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Swine Flu Causes a Wave of Rumors About Copa Libertadores

Bruno Romani — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:36:58 +0000

The swine flu is having a clear impact in the Copa Libertadores. After Chivas and San Luis from Mexico qualified for the next round of the tournament, CONMEBOL announced that the two clubs could not play in Mexico. Bogota, in Colombia, was announced as the hosting town.

But the Colombian capital declined to receive the two sides. The sub-secretary of Health from the city said, “Our decision was taken from WHO the recommendation.We don’t want to receive matches because we reached the level 5 of the pandemic. The WHO says we can’t do events with more than 40 people when the country of origin is involved”.

Santiago was the next choice. The”no” came very fast. Paraguay and Venezuela remain as candidates.

In Brazil, other rumors were spread as Sao Paulo, Chiva’s opponent, does not know what to do yet. Some of the rumors said that Chivas may have to play the two legs in Brazil. Other rumors say CONMEBOL will change the bracket and force Chivas and San Luis play against each other in Mexico.

Update: CONMEBOL just announced the matches involving the Mexican clubs have been postponed in 1 week. The first leg will take place only on the 13th. On Monday, the new dates and locations will be defined.

The Kiddo’s Got Something…

Bruno Romani — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:44:14 +0000

And his name is Taison from Inter.

Taison (pronounce it like Mike Tyson. Yes, some say it actually was a tribute to the boxer) is the man (sorry, the kid) who helped Inter’s official make up their minds about letting Alex go. Their reasoning was, “why should we keep a 27 year old if we have this great kid coming up?” And they were right. Taison is one of the main names of Inter this season, along with Nilmar and D’Alessandro.

On the pitch, Taison may be as fast and lethal as Tyson, but outside of it he is just kid. Look how cute:

Arrival

Bruno Romani — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:21:16 +0000

A new era has started for this blog. Stay tuned and you will see!

The Bench

Ana — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:49:09 +0000

Very nice. Video from OA, Opportunitas Aequa, a non-profit, grassroots organization based in Victoria and Vancouver, Canada, that uses the unifying power of soccer to create stronger and healthier communities in at-risk and war-affected regions of the world.

The Bench from Peter Jensen on Vimeo.

Dunga calls the squad for the next WC qualifiers matches. A little better?

Ana — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:45:48 +0000

Dunga is back on duty and has called today the 22 players who will face Colombia and Venezuela for the next phase of the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches. Ronaldinho is out (good – he was useless son the pitch) and so is Diego (not sure this was a good call). Dunga is still insisting on Kleber and Juan which is plain stupid with players like Marcelo out there. Kaká – the superstar – is back and we hope he actually does something this time. But the hope of this round goes entirely to Mancini. The Internazionale star has been playing amazing football lately and if Dunga puts him on the pitch (mark my words) he will do wonders. Full list after the jump.

GOALKEEPRS
Julio Cesar (Internazionale)
Doni (Roma)

SIDEBACKS
Maicon (Internazionale)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Juan (Flamengo)
Kleber (Santos)

DEFENDERS
Lúcio (Bayern Munique)
Tiago Silva (Fluminense)
Juan (Roma)
Alex Costa (Chelsea)

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos)
Lucas (Liverpool)
Elano (Manchester City)
Josué (Wolfsburg)

OFFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS
Anderson (Manchester United)
Mancini (Internazionale)
Julio Baptista (Roma)
Kaká (Milan)

FORWARDS
Robinho (Manchester City)
Alexandre Pato (Milan)
Jô (Manchester City)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)

Does Brazil need to consider a style re-think?

Ana — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:03:36 +0000

Brazilian players get the bronze in Beijing. Image: BBC

I think it does. Today I read a nice article from BBC writer Tim Vickery. Here is a small excerpt.

If defeat presents an opportunity to reflect and learn, then last week could have been very significant in Brazilian football.

Brazil’s quest to win Olympic gold was put back another four years after they went down 3-0 to Argentina in the semi-final in Beijing.

Following the match, under pressure coach Dunga was asked if his team had been too defensive. “Playing the same way,” he shrugged, “we won the Copa America.”

A year ago in Venezuela it was Brazil who came out on top 3-0 when they met their old rivals in the final. The game plan was similar – thwart Argentina’s intricate passing moves in midfield and then break at pace down the flanks – and on that occasion it worked.

Read the entire article HERE

See all the goals. Brazil vs. New Zealand.

Ana — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:56:35 +0000

5 – 0 baby! That was beautiful!!! Ronaldinho finally came back to his senses!

4′ Anderson

33′ Pato

54′ Ronaldinho

61′ Ronaldinho

90′ Rafael Sobis

Messi novel resolved. Apparently.

Ana — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:59:25 +0000

Lionel Messi has been given the OK to go play for Argentina in Beijing. The Barcelona star was having several issues with the club letting him off the leash. FIFA has forced Barcelona to let him ‘free’ since he has Olympic age (under 23). Barcelona is not happy at all and will still try to hold him by appealing to the TAS. Messi however is only listening to FIFA and will probably be joining the Argentinian squad in China soon. And so he should, I am tired of clubs doing this shit to player who have Olympic age.

Super cool !

Ana — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:27:30 +0000

Capello on England’s football, Beckham and the match against France.

Beautiful! Brazil 5 – Ghana 1

Ana — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:19:36 +0000

I woke up extra early today beacause I know that the Brazilian women’s national team never lets you down. I was right. Marta, Christiane and Formiga showed the beautiful football which sometimes lacks on them men’s team. The match winner would get the last spot on the Olympic games, in Beijing. Brazil took it, 5-1. What amazes me the most, other than the beautiful football, is the determination and love these women have for the game of football. Ghana had a completely amateur squad. Their players play football on their spare time, just like so many of us.

Ghana goalie, Suleimana, works for the Postoffice and so many others are police officers. I find it beautiful that they keep playing… unlike men’s football, unfortunately money is not a motivation factor to enter the pitch.

The same happens to Brazilian players. The ones who keep playing in Brazil (like Formiga) do not get not even as much as a man playing on 3rd division in Brazil. This surely breaks my heart but at the same time shows how much these women love football.

Now back to the match, Brazil was definitely a better team. Marta, always a genius, found space to play even though she had constantly one or two players marking her. The second goal, where Marta served Christiane a perfect ball, was beautiful.

Here are the best moments: