Moved to WordPress

Hey all,
I've decided to move my blog to wordpress for a number of reasons. Anyways, you can now find it at www.18yards.com

The move will probably take a little while in terms of getting everything set up again but I think it will be worthwhile in the end.

Adriano - The Emperor

Just a quick post with a good Adriano compilation.

He's been out of form for quite a while now and is probably 5th in line at the Inter striker pecking order but this wasn't the case a couple of seasons ago. The tank was one of the top few players in the world for a brief period and I'm sure a lot of Inter and Brazil fans would be ecstatic to see him find that form again! What happened to him, who knows but for now, sit back and enjoy his best!


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UEFA Champions League Oct 3 wrap

Apart from Liverpool's lackluster match against Marseille, the rest of the fixtures for groups A,B,C and D played out as follows...

Real Madrid and Lazio battled their way to equal points and a 2-2 draw. A brace from Van Nistelrooy took the prolific striker to 56 champions league goals but Pandev had a brace of his own for Madrid. The defensive ability of the great club was brought into question yet again as they were left exposed on various occasions. They were lucky to take any points away from this trip to Italy.

AC Milan traveled to meet Celtic in Glasgow and weren't up to the task of defeating the "hoops" at home. The club with few wins in serie A of late can't even turn to their usually good performances in Europe at the moment as Celtic took all points with a 2-1 win. McManus headed in from a corner to make the score 1-0 and Milan leveled after Kaka' put away a penalty awarded for a foul on Ambrosini. Celtic made it 2-1 at the death after another Dida blunder that allowed the Aussie striker, McDonald, to slot away the rebound.

Olympiacos beat Werder Bremen, 3-1 after an amazing second-half come back to leave the German hosts with a sour taste in their mouths. Almeida was able to put away at least one of his many chances during the night to put Bremen in the lead, 1-0 but it wasn't to last as Olympiacos came back to put 3 goals away in the second half. An amazing second goal from Patsatzoglu found the back of the net with a little help from a deflection.

Schalke defeated Rosenburg 2-0 with goals from Jones and Kuranyi making a successful roadtrip. Shakhtar were also able to upset their hosts, beating Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon. Continuing the tradition of wins on the road, this time it was Benfica's league rivals, Porto, that were able to take 3 points from Besiktas in Turkey. The brilliant Quaresma waited until the 92nd minute to put the only goal of the match away.

Finally it was Chelsea that were also able to defeat their Spanish hosts proving that they're not in crisis just yet after Mourinho's departure. But it was David Villa that opened the scoring for the home side with a bit of luck allowing the ball to fall in a good position for him. Drogba combined well with Malouda, allowing the later to play the ball across the 6-yard line for Joe Cole to tap in and level the scores. Finally Drogba calmly placed a shot towards the far post and allowed Chelsea to go home 2-1 winners over Valencia.


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Liverpool vs Marseille (UEFA CL)

Liverpool hosted Marseille in a game where the former failed to deliver. Liverpool seemed to be lacking inspiration and motivation but the same was not true for Marseille. The visitors controlled the match right up until they scored in the 77th minute and it was only then that Liverpool seemed to wake up and tried to pull a goal back and at least grab a point. The goal was scored by Valbuena and was perhaps the goal of the matchday. A perfectly driven strike from outside the area into the top-right corner which bounced off the cross-bar into the net and left Reina as a mere spectator.


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UEFA Champions League Oct 2 wrap

As I posted earlier, Manchester United were able to seal another 1-0 result at home against Roma. A Wayne Rooney effort made the difference.

Dynamo Kyiv faced off against Sporting Lisbon with a score that ending 2-1 in favour of Lisbon. The Kyiv goal was quite spectacular with a backheal assist. This left Group F with Manchester United comfortably on top, Roma and Sporting equal on points in 2nd and 3rd respectively (goal difference helping Roma). While Kyiv sit on the bottom with no points at all and a very difficult campaign ahead of them.

Rangers played a spectacular match against Lyon and were able to brush them aside 3-0 in France for some valuable points. Very strange indeed to see Lyon so overwhelmed. Puyol scored the first goal for Barca against Stuttgart after the keeper couldn't hold on to a Ronaldinho header. The match ended 2-0 when the man of the moment, Messi, slammed home a Henry cut-back.

Robin van Persie slotted a nice goal after Adebayor performed a cut-back of his own to show he's learnt a few things from the departed Henry. The final score was 1-0 to Arsenal over Steaua Bucuresti. Sevilla defeated Slavia Praha 4-2 with Fabiano scoring some nice goals (one leaving the keeper for dead). CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Inter were able to carry on their good form from earlier in the week where they destroyed Roma in a 4-1 drubbing. More importantly it was the form of Ibrahimovic which continues to win games for Inter, a brace from him sealed the score at 2-0. Check out the highlights for a truly spectacular finish on the second goal.

Most of the highlights through ESPN.

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Extended Inter vs PSV Eindhoven goal replays.

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Extended Barca vs Stuttgart highlights.

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Extended Sevilla vs Slavia Praha highlights.

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Manchester United vs Roma (UEFA CL)

Manchester united have managed yet another 1-0 victory at home, this time over Roma in matchday 2 of the UEFA champions league competition.

Proving their defensive dominance, Roma was left with few chances to score and they wasted most of these chances anyway. The man of the match was Nani who was popping up everywhere, causing many headaches for Roma and created many opportunities. In fact it was Nani's pass that enabled Rooney to quickly fire a shot into the far post, just outside outside the keeper's reach. Tevez also added a real spark after coming on for Saha who had a less than memorable match.

It wasn't until the goal that Roma woke up and Spaletti started making the right changes (such as bring on Pizzaro). The best chance of the night went to Esposito who blasted what was basically a sitter out wide. A fair result that Roma shouldn't be too disappointed with (especially considering their recent record at old trafford!).

Christiano Ronaldo almost scored one of the goals of the tournament with a cheeky backheel into the back of the net, but was found just offside. He was also the victim of an unintentional elbow that caused his face to spurt out a considerable amount of blood just above his left eye and probably caused thousands of teenage girls (and a few men inclined in a certain way) to faint.

Soccer technology

Ever wondered about the amount of technology that goes into soccer? I've always known that many products have a lot of technology and research involved, from the high quality leathers and synthetics on modern shoes to the latest innovations in ball design and testing. But I decided to have a good look into these technologies starting with soccer balls.

Historically (based on references and legend), early balls ranged from human heads, stitched up cloth, animal and human skulls to pig or cow bladders! Glad that's not the case anymore!!

Before vulcanised rubber, balls were made from inflated pig bladders. This made the shape very irregular so you can imagine how hard it was to curl in a well-placed free-kick. In 1855 the first rubber soccer ball was made and we were on the path to our modern soccer balls.

Even though the English FA created the rules to the game in 1863, it wasn't until 1872 that they agree on a size for the ball and the fact that it had to be spherical! It's interesting to note that a weight was also given and that has basically remained the same until now.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s it was the type of the leather and how well it was sewn that decided the quality of the ball. As time went on, the construction of the panels allowed for a rounder ball but the problem with these leather balls was that they became water-logged and were painful to head due to the stitching. Eventually coatings and paints as well as better valves were introduced to reduce some of these problems.

In the 60s, synthetic balls were introduced but not until the 80s did they fully replace leather balls because initially they were less predictable in flight. In the 86 world cup, the "Azteca" ball was the first polyurethane ball used. It was great in the wet and very resistant to wear. The 90 WC ball was the "Etrvsco" and it introduced the black, internal neoprene foam which kept the ball water-tight.

In 94, the "Questra" had a layer of polystyrene foam that reportedly made it more water-tight, allowed greater acceleration when kicked and allowed better ball control. World cup 98 saw the famous "Tricolore" ball introduced, the first coloured ball (using the french flag's colours). It had a newer type of foam that made it even softer and faster than the Questra. The "Fevernova" was the ball of the 2002 WC finals and was made up of 11 foam layers! Apparently this was to increase the ball's accuracy when in flight. The technology reduced that amount of energy absorbed by the ball, rather it increased the rebound effect for higher velocities. The ball was small and heavy (the lower and upper FIFA limits respectively) as this made it more accurate.

It was a fast ball but was very controversial. Top players like Buffon, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and Edmilson criticised it. It was said that it felt too bouncy and light and it soared too far when kicked. Only Beckham has good things to say about it's accuracy but sponsorship by Adidas may have biased his opinion a tad :)

Finally 2006 saw the unveiling of the TeamGeist ball for Germany. The amazing new panel shape was designed to reduce the number of corners and panels (14 panels instead of 32 for the usual buckyball type soccer balls). The ball is rounder as there are less seams and this improves accuracy. A patented Thermal Bonding process makes the new ball almost completely waterproof with identical performance characteristics wet or dry. It's astounding that it only absorbs 0.1% of it's weight in water (compare that to FIFA's guidelines allowing a maximum of 10%!).

All of the information here was summarised from soccerballworld. Check out the site, there's much more info there (especially about the history and about the Teamgeist).

There is also info about the euro 04 ball, the "Roteiro". I found it pretty amusing because it had a statement from Beckham that read as follows...
“The most important thing for me is to know that I can rely on the ball to go exactly where I want it to go. The new Roteiro reacts very well to my foot. When I’ve helped adidas to test the Roteiro in Madrid, I’ve noticed that the accuracy of my corners, my passing and, of course, my free kicks improved from using this ball. When you’re kicking it, it even sounds better. No one has ever seen anything like this before. I think it is great to kick and it’s going to be a great ball to play with. Keepers are going to have a very tough time.”
Should've practised those penalty kicks a bit better hey Dave?

Julio Batista Wondergoal!

Check out the awesome overhead kick that finished up Real Madrid's win over Real Betis. A very cool finish with perfect technique by Julio Baptista.

Inter vs Roma

So the hype and comments are flying as Inter and Roma prepare to do battle to decide the strongest of serie A on the weekend in an epic top of the table clash.

Roma is in blistering form and playing some of the most attractive football in all European competitions at the moment. Inter is up and down as usual but Ibrahimovic is also in blistering form and can't seem to put a foot wrong! He is sitting at the top of the scoring charts, tied with Trezeque on 6 goals, 2 above Totti.

Inter is somewhat depleted in defense with Materazzi, Maicon and Viera out because of injuries and suspensions. It will be interesting to see what Mancini can do with the players on hand. Roma also has a few injuries to deal with so both teams will have to adjust their regular line-ups.

Roma will have the advantage of a home crowd but Inter go into the match off a 3-0 thumping of Sampadoria in the middle of the week. Hopefully it will be another classic like the 06 supercup match between the two teams...


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If you'd like to see the highlights of Inter's 3-0 waxing of Sampadoria earlier in the week, see below. A brace for Ibrahimovic and Figo magic to wrap it up.


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Edit: Inter vs Roma = 4-1

You can read my brief review or just skip to the match highlights below.

The score doesn't tell the full story but it was a convincing win by Inter over an ultimately 10-man Roma. Early on Roma were playing some good football but after Guily blatantly and intentionally handled the ball in the area to prevent a header, following a blocked shot, from going in, Roma were reduced to 10 men. Ibrahimovic calmly put away the penalty.

After that it looked like Roma were going to save themselves and hold out for a draw with Perrota leveling the score. But it wasn't to last as the immense pressure that Inter laid on eventually cracked Roma open. First with Crespo putting away a deflected Cambiasso shot, then Cruz blasting in a long range effort and finally Cordoba headed home the final nail in the coffin.


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Highlights from Champions League 18-19th Sept 2007

Here are the highlights for the Tuesday (18th) matches.



and here are the highlights for the Wednesday (19th)

Romario, the living legend

324 goals [in 410 games] for Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
204 goals [in 240 games] for Flamengo (Brazil)
165 goals [in 167 games] for PSV Eindhoven (Holland)
71 goals [in 85 games] for the Selecao (Brazil)
53 goals [in 84 games] for Barcelona FC (Spain)
48 goals [in 77 games] for Fluminense (Brazil)
22 goals [in 29 games] for Miami (USA)
14 goals [in 21 games] for Valencia (Spain)
1 goal [in 4 games] for Adelaide (Australia)
+ Plus several goals with other clubs and competitions, the "Baixinho" (Shorty) has completed scoring 1000 goals. A feat only reached by about 3 people I believe (Including Pele' with his 1200+ goals).

Romario has always been an amazing player able to convert any half-chance in a split-second and the fact that he's made it to 41 years of age and maintain the ability to play at a professional level is amazing!

What's even more amazing is when you consider his lifestyle, totally the opposite of how a player should live their professional life! He swapped day for night, preferring to party till all hours. He's never been one for much training, something that's always got him in trouble with most coaches. Jumped from club to club and back again when he felt like it.

There's no other striker that has been so successful towards the end of their career! The stats show that up until the age of 30, Romario scored 432 goals with a ratio of 0.77 per game. After 30 he scored 491 goals at a rate of 0.86 per game! Those sorts of ratios are phenomenal for even the best strikers out their of any age! Usually a ratio of 0.5 or more per game will get you noticed by the major clubs.

At 40 he scored 41 goals in 50 games and at 41 years old he scored 13 in 13 games to reach 1000 on the 20th of May 2007 with Vasco. Unbelievable stuff really! He's obviously altered his style a lot over the years to continue to score at such a rate. He lost the incredible pace and acceleration and replaced them with other qualities such as positioning and finishing.

Here's some footage of the 1000th goal...


And some more footage here, a great round up of 20 great Romario goals!

More problems and controversy for Ronaldo

Ronaldo is in more hot water, which is probably a good thing to help heal his thigh injury which has been revealed to be more serious than initially thought.

It looks like Ronaldo will miss at least another month of action. The AC Milan medics have admitted to getting the diagnosis of his thigh injury somewhat wrong. Earlier Ronaldo's Brazilian doctor, Jose Luis Runco, blasted the medical staff for their diagnosis and treatment. Ronaldo travelled to Antwerp to get a second opinion because his progress had stalled and since received permission to return to Rio de Janeiro to receive treatment there.

It is this very treatment that is stirring up a lot of controversy currently because of the use of gene therapy (which is banned in Italy but a-okay in Brazil! :). The Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor indicated that he may open an investigation on the use of this therapy. The therapy uses a natural protein to stimulate cell proliferation and is called "growth factor" and was initially developed to treat cancer. This could be regarded as doping by the committee and would be yet another blow to Ronaldo getting things back on track! Personally I don't see how using your own blood's proteins to heal yourself could be doping or banned!?

If you're actually interested in the science behind the treatment, see the video below for a good explaination.

Brazil vs United States friendly

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).

Slim Ronaldo not far away!

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 the training and medication are already helping.

Unfortunately Ronaldo is still recovering from a thigh injury but Ancelotti is suggesting he should be back for the match against Sienna. I sure hope so, in the meantime, see below for what a slender Ronaldo used to be able to do and cross your fingers with me in the hopes of seeing more beautiful football.

Brazils Ronaldo Skills

Quaresma

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 squad, any defence would be nervous. Portugal just needs a striker that can keep up with these guys! Interestingly they both used to play at Sporting Lisbon at the same time for a brief period.

I can't quite understand why the last couple of transfer seasons haven't attracted a great number of suitors... Perhaps Porto have him on quite a contract or he is happy to remain there for now. There have been rumors that his personality is hard to deal with but this is the case for many players and he seems to be doing just fine at Porto. I read that Chelsea tried to sign him with little luck but also that Inter are after him as Figo's successor... I sure hope so! Anyways, check out the clip, he's definitely one of my fav players.

Brazil vs Algeria friendly

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 copa america and it continues to show that he does not deserve that number 9 shirt. Ronaldo needs to return, he may be 30 now but he is still clinical and in good shape now (as opposed to how he was at WC06). If anyone doesn't agree that R9 should be back then at least Mancini of Roma who has been on fire over the last couple of seasons. There are many better Brazilian strikers but I'll continue that discussion another time, for now, check out the highlights below. They go for about 9-10 minutes so are quite substantial and well cut-down.

Right back fever

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)...

The next Ronaldinho?

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)

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.

Ribery Magic!

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.



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Lots of transfer action in Serie A

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 their older players. Failing that, they may go after Motta who seems to have had his fill at Barca. He has just under a year on his contract so Barca would be keen to prevent a free transfer at the end.

Sure are a lot of Brazilians moving about...


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Milan's new duck

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'll probably loan him so he can get some European experience before they start using him but he could already make an impact for them. Problem is he can't start playing for them until January 2008 anyways, after paying out a fair bit for his buy-out clause they must be betting on him for the future. He definitely will be one to watch out for very soon! Check out his current abilities below...



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Recoba seals it for Inter, against Milan!

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 fan...

PS: The music is pretty dodgy but you forget about it pretty quick after seeing that lethal left foot!

2007 - Sept - 15; Update: Recoba is now on loan to Torino. Good luck El Chino! He has been at Inter since 1997, made 261 appearances and scored 72 goals.

Amazing 9 year old whizz kid signs for Man U

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...



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Ronaldo R9 - The original and the best

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 games so 1:1 is amazing!

Barca could smell his pure talent and snapped him up for the 96-97 season where he maintained his amazing strike rate with 47 goals in 49 appearances! Moratti was soon pulling money out of his pockets to bring him to Inter where he spent about 5 years before going to Real Madrid where his talent was mostly wasted (at the very least, badly managed). Many Inter fans are sour about how he left the club but to me the problem was Hector Cuper, the worst Inter coach ever. He left him on the bench for the last game of the season which they lost and handed the Scudetto over Juve (I think it was Juve).

Around 1999-2000 he had an injury to his right knee that was almost career ending. He injured it, did rehab for about 3 months before re-injuring it badly almost straight away in his first game back. A dark period indeed for soccer and Inter! Luckily he came back and proved everyone wrong with an amazing performance in the 2002 world cup (after almost two years out!). In WC2006 he became the highest scorer in all the world cups, I sure hope they consider him for WC2010!

He turns 30 in a month (Sept 18th) and so is starting to approach his last remaining years in the game. Personally I feel he still has plenty to give and I think he will make his mark at AC Milan. Even though they are my bitter rivals as an Inter supporter, I do hope he gets the chance to win a champions league medal as it's probably the only thing he hasn't won yet!!!

See below the magic that was/is Ronaldo...



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First post

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!