“Nella lettera a Babbo Natale quest’anno mia figlia Annie chiederà come unico regalo, di poter incontrare suo padre Samuel Eto’o che in sette anni di vita non ha mai incontrato, ma del quale custodisce in camera un poster che nessuno può neanche sfiorare”. Lo racconta Anna Barranca, la donna sarda che ebbe Annie dal campione camerunense dopo una relazione avuta quando Eto’o giocava a Palma di Maiorca dove Anna lavorava come pr in una discoteca.

“Ho esitato a lungo prima di telefonare all’ANSA – dice la mamma di Annie, forte della sentenza 2004 della giustizia spagnola che riconosce la paternità dell’attaccante ora all’Inter – ma dopo aver rifiutato per anni di concedere interviste a riviste interessate più che altro al gossip su Samuel e la sua figlia “segreta”, chiedo adesso di poter far arrivare questo mio appello affinché un padre incontri finalmente una figlia che ha riconosciuto, ma non ha mai voluto neanche vedere”.

“La figlia pur non avendolo mai conosciuto – conclude Anna Barranca – vede il padre costantemente presente nel suo quotidiano proprio perché i suoi compagni a scuola parlano spesso del campione sportivo. Annie sa che Samuel è ambasciatore dell’Unicef e ama i bambini e fa loro del bene. Lei spera almeno in un bacio per Natale”.

Former Glory...

Another Champions League matchday is upon us, the fifth of this year’s annual competition featuring some of the worlds greatest football clubs and players.  One of the greats who may likely miss the matchday is Barcelona striker Lionel Messi who recently sustained a thigh muscle injury on Saturday night during a 1-1 tie against Athletic Bilbao. Messi helped lead his club to a Champions League title in the 2008-2009 with a league-leading 9 goals.

Goal.com reports that he will more than likely be fit enough to play next Saturday in domestic play for Barcelona’s clash (“El Classico” for all you football snobs) against Real Madrid for tops in La Liga. His participation in Tuesday’s bout against division leading Inter Milan will be a game-time decision.  This is a critical match for Barcelona as they sit third in their group standings, and need the win to take control of the division, which will more than likely secure their spot in the Round of 16.

Barcelona is an ailing team with rumors of defender Rafael Márquez having recently presented symptoms of the H1N1 virus and teammates  Eric Abidal and Toure Yaya having already been diagnosed with the same illness. In other somewhat despairing news for the Catalan faithful,  Messi’s co-striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich did not practice with the club on Sunday as he is also recovering from a thigh strain. Both have combined for a modest 2 goals scored in four Champions League matches this season.  Notice matching stats to go with their matching injuries. Maybe they just want to be twins?

The team may look to them to play against Inter despite their less-than-perfect condition. Regardless, it might be hard to notice them on the pitch given their lack-luster performances so far.  Coach, Josep Guardiola has already stated:

“If players aren’t there… we’ll play with others. You don’t win titles with two or three players”

…Yes, but you can definitely lose titles without two or three players. To add insult to injury (pardon the pun),  Inter’s Jose Murinho announced the return of striker Samuel Eto’o. Save your tears Barca fans, it will definitely be an up-hill battle for the defending champs but they certainly have the depth and talent to pull off an epic win they so desperately need.

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¿Ha comentado con Eto’o sus sensaciones ante el regreso al Camp Nou?
Sí, hemos hablado de ello y Samuel está muy motivado. Conoce bien la casa donde ha pasado tantos años y quiere demostrar que puede jugar en cualquier lugar. Además, lo tiene todo a su favor, porque creo que el recibimiento será fantástico. Si le puede afectar negativamente un extra de motivación no lo sé, eso depende mucho de cómo es cada uno.
Su vuelta en 2000 fue durísima.
Lo que pasó ese día sucedió por las circunstancias de mi profesión y porque la prensa catalana convirtió mi vuelta en un hecho único.
¿Estará mañana en Barcelona?
Sí, esa es mi intención.
¿Le inquieta cómo pueda recibirle la hinchada culé?
Estoy tranquilo y muy ilusionado, como siempre que voy a Barcelona.”

(Luis Figo, en Público, 23-11-2009)

¡Hola a todos!

En plena semana grande, el Barça jugará frente al Inter el primer partido decisivo de la temporada -con perdón de las dos Supercopas- antes de afrontar el clásico con el Real Madrid. Y si el partido no tenía ya bastante interés con los regresos al Camp Nou de Mourinho, Motta y Eto’o, resulta que ‘ese portugués’, ahora ‘embajador del Inter’, también acudirá a la cita.

GANAR, GANAR Y GANAR No perdamos el Norte. El primer objetivo del ‘Pep team’ es vencer al Inter. Nada de enfrentamientos personales, ‘vendettas’ ni historias raras. Es un partido de fútbol, frente a un equipazo, y al que el Barça llega con más problemas de los previstos. Las bajas por la gripe A, las lesiones que convierten en duda a Ibrahimovic y sobre todo a Messi… Llegó el momento de demostrar que los cimientos del pentacampeón son sólidos; ratificar que es la suma de talentos y su sacrificio en favor del ‘fútbol asociación’ la clave de sus éxitos. Y, también, de corroborar que mantienen intacta la actitud y el hambre de triunfos y títulos. Aquel ‘Ganar, ganar y ganar’ de Luis Aragonés, el rey de las perogrulladas castizas convertidas en axiomas futbolísticos (la versión holandesa, Cruyff; la balcánica, Boskov).

SAMU, MOU, THIAGO… Regresa Samuel Eto’o, un excelente delantero que le dió al Barça de la ‘Era Laporta’ ambición y gol para ganar títulos. Impresentable y lenguaraz fuera del campo, su comportamiento resultó intachable sobre el césped y eso es lo que el Estadi debe valorar cuando le vea vestido de ‘neroazzurro’. Quiero decir: antes de empezar el duelo, ovación de gala para el camerunés. Cuando el árbitro pite el inicio, mucho ojo porque es un ‘killer’ y, diga lo que diga, le tiene ganas a Pep, a Txiki, a Jan y al Sursum Corda si va vestido de blaugrana. Sobre Mourinho: es un entrenador que utiliza todos los resortes para administrar los partidos y de tonto no tiene un pelo. Estaría encantado si gana en Barcelona porque: 1) Es un golpe de prestigio vencer al vigente campeón en su casa. 2) Más aún si, para colmo, le elimina o le dejs con un pie fuera de la Champions. 3) Él es el ‘Special One’ y Pep Guardiola no le va a enseñar la fórmula de  la sopa de ajo: por el 0-0 de San Siro le dieron más palos que a una estera. 4) ¿Alguien se ha olvidado de las que montó en los Barça-Chelsea con Frank Rijkaard, ‘el Hombre Tranquilo’?. Sobre Motta: ¿Ya no se lesiona?

ESE PORTUGUÉS Y después está ese portugués. Fue un ‘futbolista diez’. Calidad, chispa, fuerza, carácter, carisma, entrega… Sólo tenía un problema: era un profesional en el peor sentido del término. Por un buen puñado de euros estaba dispuesto a dejar colgado a cualquiera y entregaba los mejores años de su vida al mejor postor. Llegó al Barça en 1995 tras el ‘pollo’ que montó con la duplicidad de contratos con Parma y Juventus. Supongo que la ‘Gent blaugrana’ debería haberlo calado entonces pero todos picaron como pardillos: el capitán del Barça, ‘el último mohicano’ firmó bajo mano por el General Custer (Florentino Pérez). Pensaba que aquel fulano perdería las elecciones y él se levantaría una pasta extra (3 millones de euros). Mientras tanto, se trabajaba una mejora de contrato con los candidatos del Barça negando como San Pedro y besando escudos y camisetas blaugrana como Judas (Iscariote). ‘Flo’ ganó las elecciones y él se tuvo que vestir de blanco, como hacen las novias vírgenes (y las que no).

IN ILLO TEMPORE… Nueve años después, se puede contar la película como se quiera. En el 2000, la afición blaugrana le tenía muchas ganas sin necesidad de campañas. Se sentía traicionada, su capitán le había puesto los cuernos con el Real Madrid. Y la ‘prensa catalana’ que dice él -SPORT, que digo yo- también le tenía ganas porque se había aprovechado de ella para consumar su traición. Su foto en la portada, a orillas del mar, jurando amor eterno a unos colores le dio el margen suficiente para hacer el ‘take the money & run’. Mientras, otro mentiroso de tomo y lomo, Joan Gaspart, pactaba con Florentino unas horas para ganar las elecciones. ¡Fijaos todo lo que provocó ese portugués por un puñado de dólares!

POR TANTO Si quiere estar en el Camp Nou para el Barça-Inter, que ningún culé malgaste su tiempo ni ensucie su boca o sus manos pronunciando su nombre o lanzándole una bola de papel. Nadie se merece que le toquen un pelo, y menos aún si estamos hablando de fútbol. Pero que no vaya de digno ni intente cambiar la historia; su caso no soporta la menor comparación con el de Eto’o. Samuel, con todos sus defectos, no abandonó el barco cuando se hundía. Y con el camerunés no había medias tintas, siempre se supo de qué palo iba.

Es más, si alguien ha hecho daño a alguien, ése ha sido él. ¿Verdad César?

¡Hasta luego!

Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

 Esto es lo que ha dicho Samuel Eto’o ante su inminente visita al estadio que ha disfrutado de sus goles en los últimos años, según esta noticia de El Mundo Deportivo.

Espero que nunca marques un gol en el Camp Nou, para que así no tengas que contenerte en la celebración. En el Calcio, te deseo que marques muchos goles

Kaka, pemain nomor 8 ada di peringkat 8 dalam daftar 100 Pemain Terbaik versi FourFourTwo.

Prakata :

Majalah FourFourTwo merilis 100 Pemain Terbaik Dunia dalam edisi November 2009 yang telah terbit bulan lalu. Program tersebut sudah dilangsungkan sejak dua tahun lalu. Memang bukan sesuatu yang sederhana, karena pihak lain biasanya hanya menampilkan 5 besar atau 10 besar. Di sini saya sebatas menampilkan 10 besar pemain terbaik dunia versi FourFourTwo, yaitu :

1.) Lionel Messi, 2.) Cristiano Ronaldo, 3.) Xavi Hernandez dan Andres Iniesta, 5.) David Villa, 6.) Fernando Torres, 7.) Steven Gerrrard, 8.) Kaka, 9.) Samuel Eto’o, 10.) Wayne Rooney.

Tulisan di bawah ini -versi asli- merupakan hasil pengamatan saya terhadap 100 Pemain Terbaik Dunia versi FFT, yang dimuat dalam majalah FourFourTwo Indonesia edisi Desember 2009. Terima kasih untuk redaktur majalah tersebut atas perhatiannya.

Pertama, salut bagi FourFourTwo yang kembali menampilkan daftar 100 Pemain Terbaik Dunia. Sebuah kerja keras yang patut mendapatkan apresiasi. Barangkali pada umumnya kita sepakat dengan posisi Lionel Messi dan Cristiano Ronaldo sebagai dua yang terbaik. Namun untuk urutan berikutnya tampak layak menjadi bahan perdebatan kita. Dan hal itu pasti terjadi dalam penyusunan daftar apa saja, karena setiap pilihan selalu bersifat relatif.

Saya sekadar ingin menyoroti hal menarik yang terjadi pada pemain dengan peringkat atau nomor urut 8 (Kaka), 9 (Samuel Eto’o), dan 10 (Wayne Rooney). Sungguh unik bahwa posisi mereka bertiga ternyata sama persis dengan nomor kostum masing-masing pada musim 2009/10 ini. Kaka adalah pemain nomor 8 Real Madrid, Samuel Eto’o mengenakan nomor 9 di Inter Milan dan timnas Kamerun (juga sebelumnya di Barcelona), sementara Wayne Rooney pemakai kostum nomor 10 Manchester United dan timnas Inggris. Bisa jadi hal yang bersifat kebetulan tersebut hanya terjadi sekali ini dan tak bakal terulang lagi.

Tanggapan redaktur FFT Indonesia :

Hai Satya, untuk posisi tiga pemain yang kamu sebut paling akhir, kami memang sengaja kok. Eh tidak, kami bercanda. Jujur, kamu lebih teliti dari kami soal nomor-nomor punggung tersebut.

Et'whoa

This weekend the tiny (tiny?  I don’t really have much point of reference) African nation of Cameroon completed its World Cup qualifying run, thanks in large part to the efforts of world-class player Samuel Eto’o.  But the team-spirited Eto’o didn’t want his team to feel overshadowed.  So he bought them watches.

$50,000 watches.

From his own line of specialty watches.

I think the world here is – baller.

Volia escriure des de fa uns dies sobre el programa Informe Robinson que emet Canal+ i sobretot en el programa que van fer sobre Samuel Eto’o desde Italia. Però navegant per Internet m’he trobat el bloc del senyor Jordi Évole (el follonero) que ha expressat exactament el mateix que vaig pensar jo i d’una forma molt més bonica, aixi que simplement cito el que ell diu:

El jueves le dieron un merecidísimo Ondas al mejor programa informativo a “Informe Robinson” de Canal Plus. Michael Robinson, que ya estuvo al frente de “El día después” (el mejor programa de deportes de los últimos años) ahora se reinventa, y con un tono más reflexivo nos enseña las entrañas del mundo del deporte, no solo del fútbol, consiguiendo entrevistas de una profundidad y humanidad ya nada habituales en televisión.

Uno de los mejores ejemplos de la grandeza de este programa es precisamente su última edición, dedicada a Samuel Eto’o. Lo que consiguieron los compañeros de “Informe Robinson” en ese programa traspasa lo televisivo. Con una realización sobria y elegante, con dos butacas en la habitación de un hotel (una para Robinson y otra para Samuel), y con un video recordatorio de sus mejores momentos en el Barça, tuvieron suficiente.

Eso sí, no era un vídeo cualquiera. En él vemos como los del “Informe Robinson” han colocado pantallas en diferentes puntos estratégicos de Barcelona: la Boquería, la FNAC de Plaça Catalunya y un Mediamarkt. Y en esas pantallas lanzan el vídeo de los mejores momentos de Eto’o con la camiseta del Barça. La gente que pasea se va parando voluntariemnte ante las pantallas, disfrutan los goles al Albacete o al Madrid, o los de las finales de Champions, y sonríen, se muerden los labios, se emocionan, se emboban, o simplemente hacen el gesto de que se les está poniendo la piel de gallina (como a mí). Sus caras se intercalan con las de Samuel Eto’o, que está viendo las mismas imágenes al lado de Robinson. Eto’o baja la cabeza, como ruborizado ante tanto cariño, el del programa y el de los culés. Y la guinda del pastel la pone una niña de no más de 4 años que canta aquello que nos enseñó Joan Maria Pou en París: “Eto’o, Eto’o, comment tu t’apelles, je m’apelle Samuel”.

Fins aquí tot el que es pot veure en el vídeo i un mateix pot pensar i sentir, però l’he citat perque la seva última frase la clava com molt pocs ho saben fer:

Acaba el vídeo, y los realizadores se quedan con la cara de Eto’o y unos segundos de silencio. Porque cuando no hay nada más que decir, lo mejor es callar. Y Robinson respeta el silencio. Porque para gritar en televisión ya están otros.

Part 1 de 2:

Part 2 de 2:

What you missed while dead jellyfish littered the shores of Northern Ireland (with pictures!)…

• Chelsea 1 – 0 Manchester United. Darren Fletcher blames Arsene Wenger for the “poor refereeeing” Manchester United’s been victimized by this season.
• Olympique Lyonnais 5 – 5 Olympique de Marseille; Marseille led 4-2 with ten minutes remaining.
• Landon Donovan’s penalty kick was all that separated the Galaxy from Chivas USA; David Beckham will miss England’s friendly with Brazil as a result of the Galaxy advancing to the semifinals of the MLS Playoffs.
• Speaking of the England squad: you can either title this story “Bent Included in Capello’s Squad” or “Owen Left Out of Capello’s Squad”. Whichever way works for you.
• Fernando Torres has been left out of the Spanish national team’s squad due to the fact that he’s playing with a hernia; Cristiano Ronaldo, however, was named to Portugal’s roster.
• Hull City legend Steve McClaren’s FC Twente just won their eighth straight game in the Eredivisie. I wonder where he might coach next…?
• Samuel Eto’o would like to end his career at Mallorca.
• Thiago Silva scored twice in AC Milan’s 2-1 win over Lazio; unfortunately, it wasn’t in the way he probably was intending.

AS Roma 1-1 Inter – I’m not exactly sure how to feel about this result; on one hand, we really needed 3 points. On the other, we really made Mourinho mad. Though I’m a bit disappointed with the result, I think that there are more positives to be taken away from our play in this match than negatives. I’m going to break it down in terms of Sergio Leone’s 1966 spaghetti western masterpiece:

The Good: For one, we dominated in the early stages of the game and it could/should/would have been at least 2-0 if Mirko Vucinic had buried an absolute sitter very early in the match. However, to his credit, he did score on a fantastic header on 13′ that kept Roma ahead until Samuel Eto’o equalized. Jérémy Ménez caused Inter all sorts of trouble throughout the match, winning fouls and balls and basically making a menace of himself (the match commentator showed no hesitation whatsoever in abusing the ménez/menace pun). Phillipe Mexès marshalled the backline with skill and confidence, and the team finally looked like we were succeeding in adopting Ranieri’s more defensive style. Stefano Okaka did brilliantly in his role as substitute, with an incredible run not long after coming onto the pitch; Marco Motta and David Pizarro were in excellent form as well. I’ll also add Claudio Ranieri to the list for finally transforming the Roman nightmare that was a defense into the rock which held Inter to a single goal this afternoon – and for slamming Mourinho in the post-match press conference. A draw against Inter might not be exactly what we needed, but it is by no means a bad result and

The Bad: Inter’s goal was scored after a series of almost comically botched attempts by Roma to clear their back line. The blame is partly Motta’s, part Andreolli’s, part everyone’s who had a chance to get that ball the hell out of there but failed to do so. I’m also gonna go out on a limb here and put Ranieri’s substitions, or at least, his subsitution of Jérémy Ménez for Max Tonetto in the bad category. Maybe it wasn’t so much a bad move tactically as that I just disagreed with his tactics; by taking off our most voracious offensive threat for a defensive-minded player Ranieri showed that he was aiming to take home a point, while I was still foaming at the mouth for all three. Also, he needs to run some sort of drills in training that will teach i Giallorossi how to bury a sitter. If Vucinic or Ricardo Faty had buried their chances tonight, I would be a much happier Romanista.

The Ugly: Patrick Vieira. His elbow in the face led to Daniele De Rossi having to leave the pitch; he was taken directly to the hospital, where they discerned, I believe, that his cheekbone is fractured. If what I’ve heard is correct, he goes into surgery in the morning. I’ll let this sink in: Danielino will probably be joining Francesco Totti in the stands for the next little while. Er Pupone and Er Capitano Futuro sidelined? This is more than a major setback for Roma. If every other player on the pitch tonight had spontaneously combusted, it would have been less of a setback. Some might say that this is karma, a long time coming for what DDR did to Brian McBride at the World Cup in 2006. To those persons, I say fuck you, and continue to attack the punching bag to which I have taped a likeness of Patrick Vieira.

Okay, I admit it. All in all, this was definitely a positive result for Roma – a sign that we are stepping in the right direction and that perhaps the players are finally beginning to comprehend exactly what it is that Ranieri requires of them. However, it’s not all Clint Eastwood yet, and I for one will be anxious until I learn a little more about Danielino’s condition.

A couple of very big (in my not-so-humble opinion, at least) matches went down this weekend, with some producing more exciting results than others. This week there was a double countdown to what I thought were two of the biggest Red v. Blue matches this year. In England we had arguably the two largest Premiership contenders in Chelsea and Manchester United going head-to-head, while in Italy Scudetto favourites Internazionale went testa-alla-testa with my beloved (but struggling terribly) AS Roma.

Football:

Arsenal 4-1 Wolverhampton – Sure, Chelsea and United are probably the two favourites in the Premiership race this season, but I’m not fool enough to dismiss Arsenal as also-rans just yet. For one thing, the Gunners are on a hot streak of 13 unbeaten matches in all competitions. For another thing, one of those matches consisted of something of an Arsenal youth squad (but then again, aren’t all their squads youth squads?) defeating admittedly-struggling Liverpool in Carling Cup play. On the other hand, this weekends performance in particular wasn’t all that impressive, and it might be more appropriate to say that Wolverhampton lost the match rather than saying Arsenal won it. The Molineux Stadium offered the Wolves no security, as the visitors went up 3-0 before the end of the first half, with 2 of those goals being put into the Wolves’ own net by their defenders Ronald Zubar and Joey Craddock. Cesc Fàbregas would provide the third. Andrei Arshavin added his name to the scoresheet in the second half, and Joey Craddock somewhat atoned for his errors by scoring a consolation goal (in Arsenal’s net, this time) in the 89th minute. Along with the result of the Chelsea-United match this afternoon, this win in Wolverhampton sees Arsenal climb to second in the League table.

Perhaps one day Drogba will follow the footsteps of Vinnie Jones to Hollywood.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester Utd A fairly controversial match – but then again, it was always going to be. There’s bound to be a million gripes from United fanboys about the various ‘injustices’ committed against them today, so if you’re a Blues fan gloat with caution, because you’re likely to receive a long series of whines in response. Let me say a few things: Darren Fletcher’s foul was not a foul, Drogba should probably retire and become an actor, and Jonny Evans is a little punk. Many tempers flared during the match, and it seemed as if a full-out brawl was imminent at points, but alas they kept their heads and all that came of it was a flurry of yellow cards. It was nevertheless dramatic, though, with such highlights as the constant battle between Didier Drogba and Wes Brown providing (me, at least) with much entertainment. It would be Mr. Chelsea himself, John Terry, who would make the difference between the two sides, heading in what I believe was the only goal United have conceded from a set piece this year on 76′. I suppose that earns him a man of the match nod, but other contenders include Wayne Rooney, Nicolas Anelka and Michael Essien, who all gave 110% and played hard-nosed games (must’ve eaten their Toast’n'Butta this morning). Though Drogba’s theatrics were shameful, and he may have hauled down Wes Brown in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, I have to call out Jonny Evans here, for his kung-fu kick to the chest of Drogba and then his tackle on Ricardo Carvalho long after the whistle. Horrific performance for the youngster; he should consider himself lucky that he wasn’t sent off. A win that sees Chelsea sitting 5 points clear atop the EPL table, and which should boost their morale for weeks to come. As for United; well I’m sure we’ll hear all about how they feel.

Manchester City 3-3 Burnley – Bad news all over Manchester this weekend, it seems. City have been struggling for weeks now, and had drawn their 4 previous fixtures. Well, make it five, Citizens. Newly-promoted Burnley are notoriously shoddy away from home, yet a late goal helped them to steal a point at the City of Manchester Stadium in a 6-goal draw. Burnley in fact took an early 2-0 lead over their hosts after Graham Alexander converted a spot kick and Steven Fletcher found the back of the net. City fought back, and goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy saw them take control of the game by the 56th minute. However, they were unable to keep hold of that control and on 87′ Burnley substitute Kevin McDonald scored to bring his side level for once and for all. I’m sure Burnley won’t be happy to have given up that initial 2-0 lead, but all in all, this is a result which should leave Owen Coyle pleased and Mark Hughes with his head in his hands.

Futbol:

The dangerous duo nearly gave Los Blancos a run for their money.

Real Madrid 3-2 Atlético Madrid – Well, El Clásico never fails to disappoint. Even in a season where Atléti has struggled so badly that they have been forced to make a change in management, against Los Blancos they always bring their all. It seemed at first that Real would simply stroll to a Clásico win this season, after Kaká gave his side the lead on 5′, with Marcelo and Higuaín adding their names to the scoresheet on 24′ and 64′, respectively. However, Los Colchoneros would battle back late in the second half after Sergio Ramos was given his marching orders on 66′; a frenzied 2 minutes would see Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero pull two goals back for their side with 10 minutes left to play. Manuel Pellegrini’s men would ultimately be able to hold off their crosstown rivals, but Quique Sánchez Flores can at least take heart from his side’s spirited fightback. An exciting Clásico, to say the least.

Barcelona 4-2 Mallorca – Samuel Eto’o commented this week that if he had not been bound by his duties to Inter, he would have traveled to the Camp Nou to see his ex-sides face off against one another – he would have sat directly at the centre line so as to not betray his allegiance to one over the other. I gotta say, Sammy, from a Romanista’s point of view, I wish you’d gone. But I digress. Barcelona youngster Pedro gave his side an early lead on 10′, only for Mallorca’s Nunes to equalize from a corner kick just under 10 minutes later. Pedro wasn’t finished yet, though and on 39′ restored the lead to his side, smashing home the third rebound after Mallorca keeper Aouate denied teammates Thierry Henry and Sergi Busquets. The two would get their chance just a few moments later, when Busquets sent in a cross for Henry, who beat Aouate with a diving header to make it 3-1. Lionel Messi was introduced after the break to further increase Barca’s tally – he would eventually, but he would take his time, and it would only be from the spot after teammate Ibrahimovic was brought down in the area. Mallorca sub Alhassane Keita would earn one back for his side late into stoppage time, but ultimately it was too little too late and Barcelona would cruise to an easy victory.

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Schalke 04 – Bayern have been demoralized over and over again the past two weeks, and were perhaps unenthused to face the stiff challenge of Schalke this weekend. Schalke sit above Die Roten in the standings, and looked to pressure the home side early, forcing them into rash challenges and using their wingers to cause Bayern problems on the break. Both sides traded chances in the early stages of the match, but ultimately it would be Bayern who would get ahead first, with a little bit of luck. On 31′ Holger Badstuber lofted in a long ball to Miroslav Klose, whose headed effort deflected off of Kevin Kuranyi and landed at the feet of Daniel van Buyten, who duly buried it. However, Joel Matip, making his debut for Die Königsblauen, was able to cancel out the home side’s advantage with a strike of his own on 43′. The teams would go into the half level, and when they came back it was all Bayern – Louis van Gaal’s men poured forward and for the better part of the half had their visitors pinned in their own end. However, no matter what Bayern did, they were unable to find the back of the net, and both van Gaal and Felix Magath’s sides would come away from the game with a point. Bayern need to get themselves out of this current slump if they are to have any chance of keeping alive their hopes of European and domestic conquest.

Calcio:

AS Roma 1-1 Inter – I think I’ll tackle this one in its own article.

Mauro Camoranesi makes the difference for Juventus once again.

Juventus 5-2 Atalanta – It seems that when Mauro Camoranesi is on form, so is La Vecchia Signora. Forget Brazilians and expensive summer signings (and those that are one and the same); the success of Ciro Ferrara’s squad depends on the performance of the Italian international, who has been with i Bianconeri since 2002. In the case of yesterday’s game, it was Camoranesi’s brace which opened up the scoring in a 5-2 drubbing of Atalanta. Felipe Melo, Diego and David Trezeguet would account for the other 3 goals on Juventus’s part, while Valdes and Fabio Ceravolo pulled back 2 for the home side. This is a very positive result for Juve; while Atalanta generally climb to midtable at the best of times, they are nonetheless notoriously difficult to defeat at home. With Inter tying Roma and yesterday’s drubbing in Bergamo, Juve move to 5 points off of first place.

AC Milan 2-1 SS Lazio – I give Davide Ballardini until the end of the month. After the horrendous loss to Villareal in Europa League play on Thursday, Lazio needed some kind of result to break them out of a long, long losing streak. Admittedly, this revived AC Milan team are not the easiest team to achieve it against, but if they are going to do it anywhere, it would be in their Roma’s house, the Stadio Olimpico. As it can plainly be seen, they did not achieve said result. Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato both found the Lazio net with first-half goals to dash whatever hopes could still be held in the Curva Nord even before the halftime whistle. However, Lazio were handed a lifeline when Thiago Silva deflected the ball into his own net after some deft play by Mauro Zarate. After that own-goal, gli Aquilotti seriously threatened to equalize, with Tommaso Rocchi and Mauro Zarate both coming close to restoring parity. In the end though, AC Milan would grab a valuable 3 points, while Lazio return to their fortress of solitude media silence to ponder what continues to go wrong.

Fiorentina 1-0 Udinese – It took them 84 minutes, but la Viola were able to to squeak by midtable side Udinese with some help from a Juan Manuel Vargas strike. It was  night of missed chances for both sides; a race to the finish where both teams were misfiring on all cylinders. Fiorentina had the bulk of the chances, with 14 shots and 5 on target, compared to Udinese’s 7 and 2. However, only one of those shots would make a difference tonight at the Stadio Friuli, and it would be Vargas’ set-piece shot. That shot earned i Gigliati a victory which sees them only 1 point behind AC Milan in the standings, sitting comfortably in 4th place.

Better late than never, I suppose. Or at least, Jose Mourinho and Claude Puel will suppose. Hell, even Cesare Prandelli had to wait until the second half before his squad came to life. But I digress. Here’s what happened in CL business today:

"WTF HAXX"

Liverpool 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais – Another disappointing day in the life of a Reds fan. They fought and fought all night against Lyon, with Ryan Babel finally putting them ahead on 84′, only for Lisandro Lopez to rob them of all their hard work with a cheaply-had goal in extra time. Or so the story goes. But didn’t Lyon fight just as hard back to keep Liverpool scoreless for those 84 minutes? Don’t they deserve some credit for never saying die, even when it seemed Liverpool had already won the game at its last breath? I for one am not going to feel sorry for the Scousers – not this time – because this was a game that they knew they had to win, and the fact of the matter is that they didn’t do enough to win it. Sure Dirk Kuyt worked his ass off all game, but what good is hard work if you’re too exhausted to make sure you put in a quality performance in the final third of the pitch? That goes for you too, Javier Mascherano. Editor’s Note: This may not seem to make a whole lot of sense, but believe you me, it’s pure genius. I won’t say it wasn’t a disappointment for the ‘Pool – because it was – but I will say that that doesn’t mean they deserved it anymore than Lyon. The Benitez unemployment countdown continueesss!!

Marchionni is improving in leaps and bounds.

Fiorentina 5-2 Debrecen – I may have more than a healthy amount of bias, but I am becoming a believer in Fiorentina as a legitimate continental side. Sure, their defense leaks like a sieve at times, and the two goals scored against them this evening were borderline humourous (one can partially blame the absence of starting keeper Sébastien Frey for that), but la Viola have showed that they can bury them when it counts, as they did in a second-half goalfest this evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. I Gigliati took an early lead in the match when Adrian Mutu executed a diving header off of Marco Marchionni’s cross on 14′, and looked strong coming out of the starting gates, but they lost steam by the end of the first half and Debrecen were keen to take the wind from their sails as Gergely Rudolf equalized on 37′. The teams would go into the half level, but when they reemerged, it was all Fiorentina. Three goals in 10 minutes came from Dario Dainelli (51′), Riccardo Montolivo (58′) and Marco Marchionni (61′) to give la Viola a commanding 4-1 lead. I must give credit to Debrecen though, as they certainly did not say die. Substitute Adamo Coulibaly put his head onto the end of a pinpoint cross to pull one back for his side on 69′ and remind the jubilant Florentine supporters that the match was not over yet. However, Fiorentina were quick to assert their dominance; on 73′ Alberto Gilardino responded with a header of his own to restore his side’s 3-goal lead and the game pretty much ended there. Fiorentina repeated their first-half trick of gradually slowing the pace of the game, content to kick the ball around aimlessly with the comfort of their large lead. A victory in their next match (against Lyon) will see Fiorentina secure their passage to the first knockout round. Who would’ve thunk it?

The Barcelona bus doesn't even have snow tires!

Barcelona 0-0 Rubin Kazan – Picture this: You’re in Siberia, on a frozen tundra of snow and ice – the only way out is to score a goal on the net that is inexplicably situated in front of you. That’s already a pretty tall order, because you’re from Catalonia, and not exactly used to this very Russian weather. Oh, and then someone parks a bus between you and the goal. Ta-da! You’re Barcelona in Tatarstan this evening. Personally, I hate Russian weather. Editor’s Note: The author has never been to Russia. Chelsea lost their Champions League final match 2 years ago because some genius thought an open-air stadium in Moscow was a good idea – I’m sure Barcelona would agree with me tonight that an open-air stadium anywhere in Russia is just bad news. The Blaugrana were held by the Russian champions, unable to crack their 11-man defense or cope with the Russian cold. The best effort of the evening came on 2′, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic beat his markers only to hit the post. Both sides would trade a handful of chances throughout the remaining 88 minutes, but ultimately no one would be able to get ahead, and those sneaky Russians would steal another point from the reigning champions of Europe. Good on ya, Kazan!

Pictured: Enemy #1 of Inter Milan

Inter 2-1 Dynamo Kiev – If Jose Mourinho’s hair isn’t just a little more grey- I’m sorry, silver, after this evenings game, the man might be ageless. It seemed like the same old (hilarious) story – Inter dominate every week domestically, but go on to choke (and choke hard) in European play. The rest of us point and laugh, then realize they’re still 7 points clear of anybody else in the Scudetto race and go home to weep softly to ourselves. Well, I do, anyways. But I digress. It took only 21 minutes for Inter to fall behidn in the Ukrainian capital this evening – that old Nerazzurri nemesis, Andriy Shevchenko was back to haunt them once more and take the lead with a ridiculous left-footed volley from outside the 18-yard box. Inter had their world rocked, for a spell, but they would fight back, and fight back hard. I’m not exactly sure how it’s possible, but La Beneamata spurned a seemingly endless stream of chances throughout the remaining 69 minutes. No one was innocent; Samuel Eto’o, Mario Balotelli, Diego Milito, Lucio, Walter Samuel – each had a golden opportunity served up for them on a silver platter, and each duffed theirs in turn. In the 86th minute, Diego Milito would finally bring Inter level, latching on to the end of a spectacular low cross/throughball (?) from Wesley Sneijder and nudging it past Stanislav Bogush. Inter had been fighting for more than an hour to achieve that equalizer, and when that ball went in, Mourinho’s side roared to life. Just 3 minutes later, Wesley Sneijder would win the game for Inter and break Ukrainian hearts with just seconds to spare – Sulley Muntari launched a low shot at the Kiev net, and Diego Milito prevented the rebound from exiting play in order that Sneijder could run onto the ball and bury it – for once and for all. Inter take the lead in their group with this win, if only by a point, and break their barren winless spell in European play. Jesus guys, it took you long enough!

Arsenal 4-1 AZ Alkmaar – Today’s last relatively important match (which I for some reason feel obligated to mention) consisted of Arsenal handily defeating Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar at the Emirates Stadium. Cesc Fàbregas bagged a brace, Samir Nasri added a third, and Vassiriki Diaby made it 4 to complete a solid (and fairly routine) home rout. Jeremain Lens would pull back a consolation goal for his side with little time left in the match, but ultimately the Dutch simply could not contend with Arsene Wenger’s squad, who have hit their stride with a blistering run of form lately and are a danger to anyone they face.

These are th- Well, you get the point.

Desde principios de septiembre y hasta finales de noviembre, tanto en El Corte Inglés como en Hipercor hay unas cajas para recoger zapatos prácticos usados (pero en buen estado) que serán enviados a cinco países de África: Camerún, Kenya, Sudáfrica, Malawi y Mozambique. Shoes aid for Africa es una iniciativa  de Kiwi y Humana, con el apoyo de Samuel Eto’o.

Hace un par de meses, me compré unos zapatos pensando en sustituir los Camper negros que utilizaba desde hace tres años. Me empezaban a cansar. Somos así de caprichosos. Sin embargo, me daba pena tirarlos, porque aún eran ponibles. Esta iniciativa ha hecho que me deshaga de ellos con mayor facilidad porque confío en que le sean útiles a alguien que los necesite más.

El otro día fui a donarlos y me costó bastante encontrar las cajas para recoger los zapatos. Casi ningún dependiente conocía la iniciativa. Finalmente, estaban en el sótano, al lado de los ascensores. Creo que sería mejor ubicar los contenedores en zonas más visibles para que todo el mundo conociera la iniciativa. El primer beneficiado sería El Corte Inglés.

Recogida de zapatos usados en el Corte Inglés de Serrano (Madrid)

2008 FIFA Men's World Footballer of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo.

WOMEN: Nadine Angerer (Germany), Sonia Bompastor (France), Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Simone Laudehr (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Abby Wambach (USA).

MEN: Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Kaká (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain), Franck Ribéry (France), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

The 23 nominees for FIFA World Player of the Year and 10 nominees for Women’s World Player of the Year have been announced by FIFA.

The five finalists for each award will be announced at the beginning of December with the winner being revealed on Dec. 21.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the honor last year and makes the list again.  All five finalists from 2008 are on the short list again this year (Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, Kaka, Xavi and Lionel Messi).

I’d have to give the edge to Messi this year as he played such a pivotal role in Barcelona’s treble last season.  Despite Argentina’s struggles in World Cup qualification, he’s always an incredibly dangerous threat.

On the women’s side, Brazil’s Marta has won the award three years running and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she won it again.

From FIFA.com:

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA World Player 2009;

Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Kaká (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain), Franck Ribéry (France), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

The following ten women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women’s World Player 2009;

Nadine Angerer (Germany), Sonia Bompastor (France), Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Simone Laudehr (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Abby Wambach (USA).

Laga liga Italia serie A yang berlangsung pada jumat dini hari tepatnya tanggal 30 oktober 2009 (sesuai waktu Indonesia) antara klub INTER MILAN vs PALERMO hasilnya adalah INTER MILAN menang dengan skor 5-3.

Dan inilah gol-gol yang terjadi pada laga ini.

>menit ke-7, gol pertama untuk Inter Milan lewat kotak penalty dan gol ini diciptakan oleh SAMUEL ETO’O.
(1-0)

>menit ke-34, M. BALOTELLI menambah keunggulan untuk INTER MILAN.
(2-0)

>menit ke-42, kembali gol untuk INTER MILAN dan gol ini diciptakan lagi oleh M. BALOTELLI.
(3-0)

>berselang 1 menit tepatnya menit ke-43, kembali SAMUEL ETO’O melesatkan gol kegawang palermo menjadi skor(4-0).

>menit ke-49, Palermo mengejar ketertinggalan dan gol ini diciptakan oleh F. MICOLI.
(4-1)

>menit ke-61, kembali Palermo memperkecil kekalahannya dan gol ini dicetak oleh A. HERNANDEY
(4-2)

>menit ke-67, F. MICCOLI kembali menambah gol untuk palermo dan skor menjadi (4-3)

>menit ke-84, D MILITO (Inter Milan) menambah gol untuk Inter milan dan skor menjadi (5-3) untuk kemenangan Inter Milan.

Yuk intip medysept 91 di
Alexa

L’ Inter risponde con una vittoria casalinga al successo della diretta concorrente al primato, la Sampdoria che aveva travolto il Bologna a Marassi nell’ anticipo del pomeriggio.

Nuova rubrica di Cartellino Rosso, dove affronteremo l’annoso problema che impegna le menti dell’Italia al maschile ossia: ”chi schiero al fantacalcio?”. Consiglieremo quindi su chi puntare, su chi è meglio stare alla larga e quale può essere la sorpresa di ogni partita procedendo per semplice ordine alfabetico. La prima sfida che andremo ad analizzare è quella di Bergamo tra Atalanta e Parma. Su chi puntare: Simone Tiribocchi. Il Tir è in ottima forma e se segna l’Atalanta in questo periodo state sicuri che lui c’entra sempre, senza contare poi che la squadra di Conte si è sbloccata e ora anche tra le mura amiche cerca la prima vittoria. Chi evitare: Cristian Zenoni. L’ex di turno si troverà spesso di fronte Jaime Valdes. Il cileno è in un ottimo momento di forma e può far sfigurare il terzino emiliano. La sorpresa: Daniele Galloppa. Il centrocampista ex Siena, se di sorpresa si può parlare, è costante nel rendimento, prende pochi cartellini e ha il vizio del gol. Domenica potrebbe essere fondamentale a Bergamo.

Bari-Lazio. Su chi puntare: Mauro Zarate. Recentemente il talento argentino è apparso in ottima forma. Contro la Samp e il Villareal ha fornito ottime prestazioni e come si dice, non c’è due senza tre. Chi evitare: Modibo Diakité: Il difensore biancoceleste è troppo rude e molte volte fa interventi scomposti come la spinta su Padalino domenica scorsa non sanzionata da Orsato. E’ una vera mina vagante. La sorpresa: Riccardo Meggiorini. Barreto non è al massimo e l’attacco pugliese può dipendere solo da lui. Il ragazzo è forte e gli manca solo il gol già pronosticato dal suo compagno di squadra Massimo Donati.

Cagliari-Genoa. Su chi puntare: Alberto Zapater. Il centrocampista spagnolo può diventare fondamentale in una partita tra due squadre che vengono da un momento difficili. Le sue punizioni potrebbero fare la differenza. Chi evitare: Lino Marzoratti. Il terzino di Allegri si troverà di fronte spesso Sculli o Palladino. Clienti davvero scomodi, senza dimenticare che l’ex Empoli è abbonato ai cartellini gialli. La sorpresa: Daniele Dessena. Questo centrocampista, che ci piace tanto, è capace di gol eccezionali come ha dimostrato domenica scorsa. Viene da due centri consecutivi.

Chievo-Milan. Su chi puntare: Alexandre Pato. Il papero sta attraversando un momento di forma invidiabile. E’ reduce da tre gol in 4 giorni, come lasciarlo fuori dalla vostra fantasquadra? Chi evitare: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Ma questo attaccante olandese, dalle indiscusse qualità, serviva davvero a questo Milan che ha anche Inzaghi e Borriello? Fin’ora il campionato ha detto di no e il cacciatore è ancora a secco. La sorpresa: Sergio Pellissier. Mimmo Di Carlo punta sui suoi gol e gliene ha pronosticati addirittura 20. Contro la difesa del Milan, ultimamente un po’ impacciata, può colpire in contropiede.

Fiorentina-Napoli. Su chi puntare: Stevan Jovetic. Jo-Jo contro il Debrecen si è riposato e domenica potrebbe far ammattire i non eccelsi difensori partenopei. A Firenze c’è già la Jovetic-mania, schieratelo e vi ripagherà. Chi evitare: Mario Alberto Santana. Il gol e la bella prestazione in Champions possono ingannare. L’esterno viola è poco continuo e se sbaglia la partita rischia di portarvi un votaccio nella vostra formazione. La sorpresa: Fabio Quagliarella. Uno dei tanti ex di turno, Quagliarella, con Mazzarri ha già fatto bene e fuori casa può approfittare degli spazi e dell’eventuale stanchezza viola.

Inter-Catania. Su chi puntare: Samuel Eto’o. Difficile che il camerunense sbagli due partite di fila, impossibile che rimanga all’asciutto per troppo tempo. La legge dei grandi numeri dice di puntare su di lui. Chi evitare: Mariano Andujar. Il portiere etneo, titolare dalla Seleccion, non mi ispira sicurezza. Fin’ora non è mai stato decisivo e a San Sirio rischia di essere preso a pallonate. La sorpresa: Amantino Mancini. Si avete letto bene. Nel caso in cui l’Inter non riesca a sbloccare la partita è l’unico su cui José Mourinho potrebbe puntare per cambiare il match.

Palermo-Udinese. Su chi puntare: Fabrizio Miccoli. Il fantasista tascabile è rovente e al Barbera si esalta sempre. Miccoli può essere devastante e un gol o un assist lo regala sempre. Chi evitare: Maurizio Domizzi. La difesa friulana cambia, Zapata in panchina e Felipe out. L’ex napoletano viene dirottato al centro e visto il pessimo momento dell’Udinese conviene stargli alla larga. La sorpresa: Federico Barlzaretti. Lippi lo tiene d’occhio, lui lo sa e sta sfoderando prestazioni all’altezza. A volte è un po’ irruento, ma può regalare assist preziosi.

Roma-Livorno. Su chi puntare: Jeremy Menez. Il francesino, nonostante il rigore sbagliato al Craven Cottage, è in palla. Gli manca l’affermazione e Ranieri potrebbe proporlo in un ruolo alla Totti. Chi evitare: Romano Perticone. Il nome già dice tutto. Dubito che qualcuno lo possa avere in squadra, ma se ce l’avete domenica non è il giorno per metterlo in campo. La sorpresa: Stefano Guberti. Anche questa volta suggeriamo un giocatore che vieni dalla panchina. In questo momento l’unico esterno che salta l’uomo nella Roma. Ranieri potrebbe chiamarlo in causa a partita in corso.

Sampdoria-Bologna. Su chi puntare: Antonio Cassano. Se il Bologna ha sofferto Lavezzi, figuriamoci i problemi che avrà con Fantantonio. Il talento barese, per altro, dovrà anche fare lavoro doppio viste le condizioni non ottimali di Pazzini. Chi evitare: Gaby Mudingayi. Il centrocampista felsineo è avvezzo ai cartellini e i giocatori della Samp sono dei veri peperini. Il belga potrebbe cadere spesso in tentazione, voi non sbagliate e sorvolate. La sorpresa: Claudio Bellucci. L’attaccante doriano verrà dirottato a centrocampo come esterno alto a destra. Un azzardo? La squalifica di Padalino e la mancanza di alternative gli offrono quella sicurezza che potrebbe permettere di esprimere al meglio tutto il suo talento.

Siena-Juventus. Su chi puntare: Amauri. La punta, quasi azzurra, si è sbloccata. Mercoledì in Champions ha riposato e in una partita difficile come quella di Siena il suo fisico può fare la differenza. Chi evitare: Martin Caceres. Il terzino uruguayano è la fotocopia di Zebina e Grygera. La sua pessima diagonale al 90° contro il Maccabi poteva costare cara e contro il Siena può soffrire. La sorpresa: Sebastian Giovinco. Che se ne dica, contro il Maccabi per noi ha giocato bene. Mancheranno Trezeguet e Del Piero e l’unica alternativa in avanti sarà lui. In partita in corso potrebbe fare la differenza.

“Non posso proprio lamentarmi, il mio lavoro mi ha portato in un grande club dove giocano grandi calciatori”. E no, non può proprio lamentarsi Cristiano Ronaldo, pallone d’Oro in carica e giocatore più pagato al mondo che, in un’intervista a France Football, parla del suo nuovo mondo al Real. “In questo momento il Barcellona è un gradino sopra rispetto a noi – spiega il portoghese -, perché ha il vantaggio di essere una squadra con giocatori che giocano insieme da tanti anni, mentre noi soltanto da due mesi. Vedremo chi sarà in testa alla fine della Liga, noi rispettiamo il Barcellona e tutte le altre squadre, ma i conti li faremo alla fine”.

Uno stipendio da vertigini, tanti trofei prestigiosi già in bacheca, ma Cristiano Ronaldo non si accontenta. “Il Pallone d’Oro per me è stato qualcosa di speciale – spiega il portoghese a France Football -. Sono molto orgoglioso di averlo vinto, ma questo non vuol dire che io mi senta già arrivato, io voglio di più, ritengo che la mia carriera sia appena iniziata e voglio rifare tutto quello che ho già fatto a Manchester, vincendo la Champions League, la Premier le Coppe. Credo di essere nel club giusto per centrare questi obiettivi, ma per me è come partire da zero”.

Restando sul tema Pallone d’Oro, Cristiano Ronaldo non ha dubbi: il grande favorito “è Messi. Il mio successore dovrebbe essere un giocatore del Barcellona, perché per vincere un trofeo unico come questo, bisogna aver vinto con la propria squadra, il Barça ha tanti grandi giocatori che potrebbero vincere, da Xavi a Eto’o (oggi all’Inter, ndr), ma Messi è naturalmente il favorito”