This weekend’s World Cup qualifying matches saw few of the the big name strikers of the World impress for their respective countries.

Fernando Torres, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo were all in action on Saturday, but none have come anywhere close to the 12 goals scored by Osea Vakatalesau of Fiji.

Vakatalesau has not even featured in a qualifying match since Fiji’s 2-0 win over Oceania section winners New Zealand in November 2008, but he is not the only confederation top scorer who won’t be appearing in South Africa next summer.

Thailand’s Sarayoot Chaikamdee and Uzbekistan’s Maksim Shatskikh were the deadliest marksmen in the Asian zone with eight goals apiece, but both countries failed to qualify.

Uzkebistan finished bottom of Group One behind Australia, Japan, Bahrain and Qatar in the final round of the Asian campaign, with former Dynamo Kiev player Shatskikh’s last involvement coming in the 4-0 win over Qatar back in March.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wayne Rooney scored to hand Manchester United a 1 - 0 English Premier League win over newcomers Birmingham, whilst Liverpool lost 2 - 1 againt Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

North-west rivals United and Liverpool slugged it out for the trophy last season but both looked below-par and pedestrian compared with Arsenal who thumped six goals past Everton on Saturday.

The champions at least hung on to claim all three points and with Chelsea also victorious Liverpool were the only one of the four title favourites who failed to win on the opening weekend.

United, minus Cristiano Ronaldo, needed the quick reactions of Rooney 12 minutes before halftime at Old Trafford to see off promoted Birmingham, the England striker stabbing in a rebound after his header hit the post.

Read the rest of this entry »

Real Madrid played against the Shamrock Rovers from Ireland in a club friendly on Monday night, but failed to impress despite winning 1 - 0.

The ’second Galacticos’ as the team is commonly referred to, began the match without a single Dutchman on the pitch. This adds to speculations on manager Pellegrini’s wish to sell most of the Dutch players.

Cristiano Ronaldo did form part of the starting line-up but failed to impress against the Irish.

The only goal was scored with just four minutes to go, and came from substitute forward Karim Benzema.

Real Madrid begin their 2009-10 La Liga campaign against Deportivo la Coruña on August 30.

Source: soccernews.com

Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini says the Portuegese star Christiano Ronaldo does not have star mentality.

“He’s as I expected him to be. He is the first to arrive at a training session, he has fully integrated into the squad, he doesn’t act as a star,” he said Sunday during his first post-training press conference as Real’s new coach.

“He is a very talented but normal player who is devoted to Real Madrid. His image is very different to how he is as a player.”

Real signed the player from Manchester United last month on a six-year deal worth around 94 million euros (131 million dollars) and he will reportedly be paid 13 million euros each season, making him the most expensive player in the world.

The 24-year-old was officially unveiled before some 75,000 ecstatic Real fans on July 6 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

He had to be hurried away when spectators leapt over security barriers to try to get an autograpah.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cristiano Ronaldo was presented to a near-capacity crowd of 80,000 at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium after completing the formalities of his £80m world record move to Real Madrid.

An estimated 50,000-strong crowd - almost three times the anticipated number - turned up to watch the ceremony at the Bernabeu stadium as Kaka was unveiled as Madrid’s latest addition by club president Florentino Perez and honorary president Alfredo di Stefano.

Sources:     dailymail.co.uk       zimbio.com 

Christiano Ronaldo says he is proud to be the object of a £ 80 million bid from Real Madrid.

“I have had my time at Man United. It’s time to look forward and £80million is quite a sum of money. This deal is historic,” said Ronaldo, who is currently on holiday in Los Angeles.

“It’s flattering when two of the top teams in the world want you to play for them.

“Now I can look forward to Real Madrid and a new stage in my career. I learned of the deal here in LA and heard from my people that United had accepted.”

Source: football365.com

The clash of probably the best two players in the world, Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the UEFA Champions League final tonight have been highly anticipated.

Defending champions Manchester United will walk out at Rome’s Olympic Stadium for Wednesday’s show-case final to face a Barcelona side who have already humiliated European giants Bayern Munich and Real Madrid this season.

It promises to be a battle royal between two teams at the peak of their powers and includes a sub-battle between arguably the world’s best two attacking players who can terrorise defences on their day.

United’s Ronaldo currently has the upper hand having won both the world player of the year crown and the Ballon d’Or in 2008 while his side aim to retain their Champions League title by beating Messi’s Barcelona side.

Dead-ball specialist Ronaldo hit a staggering 42 goals in all competitions last season, but his winner away to Porto and two at Arsenal in this season’s Champions League campaign have gone some way to answering criticism of his big-game temperament.

Barcelona centre-back Yaya Toure admits the Spaniards can ill-afford to allow Ronaldo the freedom to control the midfield if they are to fulfill their ambition to win the competition they last claimed in 2006.

“They are physically very strong, they have a truly great footballer in Cristiano Ronaldo and they won the Champions League last year, so we know it will be very difficult,” said the 26-year-old Ivory Coast international.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Portugal and Manchester United football star Christiano Ronaldo was named FIFA World Player of 2008 on Monday.

Ronaldo, who is also holder of the prestigious Ballon d’Or for the European Footballer of the Year, beat off competition from 2007 winner Kaka (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Fernando Torres (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

“It’s an overwhelming moment in my career and I’d like to dedicate this award to my family, friends and colleagues,” he said.

“Winning the Champions League for me was the most memorable moment of 2008,” added Ronaldo, who scored in the final but missed a penalty in the penalty shootout against Chelsea.

Ronaldo went out of his way to heap praise on United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, with whom relations became strained during last summer over whether he was going to leave the club for Real Madrid.

“It’s also true that the manager always has an important role to play,” said Ronaldo.

“It was a great season for me and for my club, and the coach was important for me because I learned a lot from him.

“His experience over so many years is of paramount importance - it’s a privilege to have such a great club manager.

“This is the climax of a fantastic era for me. I’m happy and proud about what has been done by my team and what we have won.

“I am lucky to be part of the history of a club like Manchester United.”

Read the rest of this entry »

With last years award going to world cup stalwart Fabio Cannavaro, who at 33 was the oldest player to receive the award, we now enter a new era where the world will be ruled by any one of three players all under 25. The Fifa world player of the year gala takes place on the 17th of December and with the Official shortlist down to three very promising attacking players lets take a closer look at each nominee.

Lionel Messi

Age 20

FC Barcelona

Read the rest of this entry »