The magnificent Portugese winger of Manchester United, Christiano Ronaldo, scored his 26th and 27th goals of the season (in all competitions) in last night’s 2-0 win over Portsmouth. The win helped the Red Devils overtake Arsenal at the top of the Barclays Premier League table.

United took the lead after 10 minutes, with Ronaldo initiating the move with a brilliant one-two with fellow Portugese midfielder, Nani. Ronaldo, who is the highest scorer of his club this season so far, then displayed clinical finishing ability, as he passed the ball through the legs of the Portsmouth goalkeeper, David James, and into the net.

On the night, the United side was in full flow, with their passing, movement and the sheer telepathy that seemed to exist among those in the United shirt, especially Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Ronaldo himself was at his masterful best, scoring himself, creating chances for others and putting in a dazzling performance in general. The magic never diminished, even after the duo had been replaced by Carlos Tevez and Owen Hargreaves after 70-odd minutes.

The match marked the 500th Premier League appearance for the Pompey ‘keeper, James, and he single-handedly prevented the scoreline from becoming more embarrassing for his team. He put in a brilliant performance under the eyes of English manager, Fabio Capello, and was the visitors’ best player by some distance. Commenting on James’ performance, Portsmouth’s first-team coach, Joe Jordan said that, James was currently the best English ‘keeper around.

The Pompeys, however, had no answer to the sheer brilliance and dominance of United and especially of Ronaldo, whose brace came in a thrilling space of three minutes in the first-half. They even tried out rough tackles to stop United from advancing, but with senior pros like Paul Scholes around, these strategies came a cropper.

The second goal simply oozed of class, and was described as the ‘best-ever’ free-kick in the history of Premier League by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. From the free-kick, Ronaldo sent the ball over the Portsmouth wall and it squeezed inside the top corner, keeping James frozen on the spot. It was a brilliantly taken shot, one that prompted Ferguson to compare Ronaldo with former United great George Best. Incidentally, the Portugese international is also creeping up on Best’s record of 32 goals for his club in a season (1967-68), and there will be few surprises if he indeed emerges with the European Player of the Year crown this season, just as Best had in 1967-68. Given that Ronaldo has already got 27 goals in 28 appearances this season, in all probability, in another 6-7 games, the record would be his.

United threatened to score more, with Evra coming close twice. Ferdinand’s header was cleared off the line, and Rooney’s attempted lob over the goalkeeper was thwarted by the alert and acrobatic James.

At the end of the night, there was no denying Ronaldo’s brilliance. The man’s tally of 27 goals speaks for itself, and the figure is even more impressive, considering the midfield position that he plays in. Surely, Ronaldo is worth much more than what Malcolm Glazer, the owner of United, pays him, and no one would grudge this enormously talented footballer a bonus either.

Source:Dailymail

Brazilian striker Ronaldo’s football career is on the edge after the 31-year old AC Milan player suffered a serious injury on his left knee and his Italian employers fear that it could force the palyer into an unfortunate early retirement from the game. Nicknamed the ‘Phenomenon’ for his unprecedented talent, Ronaldo suffered the latest setback when he fell down heavily on the field during Wednesday’s 1-1 home draw with Livorno.

The three-time World Player of the Year has a bad history with his knees. Playing for AC Milan’s city rivals Inter, the former PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Real Madrid player sustained two injuries to his right knee in 1999 and 2000 but recovered in time to guide Brazil to a record fifth World Cup win in Japan and Korea in 2002. But that was six years ago and time would tell whether Ronaldo’s immense physical and mental determination could again see him through at this particularly difficult moment. AC Milan’s club owner Silvio Berlusconi has however revealed that Ronaldo is not sure about a successful recovery this time around.

In an interview with Italy’s RAI TV, the former Italian Prime Minister and business tycoon Berlusconi said,

He(Ronaldo)fears for his career. I called him last evening and told him to believe in himself. He has enormous physical potential. As a 31-year old, he’s very young. He has an extraordinary physique, and I think within a few months he could return to being the champion that we all know him as.

Although the kneecap injury is a serious one, Ronaldo is being treated in Paris by the same doctor who treated him in 2000 for his troubled right knee. Surgeon Gerard Saillant oversaw the two-hour operation in France to repair the ruptured kneecap ligament. The injury itself sidelines Ronaldo for a minimum of nine months and the world hopes that one of God’s greatest gifts to the game of football would be able to continue his glittering career even after this serious injury. One thing is for sure, to get Ronaldo fit and running again the great Italian club AC Milan would always be at his side providing all the support he needs at this testing moment.

Source Link: BBC

Stade de France was all praise for Capello’s decision to have David Beckham in the starting line-up, a proof of which was the loud roar that followed the announcement of his name in the first eleven. The once majestic Beckham was on field until the 62nd minute with his exit also making people stand in respect for his remarkable feat, irrespective the fact that Thuram was 38 matches older and on the same field, such is the popularity of the man.

Apart from those moments of glory there was nothing special about Beckham or his team on the newly laid pitch. Beckham also earned a yellow card for pulling on Ribery’s shirt which was a pure sign of frustration for not able to keep up with his adversaries speed. This earned him yet another laurel, well kinda negative, making him the most worst disciplinary England player with sixteen yellow and two red cards.

The lacklustre performance of the team against a subdued French opponent means that Capello has his work cut out for making the English team a formidable foe on the international level. The names definitely are there in the team but what matters is them playing together as a unit which wasn’t evident for more than a flash of play in France yesterday.

The English would only like to remember this 1-0 defeat as Beckhams hundredth match and forget the rest. It is high time that Capello regroups his team and makes them sweat it out to deliver something better against the Czechs on August 20 in another friendly affair following which they have there World Cup Qualifiers.

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LAM, the League Managers Association would be the most envious lot bamboozled by the secret behind the success of the man they call Sir Alex Ferguson. Yet, ironically it is the same group of people that had to invariably vote him as the manager of the year for leading his side to the tenth EPL title in 22 seasons he has been in-charge. It could well have been Avram Grant had his side managed to clinch the title, but for the genius of Sir Ferguson he was denied the same.

Accepting the honors the way he has been over all these years, Sir Ferguson quipped:

It is a tremendous honour that my fellow managers should deem me worthy of this award. I’m very proud to receive it.

The 66 year old manager is though not done with the laurels and he is more than keen to make this honour count on the 21st of May when his side faces Chelsea in the first All- English Champions League Final. Going by his verdict, ManU could beat Chelsea for the confidence they now have from clinching the English title.

[Source: BBC]

I personally believe that Arsenal do not have a great chance against ManU at Old Trafford going by the number of injuries the team is down with. Wenger’s men though would go all out against Man U for this is the only league left for them to play. All in all it would be a great Sunday evening where two of the best teams would come biting at each other. My bets are on ManU with Ronaldo Striking atleast once, how about yours!

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It is official. There would be an all-English final in the Champions League for the first time in history. Manchester United is the first team to book ticket to Moscow and awaits either Liverpool or Chelsea. Last night the Red Devils defeated Barcelona by a solitary goal at Old Trafford. An intense affair between the two sides was settled by a Paul Scholes’ strike in the fourteenth minute.

The visitors were bright throughout the match and dominated possession for long periods. Ultimately it was the lack of firepower in the front of United’s goal that cost them the match. Man United started off without Rooney and Vidic, while Barca started with Henry on the bench. Barca came close to winning a penalty within few minutes from the start as Scholes tripped Messi just outside the box. Luckily German referee Herbert Fandel got the big call right and gave a free-kick. It was Paul Scholes who eased nerves and scored with a spectacular 25-yard effort on the fourteenth minute. Zambrotta’s clearance fell invitingly and Scholes drilled his swerving shot past Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes. Thereafter first half produced chances for either side as Messi tested van der Sar and later Deco shot just wide. United, too, had chances for Park and Nani.

Barcelona dominated second half with possession, but it was United again who saw more clear-cut chances. Iniesta made way for Thierry Henry on the stroke of hour and the Frenchman tested Manchester’s goalie with a tame shot first and a point blank header later. United held nerve and defended in numbers, trying to hit Catalonians on the break. United introduced Giggs and Fletcher for Nani and Scholes with 13 minutes left on the clock. Barcelona waged attacks on United’s goal but all was to no avail as Brown and Ferdinand returned stellar performances. In the end Scholes’ goal was enough to see United move into Moscow’s final on 21st May.

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Manchester United and the English Premier League might claim to be taking the commercial world by storm with their innovative marketing, but the golden rule that great football produces great cash still holds very true. As the annual listing of income for major European clubs for the season of 2006-07 comes out, the ‘Aristocrats of world football’ still stay on top ahead of the Red Devils. Real Madrid heads the list with €351 million as the club that gained most in terms of cash, despite not having the best of seasons in terms of silverware. Manchester United is quickly closing the gap, but is still way behind with €315.2million.

Three of the top five teams in the annual analysis of club sales published today come from England. While Real Madrid tops the rankings for the third straight year they are followed by Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal. While growing global market and more exposure world over make the EPL and its clubs more and more difficult to beat with each passing year, the Spanish giants still managed to hold firm at the top. Barcelona also did well to be placed ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal considering the little exposure it gets on global stage.

While global markets influence the clubs profits, Champions League victory still is key to the success of the European clubs financially. English Premier League soccer teams are set to dominate a list of the 20 biggest clubs by revenue from next year because of record income from broadcasters, meaning that it would be more difficult for clubs outside of the big 5 leagues in Europe to make it to the list of the top 20. Madrid and Barcelona are joined by Valencia in the top 20, Germany and Italy each have four teams, France provides two, and Scotland’s Celtic, a newcomer at 17th place, is the sole representative from outside the top five leagues. Celtic might soon loose out to the EPL clubs once the new commercial rights for matches are bagged for a record deal.

Here is the list of the top 20 for the season of 2006-07:

CLUB WITH EARNING In MILLION EUROS:

1. Real Madrid 351.0
2. Manchester United 315.2
3. Barcelona 290.1
4. Chelsea 283.0
5. Arsenal 263.9
6. AC Milan 227.2
7. Bayern Munich 223.3
8. Liverpool 198.9
9. Inter Milan 195.0
10. Roma 157.6
11. Tottenham 153.1
12. Juventus 145.2
13. Lyon 140.6
14. Newcastle 129.4
15. Hamburg 120.4
16. Schalke 114.3
17. Celtic 111.8
18. Valencia 107.6
19. Marseille 99.0
20. Werder Bremen 97.3

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EPL, Soccer, Football, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea,

Probably Fabio Capello and Real Madrid made a huge mistake when they let former English captain David Beckham go across the Atlantic to sign for LA Galaxy, but no such mistakes were made when he was not picked in the squad for England’s friendly against Switzerland on Wednesday. According to the most popular soccer player on the planet himself, his lack of match practice was the reason he was left out of the national squad.

David had received plenty of backing from Capello during his final days at ‘the Galacticos’, but was not picked for the Wednesday’s match due to his long stay away from the game. Beckham told reporters that the coach had personally talked to him about the matter and he could understand and agree with Capello’s point of view. Beckham had not played a competitive match since November, a period in which others had played over 15 Premier League games.

Beckham had trained with Arsenal before heading for the Major League Soccer preseason with the Los Angeles Galaxy last week, and had hoped to reach his 100th England appearance against Switzerland. He hoped the training would convince the manager that he had done enough to win back his place, but he was apparently wrong. He said that he had ‘half hoped’ to play his 100th international for England this Wednesday, but could understand the reason why he was not considered for the squad.

When asked about his recent visits trips to Africa, for UNICEF, and Brazil, to open to a soccer academy, he stated that they were mere 4 days tours and did not influence the selection or rather the non-selection at all. He also went on to say that he just didn’t have enough matches to stake a claim for the place and he was fine with Capello and his selection policy. While wishing the national side the very best, the master of free kicks did tell that he would be back for his place very soon. Knowing David, you can pretty much take his word for it. It will also be interesting to see how England deals with dead-ball situations now that Becks is no longer around to bend it into the top corner.

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Avram Grant want be too pleased a man after a recent statement form the ex Blues Coach, Jose Mourinho, mentioning that it was purely because of his coaching prowess and infused spirit that Chelsea gained the confidence to beat a team as tough and blessed as Manchester United. Mourinho’s claim cannot be dubbed as fake as records too indicate that Chelsea managed to beat the Red devils 5 times in 10 matches during his stint as the club’s manager.

Mourinho pointed at another fact in those victories which was the prolific striker, Christiano Ronaldo’s Inability to score against Chelsea in all those games. If anyone from the Red Devils took notice of this statement from Mourinho, they could well assess that Ronaldo’s failure wasn’t natural but something planned by the blues which hinted towards not letting him score against them, ultimately denting the chances of a win for them, he being a major influence in any game ManU plays.

Mourinho mentioned:

The Chelsea players know how to beat Manchester, they know how to beat them, they know why we beat them. They know why – against them – we did a few things we did not do in other matches. There is something also in the fact that in these matches Ronaldo did not score against Chelsea. This is a player who normally scores in every game.

Whatever is the case, Chelsea faces Manchester United today in a crunch game and then again they could meet for a Champions League final and if at all Mourinho gave them the Guru Mantra, Chelsea players should stick to it for it would only benefit their present cause. A charged up Manchester United though won’t be an easy opponent to conquer and if Ronaldo is listening, he should put one behind the bars quickly to get ManU going and if he fails, it would mean Chelsea surely ties him down.

Source: Independent

The Reds from Anfield have always looked a different side when pursuing their Champions League dreams as compared to their fairing in the EPL. It was evident yet again in the first leg semi-final versus the Blues from Stamford Bridge. They stunned Chelsea right from the beginning of the affair until the 94th minute of the game. The final whistle was about to blow and just seconds before that Liverpool spooned an own goal, courtesy of John Arne Riise header which the Liverpool goalkeeper failed to save, leaving the score reading 1-1 at full time.

It stunned everyone in the field; The Anfield Crowd, the Liverpool players and even the ones who gained from it i.e. Chelsea. They never looked like drawing the tie; forget winning it for such was the intensity with which Liverpool entered the ground. Didier Drogba was no where to be seen, not that he didn’t play but the way he did made him virtually invisible barring a couple of good runs here and there.

It was all going, indeed had all gone Liverpool’s way until the very last minute of the game and that rare change of fortunes now leaves them with a real uphill task and that is to beat Chelsea in their own den, which hasn’t happened under Benitez’s regime ever and unless they plan to change that habit, the blues going through to the finals is a surety.

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Thierry Henry hasn’t been quite himself at the Nou Camp but if the man is to be believed, he is happy playing for Barcelona. Critics have been out with their daggers at Henry eversince he stepped on Spanish soil and his statistics don’t help him either with 7 goals in 25 appearances. It may not be abruptly bad for him considering that it is his first season and he has been down with injuries but a man who scored 174 goals in 254 games for his former club is expected to do better.

Henry cannot be kept aloof when it comes to talking about his former club and although the man seldom regrets anything, he somewhere feels the longing to play for them once again. New Castle is trying hard to rope in his services over a probable transfer but Henry says that it would only be one club he would play for in England and that is Arsenal.

Already aged 30 and having three years of the contract still left with Barca, it looks very improbable for him to stage a comeback in EPL with a club as highly rated as Arsenal, but when you consider his love for the club form Highbury and his staggering record with them, you never know what might be in store for the once magical striker.

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Source: BBC

Fabio Capello, the Italian, who is now the man in-charge of the England national squad, seems a sterner man than his looks portray. Someone who is not going to get overawed by practices his predecessors had to give up into, Capello looks strictly prepared for the job of binding up a team capable of making a difference. Someone who openly goes about telling people that John Terry may not be the man to captain the side in the coming matches. Someone who is bold enough to mention that Wayne Rooney’s 14 goals in 42 caps aren’t satisfactory enough by his measurable standards and he should go on to do better by being more relaxed in front of the goal. Someone who has openly gone mentioning that any player taking the national friendlies lightly would have to suffer enough to lose a position from the 2010 World Cup.

The English Players thus need to be very careful about what they do to vow a manager of such stringent standards. Be wary guys, for he needs all of you to love the English national team more than any thing in this world and if you choose to think otherwise, you might not be on the plane to South Africa in 2010.

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Robin Dragons can continue labelling Didier Drogba as the best striker in the Premier League for his stunning double against the gunners at home but I would still have my money placed on the more elegant Christiano Ronaldo.

It would be rather more appropriate to say that this was Drogba’s most satisfying performance of the season under demanding conditions, but to rate him as the best isn’t that pleasing a thought for there is still more to do. If he manages to get Chelsea the title home I would then tend too agree with Dragons thought.

Nothing against his brilliance on the day though for he single handedly snatched the game away from the gunners within a gap of 8 minutes, giving his side a 2-1 victory over them. This win has heated up the EPL battle yet again as the point difference between the Red Devils and the Blues is down to five, with the former leading the tally at 73 points.

The gunners though might loose interest in it for clinching the title from here is a real uphill task for them. Coupled with it they would also have to rely on heavy mistakes from the top two to see a change of fortunes, which, looks a distinct possibility from here considering their brilliant form.

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FIFA chief Sepp Blatter has condemned Premier League plans to play English Premier League games away from England and has warned of a negative impact for England’s 2018 World Cup bid if the plan goes forward. There have mixed reactions to the audacious plans by the Premier League to play an extra round of games every January in a foreign city starting from the year 2011. Many believe that the Premier League is after foreign revenue which could be immense if Premiership matches are played on neutral territories given the popularity English Premier League teams generate across the world. But what has rendered the plan worthless at the moment is the very fact that football’s governing body has all but rejected it terming the plan an abuse to the beautiful sport.

Although Premier League chiefs are confident of going ahead with their plans, it remains to be seen whether the Football Association(FA)sanctions it given that Mr.Sepp Blatter has already made it clear that England risk the chance of losing her 2018 World Cup bid if the Premier League goes against FIFA. In some harsh words, Sepp Blatter said,

This(the Premier League plan)is abuse. The rich Premier League is trying to get richer and expand the importance of that league. The Premier League is richer than the others, they have more responsibility and what they are trying to do is contrary to this responsibility. This will not have a positive impact on the bid from England for the World Cup in 2018.

With football’s governing heads going against the proposed overseas plan, it would be difficult for the Premier League to even find proper places to host the matches as no national association would dare to go against FIFA. Furthermore, the plan itself is at its infancy and although all 20 Premiership clubs have agreed to play an additional round of games away from England, the fans are not that happy. The traditionalists are arguing that any overseas Premiership game would destroy the charm of the traditional English Premiership and players would be made to suffer more in an already grueling season by travelling long distances away from home.

Source: BBC
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Guess who they have waiting for them once they push aside Roma at home! We have a showdown people and as most of you would have guessed it, its Barcelona. ManU instead would be concentrating on their home game with Middlesbrough for they don’t wont to loosen there grip on the EPL. You never breathe easy in that world, do you and that’s what defines success there.

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