals of the season ten minutes apart to lift DC United to a scintillating two goals to one victory over FC Dallas. With the shot count on goal at 11-3 in favor of DC United, the team was one goal down at halftime because of Andre Rocha’s 28^th minute goal.

His first goal came in the 56^th minute after a long pass from Bryan Namoff and shot the ball right off the diving FC Dallas goalkeeper. Ten minutes later, he received an assist from Christian Gomez who thread past two FC Dallas defenders to chip the shot into the goal past the Dallas goalkeeper. The FC Dallas goalkeeper Ray Burse played in lieu of Dario Sala, who was red carded in their last match. Other defenders missing for FC Dallas was Daniel Torres, who was recovering from a broken hand played in place of George John, who was recovering from a hamstring injury.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1

With the defeat of the Gunners, the Blues have pushed themselves into the FA Cup final. It was the late game heroics of Didier Drogba in the 84^th minute that broke the one all tie. Theo Walcott opened the scoring for Arsenal with a goal in the 18^th minute. Chelsea pulled abreast with Flourent Malouda’s goal on the 34^th minute.

The match then went on a see saw as both teams tried to score to get ahead after halftime and deep into the match. Frank Lampard volleyed a high ball behind the Arsenal defense and Drogba galloped his way unto the score, beating Mikael Silvestre and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski for the tiebreaker. The win was a good farewell to Guus Hiddink, who would retain the manager’s title for the club until the end of the season as he returns to his coaching chores with the Russian national team. It was also Chelsea’s first FA Cup win over Arsenal since 1947.

Where Is Roberto Carlos

Where is Roberto Carlos? The best attacking sweeper in the game from Brazil had left Real Madrid for the Turkish club Fenerbahce. He signed a two-year contract with a player option for a third and his presence with the club has made it contenders not only locally but also at international play at well.

He was a member of three World Cup Brazilian teams that won the 2002 quadrennial football event. He was a member of the Real Madrid team for eleven years and with him the club won four Spanish League titles, three UEFA Champions League trophies and two Intercontinental Cup championships.

He is best known for his impossible free kicks, with the most spectacular one in the 2002 World Cup match against France as the ball curled two meters before settling at the back of the net. He is also one of only six players to have been able to play in over one hundred matches in the Champions League as of February 2008.

Arsenal Has Lofty Goals

Arsenal’s Kolo Toure believes that his current crop of stats can be as great as the 2006 team and be able to get into the Champions League finals. But they have to face the mighty Manchester United team at Old Trafford, with Kolo Toure the only remaining member of the “Invincibles” who ran through the 2003 to 2004 Premier League campaign nary a loss.

Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira are no longer on the team but in their place Emmanuel Adebayor and Samir Nasri have come of age to make a run at the Champions League contention. For this upcoming match, they are not the favoured as top scorer Robin van Persie is out with injury and Andrey Arshavin will not suit up due to suspension. As for their match, Kolo Toure said that they have “the same type of team as we both like to play but the team that would win will be the one which defends the best.”