Both Pele and Gordon Banks passed out their warnings to Cristiano Ronaldo about a premature Man U departure. Both have stated, he needs to honor his end of the contract that has four years left on it. He is now 22, when his contract ends with Man U he will be 26. My personal take on this situation is that he does need to heed the advice of two of the best players in soccer/ football history. At the same time, it is his decision to make. Pele and Banks have a point but at the same time he, Madrid, and Man U have already made this a big deal. Will his teammates accept him although his thoughts lie elsewhere?


Other News

• Brad Guzan and Aston Villa have agreed to the fee that it will take to send him from the States to England. Guzan is a good keeper and I think he will thrive in a more competitive environment. English Soccer could possibly shape the 23 year old into America’s next number 1.
• Although Barca failed at landing Arshavin, he apparently has his eyes set on Arsenal.
• Frank Lampard’s potential move to play for the Inter side is all up to him now and it is completely his decision.
• With the completion of the Nasri signing, the Gunners are looking to complete the deal with Barca to move the unsettled Hleb.
• Former Barcelona player, Deco, has moved on to Chelsea to join former Portugal manager Luis Scolari. He moves into a rather deep midfield as they already have the likes of Joe Cole, John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Claude Makelele, and Frank Lampard.

Corrections

• After Brazil confirmed that Ronaldinho would be joining a very young Brazilian Olympic team in the Beijing Games, the FIFA has denied him. While it would have been fun to watch an Olympics with Ronaldinho on the field, Brazil has enough young players to take his place. He would have only over-shadowed somebody else’s opportunity to shine.
• Although the source from AC Milan believes that they can acquire Ronaldinho if a move is to occur. The key phrase there is: if he moves. Amidst all the speculations and rumors, Barca may decide to keep ‘dinho after all.

• A source from inside the AC Milan front office has stated that Milan has a 90% chance of acquiring Ronaldinho.  This is a huge update and we will see how this occurs.  You can only imagine a team that already has Kaka, Pirlo, Pato, Maldini, and now ‘dinho.
• Barca’s 15 million euro bid for the services of Andrei Arshavin have been denied.  Zenit St. Petersburg may see keeping him as a better choice than taking the 15 million euro or 11.91 million pounds.  One possible reason for keeping the very talented play-maker is Russia’s popularity may raise.  Since going as far as the semis in the Euro 2008, something that no one expected, more people may flock to Russia’s professional ranks.  We shall see how this one plays out.
• Liverpool has just sold English striker Peter Crouch to Portsmouth.  He will surely see more playing time without the likes of Fernando Torres and Kuyt on the same team.  However, there is one even that will unfortunately not occur next season for Crouch and that is the UEFA Champion’s League.  He will be playing for the Cup instead.
• Brazil’s  Olympic National Team has two new additions, Ronaldinho and Robinho have been selected to represent their country.  As I have stated before, there can be two “over-age” players on the Olympic team roster.

The other day I decided to pick up this Nike Barcelona long sleeve crew from soccerpro.com. It is really nice so I wrote a review on it to share with everyone else.

Here is my review of the crew.

This is a very nice, lightweight training/ warm-up shirt that feels like a jersey while on. It has the ability to be used in both cold and mild weather conditions. I tested it at 55-65 degrees and had no problem with warmth. The material cuts the wind as well adding to the warmth factor. The weight is not an issue as it weighs as much or a little more than a jersey. It fits nicely to the body or fairly snug depending on body type. This Barcelona Crew has many uses as it can be used for soccer training, pre-game warm-ups, and as casual attire. It feels like wearing a sweatshirt just without the weight. This is definitely a must have for Barcelona fans which is a drawback in itself, only a Barcelona fan or supporter to the slightest degree would appreciate this crew to its full value.

Breakdown Ratings:

Breath-ability: 8/10

Weight(1 being the lightest, 10 being the heaviest): 3/10

Appeal/Look: 8/10

Can be used outside of soccer: 9/10

Cold Weather Use: 7/10

Goalkeeper Use: 5/10

Barca Fan Appeal: 10/10

Who could ask for a better final match. Two powers that are top quality, class, and flight.  Spain versus Germany will surely be remembered.  Fernando Torres’ lone goal that sealed the deal for the Spanish in Euro 2008.

Well my final prediction was half right. I said that Germany would be in the final. You can see it here.

Luis Aragones and company ruled with class and very top caliber play from the group to the final game. I would have to say that this has been very fun and enjoyable.

Now we will all wait until the Olympic Games start to watch some more soccer!  This will be very fun as the youth squads of the world go head-to-head and not the senior clubs. For the men, the age restriction is set at 23 however three over age players are allowed to compete.  For the women there is no age restriction.

More insight will come for the Beijing Games.

The Euro 2008 Semi-finals begins tomorrow with Germany versus Turkey.  The miracles of Turkey seem to be on a roll as they first took out the Czech Republic in the group stage and then Croatia in the quarters.  Tune into watch what should be an interesting game to say the least.

Ronaldo Situation: The Cristiano Ronaldo situation has gotten very interesting.  It has gone from Man U threatening to take Real Madrid to the FIFA to file a complaint, to them giving Real a one-sided list of players that they were demanding in return, and their final demands of a rather-large sum of money.  Here is a list of their demands and other actions.

1. Real has reported interest in Ronaldo, Man U threatens to file a complaint with the FIFA unless Real stops enticing Ronaldo with a Madrid offer. 
2. It is rumored that Man U demands Mahamadou Diarra, Sergio Ramos, and money.  This would have been a very one sided deal.  One player alone would not be enough to acquire Ronaldo however an argument could be made that Ramos will become one of the best Spanish defenders.  Maybe even on par with Carlos Puyol of Barcelona.
3. Man U demands 100 million euro in exchange for Ronaldo.

Very one sided and interesting.  Watch the Semi-Finals tomorrow!

Today two giants, Spain and Italy, clashed to see who would win.  At the end of regulation and extra time, niether could muster the strength to score a single goal on the other.

Spain and Italy: If a game had to be decided between two powers like these two, I would pick the penalty shoot out.  Why?  For many reasons:

1. I would rather see two good team play longer than 90 minutes.  Who really has the endurance to last that long.  Who will fight till the end or just give up.
2. While it is one of the sadest and gives a player the feeling of helplessness, it is one of the fairest.  Both teams have an equal chance.  Both have equal numbers of shots on goal.

Next Up: The first semi-final game is between Germany and Turkey which should be very interesting.  I will like to see the turntout of this game.

Totally unbelievable. A team that dominated its group competition in the group of death falls to Russia. My money was on Holland but it is not so. Igor Akinfeev played a good game only giving up one goal to the offensive happy Dutch who scored 4 goals on both Italy and France. Russia truly pulled off an upset and a miracle on the pitch today, which should be both applauded and mourned for. Applauded that the youngest team in the tournament beat the favorite team for the match. Mourning Dutch fans because they were so sure.

Future: Tomorrow Italy plays Spain to decide who will play Russia. Now this will be the game of the quarters. I liked watching Germany and Portugal but I will enjoy watching Spain and Italy do battle. Maybe it is because two of my favorite teams-Barcelona and AC Milan-are Spanish and Italian teams, respectively.

Two Quick Hits: 

1. Barcelona and AC Milan are both vying for the services’ of the Arsenal striker, Adebayor.  An AC Milan scout believes his team has a 50% chance of acquiring the striker.
2. Former Sunderland keeper Tim Carter has been found dead in a park with a rope tied around his neck.  Authorities do not believe that there is any foul play involved and his death is unfortunately classified as a suicide.

Turkey defeated Croatia in penalties.  They went 0-0 into extra time and scored one goal apiece in extra time. 

Game Summary: I am most pleased with the end result.  As I said this would be a good game.  No team had a clear advantage over the other which makes it an exciting game.  The penalties are always the best and that’s when I was on my feet. 

Russia and Netherlands Tomorrow: The power of Holland will be seen tomorrow as they face a talented but young goalkeeper in Igor Akinfeev.  I have probably “worn-out” my like for him by now but I have high hopes.

Other News:

• Barcelona: I recently reported that Barca made an opening transfer offer on Juventus’ striker David Trezequet.  They were told to “back off” and “he is not for sale.”  I guess they will have to look else where for a forward as he and Valencia’s David Villa have been placed on the untouchables list.  Barca had been interested in Villa before the Valencia statement. 
• Liverpool has offered 20 million pounds for the services of David Silva who plays for Valencia.

Today, the Euro 2008 Quarter-Finals have started.

Germany beat Portugal today.  While the Portugese side did very well in taking the champions title for their group, Germany snapped up their hopes for 08.  The game got very exciting in the last minutes as Portugal scored a goal to make the final score 3-2.

Future Fixtures:

Tomorrow- Croatia vs. Turkey: I like this game.  The heroics of Turkey in their win against Petr Cech and the Czech Republic proved to the world that they are here to play.  However, they did trail in that game which is a weakness.  At the same time, Croatia did win all of their group games defeating Germany in the process.  Once again, I like this game. 

Saturday- Holland vs. Russia: In short, miracles may happen, but Holland hasn’t shown very many weaknesses.  I like the competition and level of play Igor Akinfeev will be up against but I don’t like his chances.  The power of the Oranje will prove to be too much for Russia on this day.

Sunday- Spain vs. Italy: This will be another good game.  Power vs. Power.  Class vs. Class. What better game than this that pits two top class keepers against one another(Casillas v. Buffon).  The defensive corps each possess.  The midfield so chalked full of talent.  And the strikers to finish.  This is truly the game that I will watch.

 Transfer Rumors:

• Barcelona put out an opening bid on David Trezeguet.

Group C closed today and it is Holland and Italy.  The two World Cup finalists will not move on hand and hand this time as the power of Holland was too much for both teams. 

 Italy: defeated France 2-0 today as they will be moving on as the runners up from Group C.  They will be facing Spain in the knockout round-Quarter Final.  This will be a good match.

Holland: ended the hopes of Romania as they are the true spoilers of Group C, first with a tie against France, then with the same result against Italy.  I have a new found respect for the whole lineup aside from the afore posted Chivu and Mutu.  Holland will face either Sweden or Russia who go head to head tomorrow to round off the Group D.

 What’s ahead: Tomorrow Spain will take on Greece who are set to finish in last place of Group D if they do not pull off a win tomorrow against first place Spain.  Spain will finish in first tomorrow even if they lose.  They have defeated both Russia and Sweden making it impossible for them to lose the top spot by points. 

Russia or Sweden: Based on previous games, Sweden has the advantage over Russia.  Sweden only lost 2-1 as Russia lost 4-1.  However, the amount of goals scored does not really give any team the edge.  Russian Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is a guy that I really like, however he and his squad are still relatively young.  They will be together for many Euros and World Cups to come.  I will watch this game to just see a good match and I leave no prediction for tomorrow.