7 is for Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be the highest paid footballer in the English League.























Manchester is set to offer the young Portuguese a salary increment of 140,000 pounds-a-week deal which will keep him at Manchester United until 2014, which in total cost about 44 million pounds. This increment will take Ronaldo ahead of the salary currently earned by Chelsea's captain John Terry which is 130,000 pounds-a-week.


Man.United management is more than happy to reward Ronaldo for his sterling performance this season where he has so far banged in almost 20 goals this season. On average that's one goal per match.


What amuses me is how Arsene Wenger revealed 'how close' Ronaldo was to signing for Arsenal. Well, however true that is Mr Wenger, Cristiano decided NOT to sign for Arsenal, didn't he?
















On another note, UEFA chief & french legend Michel Platini has challenged Cristiano to prove himself on the world stage if he is to be crowned truly great.








































Ronaldo replied he can't wait for Euro to begin.


pictures courtesy of:

www.insanesoccer.com
www.soccer.org.au
www.commentisfree.guardian.co.uk
www.demo-blog-sport.templatextreme.com

England 2.....Switzerland.....1

Last night, was the beginning of a new era in English football. It was England's first win under the new regime of Fabio Capello.


According to match reports: Capello was down from his seat in the stand after just five minutes, not surprisingly after a passage of play in which England conspired to squander possession.


After bland Sven-Goran Eriksson and insipid Steve McClaren, Capello cut a dark intimidating touchline figure.


















And for large parts of a disjointed first half the Italian features were grim with good reason.


If he did not know before then he does now. For some unfathomable reason when England footballers pull on the shirt with the Three Lions they appear incapable of passing the ball more than 10 metres to a team-mate.


I read that Capello has introduced several tight/rigid rules for the team. They include:

a) all players MUST sit down & have meals together

b) Cell phones can only be used in bedroom

c) NO friends or family members are allowed at the team's hotel

d) NO WAGS! (Thank God!)

















There are other rules, but I can't recall what they are. Anyway, I'm sure these new regulations would rock the boat & certainly punctured some egos in the England squad. About time!


pictures courtesy of:

www.mrcalcio.it
www.dailymail.co.uk

Daddyhood here I come...!

Hello people,

I've been busy lately with some work. Hardly had time to breathe or to update my blog. Anyway, one of the good news is located below:


















What you're looking at is the very first ultrasound scan of my unborn child, whom my wife & I fondly refers to as Peanut! Hehehe....yep that's right I'm gonna be a daddy!!!

So the time has finally come for me to go through what my dad has gone through when he had me. Whether I'm ready or not I've got to step up to the plate.

Somebody once told me: "There's never a good time to have children...When the baby comes, ready or not, you have to do it & take responsibility"

So wish me luck people :o)

Is it really that stupid?

I was watching Man.United on the telly one fine day & decided to info another channel. As I was browsing, I came across this.













Obviously the person typing the text hates this programme :o)

Ocean's Eleven....Not.

In Tokyo, four Japanese teenagers who stole a car and went on a shoplifting spree told police they wanted to be like characters in the 2001 heist movie “Ocean’s Eleven”.

What’s amazing was the four boys were aged between 14 & 15 years old.

They were said to be enamored of the movie starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt & Matt Damon, whose characters robbed three of the largest casinos in Las Vegas, the Daily Yomiuri reported.





















The teenagers called themselves “Ocean’s Eleven make believe”, practiced pick-pocketing from each other, stole a car after sticking a pair of scissors in the ignition and went on a shoplifting spree.

A spokesperson for the Tokyo Metropolitan police confirmed the four boys were detained in October on suspicion of car theft, but declined to provide further details.


Good thing they didn’t imitate “Gone In 60 Seconds”.

(news source: The Sun, Wed. 19 Dec ’07)

picture courtesy of: www.dvdtimes.co.uk

World Player 2007

Apologies for not updating my blog for a while. A lot has happened in these past few weeks which I will tell you about it once everything is settled.



I'll start off with the news of Kaka being crowned as FIFA World Player of the Year for 2007. An award he richly deserves, given his outstanding performance for AC Milan during last season's Champions League. The Brazilian was by far the better & most consistent player throughout the tournament despite stiff challenges from Man.United's Cristiano Ronaldo & Barcelona's Leo Messi.

















Messi Barcelona's wonder-kid, could've garnered more points had he not been injured. While United's Ronaldo was missing a major trophy win-the Champions League.



I'm sure in the years to come, one of those three will be crown World Player, add a certain Mr.Rooney & Senor Fabregas into the fray, and perhaps more new faces will shine to add more colour to the competition.


pictures courtesy:

www.fifa.com

Missed Opportunity

Disappointed. That was how I felt when watching the match between Man.United & West Ham.

Having controlled the match & taken the lead through a quick counter attack, which was superbly converted by C.Ronaldo, United was still unable to shake West Ham United as their bogey team.

I already knew that West Ham is always hard to beat. The Hammers were the only team who managed the double over MU last season.





















In my opinion, the turning point was Ronaldo's missed penalty. Opting for power rather than placing, was a rather bad option, what more you have Robert Green in goal who has a knack of saving penalties, much like Paul Cooper, Ipswich Town's goalie back in the 70s.
















MU should have poured forward instead of parking the bus in their own half towards the last few minutes of the game. I had a feeling that something bad was gonna happen. Tomasz Kuszczak, deputising for the injured Van der Saar, didn't look comfortable when clearing backpasses, and United's backline was somewhat in disarray.

This only encouraged The Hammers & through two set pieces, they were rewarded when Anton, the younger of the Ferdinands', managed to out-jump big brother Rio & scored the equaliser. Minutes later, Matthew Upson put West Ham in the lead & on course for three points.

Man.United like always offered no excuses for the defeat as echoed by Sir Alex. He added they only had themselves to blame for not killing off the game earlier.

I think West Ham deserved the three points for their hard work. As for Man.United, the mark of a true champion is how you rebound from the defeat.

pictures courtesy of:

www.premierleague.com