Arsenal started out like a house on fire. Pressure baby. It was pure pressure the Gunners have applied on FC Porto.

We have been rewarded.

Samir Nasri fired a great ball into the goalmouth. This through ball forced keeper Helton to come out and protect the goal. Helton and two other defenders collide with each other as Arshavin attempts to shoot. The ball squirms free. Nicklas Bendtner pokes home the garbage in the 10^th minute.

Arsenal is up 1-0.

This is huge.

If the scored stays this way, the Gunners are on to the next round.

Who says we are going to be hurt by the absence of Cesc Fabregas.

Nicklas Bendtner has hit for the daily double in the 25^th minute.

Yes, sir re Bob, we are off and running. This goal was set up by a TO baby. FC Porto defender Fucile fired a pass right to Arshavin. This give away gave Andre Arshavin all the room he needed to slide the ball across the goal crease to the open Bendtner.

Walla the naked net.

Score this one for Bendtner.

Arshavin made the three Porto defenders look like schoolgirls.

I love it.

The guys have sucked it up and showed what the Gunners are made of.

Vince Lombardi said, “When the going gets tough the tough get going.”

Arsenal is as tough as nails.

We had a tiny let down. The Gunners let FC Porto’s the Hulk take it to the rack but Manuel Almunia stopped em cold.

Just like that, we scored two goals in a span of three minutes to put this sucker outta reach.

Samir Nasri was one on three. He made the FC Porto defenders look silly. Nasri ripped the twines in the 63^rd minute to give the Gunners a 3-nil lead.

He shot was a tight angled shot that ripped the far post.

Arshavin steals the ball off a corner kick by FC Porto.  He dribbles drives up the pitch. Arshavin hits a streaking Eboue. Eboue flat out beats the keeper to score a gimmie goal in the 66^th minute.

Hey, mister keeper Helton here is your jock back.

It is 5-0 Arsenal.

Dandy Don Meredith is singing turn out the lights the party’s over.

Let’s hope all hell doesn’t break loose between now and the end of the match. We are in like Flynn to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Just a little bit of salt in the wound is added in the 90^th minute. FC Porto’s Fucile shows his frustration by tacking Eboue in the box.

Up stepped the main man Nicklas Bendtner. It is a hat trick for Bendtner. He nails the PK to put Porto out of their misery 4-0.

This was a total take me to the woodshed whopping administered by Arsenal to FC Porto.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

This is the hodge podge day for us. We will talk about Flamengo, Champions League, and Monday’s Liverpool-Wigan match.

Adriano has returned to Flamengo after missing eleven days. Most of this time was due to the Emperor playing in the World Cup friendly against Ireland on Tuesday March 2^nd.

Adriano will work out to test his physical condition while the rest of Mengao travels to Caracas for their match on Tuesday in the Copa Libertadores. Globo Esporte this to say-  O atacante Adriano se reapresentou ao Flamengo nesta segunda-feira, no Ninho do Urubu, em seu primeiro trabalho após a polêmica causada pela briga que ele teve com a namorada, Joana Machado, na noite de quinta para sexta-feira na entrada de um baile funk, na favela da Chatuba (Zona Norte do Rio). Como foi programado pela diretoria rubro-negra, Adriano, que chegou por volta das 15h20m ao local do treino e realizou um trabalho físico na academia, separado do grupo que viaja para Caracas na manhã desta terça-feira para enfrentar o time da capital venezuelana, quarta, às 21h50m (de Brasília), pela Libertadores.

Vagner Love was hurt in Mengao’s match against Resende. Globo Esporte reported that Love has a thigh bruise. He will miss Monday’s workout- Vagner Love foi poupado do treino desta segunda, ainda sentindo dores por causa da pancada que recebeu na coxa durante a goleada por 4 a 0 sobre o Resende, sábado, em Volta Redonda, pela terceira rodada da Taça Rio. O artilheiro do Carioca com dez gols chegou a entrar no campo, uniformizado, mas calçando meia e chinelos. Depois de uma conversa com o gerente de futebol Isaías Tinoco e o auxiliar de preparação física Daniel Jouvin, retornou para a musculação.

The return leg in the Champions League first round knockout stage resumes on Tuesday March 8.

Arsenal has a hot date with FC Porto. The Gunners lost 2-1 on a late goal. 

We have the all important away goal.

Arsenal has to shut em out at Emirates.

We cannot afford to give up a cheap goal.

The bad news for the Gunners is this. Cesc Fabregas will be out with a pulled hammie.

An MRI was run on Fabregas on Monday. Wenger thinks he will miss a minimum amount of time.

With that said the Arshavin, Eduardo, and the rest are going to have to step up big time.

It is a must that Walcott, Arshavin, and Eduardo find the back of the net.

Samie Nasri will take Fabregas’s place.

Alex Song will need to have a great match as well.

If not we could get 86 outta the joint.

Wigan’s Hugo Rodallegas well placed volley into the back of the net sent Liverpool packing with a 1-0 defeat at DW Stadium.

This loss by the Reds will surely put a dent in their aspirations for the final Champions League berth.

This was Wigan’s first win EPL win against Liverpool.

This is the Reds nineth loss of the season.

Liverpool drops to sixth place.

Tottenham is in fourth place with 49 points.

Manchester City is in fifth place with 49 points as well but City is a plus 17 while Spurs are a plus 23.

Man City has a game in hand.

Tottenham has played 28 matches will City has played 27.

Let the games begin.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

Adriano was given time off to sort his life. Adriano and his bride Joana Machado were having some problems. UOL had this to say www.uol.com.br O problema pessoal envolvendo o atacante Adriano (confusão num baile funk com a noiva Joana Machado) não foi levado para dentro de campo pelos jogadores do Flamengo. Sendo assim, a equipe rubro-negra, com facilidade, goleou o Resende por 4 a 0, na noite deste sábado, no Estádio Raulino de Oliveira, em Volta Redonda, pela terceira rodada da Taça Rio, segundo turno do Campeonato Estadual.

Did The Emperor’s absence hurt Flamengo? Many would say no way Jose but I beg to differ. Without Adriano in the line up Mengao had a hard time with second division side Resende before finally pulling away in the second half to win 4-0.

Yes, the torrid rain had something to do with the sloppy play but I think Mengao is resting on their laurels and not seriously getting ready to defend their title.

Globo Esporte http://globoesporte.globo.com/  wrote this-A chuva intermitente que castigou Volta Redonda durante todo o sábado prejudicou o estado do gramado, repleto de poças. O toque de bola era difícil, e pelo alto o Flamengo quase abriu o placar. Após escanteio cobrado por Vinícius Pacheco, aos dois minutos, Fernando cabeceou no canto direito e Cleber saltou para fazer excepcional defesa.

Mengao started really slow. Rubro-Negro had several early opportunities to score but Fernando just missed a close range header in the 2^nd minute.  Toro fired a wicked shot on goal but Resende keeper Cleber stopped em cold in the 24^th minute.

Vagner Love wasted a golden opportunity in the 31^st minute. Fabricio forced a ball into the goalmouth. It was pinball machine time. Love just missed putting away the loose ball. Resende keeper Cleber was able to punch the ball out of harms way.

Mengao finally got on the scoreboard in the 37^th minute. Vagner love threaded the needle to mate Bruno Mezenga. Mezenga flew past Resende defender Rodrigo Costa. Bruno Mezenga stopped and popped a shot right into the top shelf left. Cleber never had a prayer to stop this sucker.

The second half was a different story. Mengao pressed the attack. Flamengo scored three-second half goals to salt this puppy away.

Leonardo Moura ripped the twines in the 62^nd minute. His shot off a free kick from just outside the top box beat the keeper Cleber top shelf left.

Mengao scored again in the 72^nd minute. Flamengo worked the ball down the pitch with some precision passing. Vinicius Pacheco was recipient of this great teamwork. He was one on one with the keeper. Pacheco hit a perfect shot just inside the far right post to make 3-0 Flamengo.

Vagner Love capped the scoring in the 82^nd minute. Love had an easy walk goal to make 4-0 Mengao.

This goal was set up by a turnover in the Resende offensive end of the pitch.

Juan pulled the keeper and the defenders away from goalmouth.

Juan lay off a great pass to mate Love who was crashing the far right post.

All and in all it was a win but Mengao was very sloppy with the ball and this could back and hurt them big time.

 Mas a chance inicial parecia chuva de verão. O Resende rondou a área adversária, insistindo no jogo aéreo para Tuta. Disperso, o time rubro-negro errou muitos passes no meio de campo, o que travou o andamento das jogadas.

Vagner Love is a big hit with Mengao. Love is the clubs top scorer with ten goals.Com mais um gol, Vagner Love chegou ao seu décimo na competição e se isolou ainda mais na artilharia do Campeonato Estadual. Dodô, do Vasco, com oito, vem logo atrás.

Love added that this victory was for Adriano.

“O Adriano faz falta ao time e oferecemos esta vitória para ele. Mas jogamos com personalidade e estamos com uma moral maior”, disse Vagner Love.

In the lone EPL action on Sunday Everton dismantled Hull City 5-1. Landon Donovan recorded his first EPL goal in the 82^nd minute.

Mikel Arteta hit the daily double for Toffees.  

FA Cup Quarterfinal action saw Chelsea take care of Stoke City 2-0. Aston Villa doubled up on Reading 4-2. Chelsea and Aston Villa are into the FA semifinals.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

Arsenal picked up a huge 3-1 win over Burnley. Yes, this was a much-needed three points.

We started out with several great scoring opportunities. We were finally able to tickle the back of the net in the 34^th minute.

Cesc Fabregas rifled home a shot right through  the keepers Brian Jensen’s wickets to give us a 1-0 lead.

Samir Nasri set it up with a great chip shot right over the top of the Burnley defense.

Arsenal had one of those brain farts in the 50^th minute. Burnley’s David Nugent knocked home the equalizer to level this baby up at one all.

Mate Leon Cort headed a great pass to Nugent to set up the goal.

We seized the lead in the 60^th minute. Theo Walcott sniped home a perfect low ball. This shot flat out beat the keeper Brian Jensen to the right post.

Finally, Andre Arshavin put this baby out of reach in the 90^th minute with a perfect strike into the back of the net.

Not pretty but we will take it.

This gives Arsenal 61 points.

Bolton scored two first half goals and then held on to beat West Ham 2-1.

Jack Wilshere, on loan from Arsenal, fired home a close range shot in the 20^th minute for the Wanderers.

Kevin Davies ripped a header in the 10^th minute to start this sucker off right for Bolton.

Bolton now has 29 points. The Wanderers are currently in 13^th place. Bolton is five points from the drop zone.

Portsmouth is on the verge of getting shut down for good. Pompey picked a huge 2-0 win over Birmingham in the quarterfinals of the FA cup.

Frederick Piquionne hit the daily double, 67^th, 70^th minute, to make Pompey’s day.

This win is worth 600,000 pounds.

You gotta love it.

The dog saved their hide by beating a very good Birmingham club.

Manchester United has miss fired on all cylinders against Wolves so far.

The Red Devils dearly miss Wayne Rooney. Berbatov is a total waste of time

In a flash, the match changed. Nani broke free on the right side of the box. He fired a pass into the teeth of the Wolves goal line defense. Pinball machine time. Paul Scholes rifled home the point blank shot off a missed played clearance by defender Craddock in the 73^rd minute to give Man U a 1-0 lead.

This was follow the bouncing ball time.

This was a huge goal.

For it sure looked like Wolverhampton would salvage a point.

There is ten minutes left.

We will see what happens.

Manchester hung on for a 1-0 win against Wolves.

Manchester United is now in first place with 63 points.

Road wins are a premium in the EPL.

This was a biggie.

The Blues have a game in hand.

We are in a great position to win this baby.

Remember what I said earlier, Arsenal would win the title. So far so good for the Gunner nation.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

River Plate finally got off the schnid with a huge 1-0 win over San Lorenzo in the Clausura on Thursday March 4^th. Facundo Affranchino ripped the twines in the 69^th minute to secure the win for Los Millonarios.

This was River’s first win in three weeks in the Clausura.

With the victory, Los Millionaires move up to tenth spot with nine points.

Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield had a good old-fashioned shoot out on Tuesday March 2^nd.

Both sides drew at four all.

Gary Medel scored the equalizer for Los Xeneizes in the 89^th minute.

Santiago Silva put Sarsfield up 4-3 in the 82^nd minute off a wicked strike that flat out beat the keeper.

Boca currently sits in 12^th place in Clausura with eight points

Banfield took care of business on Thursday March 4^th   by soundly thrashing Colon 3-1. Ramirez had for the daily double (13, 90) and Garcia ripped the twines in the 32^nd minute to put Colon out of their misery.

Bichi Fuertes added a cosmetic goal off a great free kick in the 86^th minute for the Sabaleros’.

Sapito-little toad-Encina hit the match winner in the 86^th minute to lift Gimnasia LP past Chacarita.

Godoy sits atop the Clausura with 15 points. Independiente is second with 14 and Banfield is third with 13.

The EPL has two huge matches that will take place on Saturday.

They will go a long way in determining who will win the EPL.

We have a hot date at home with Burnley.

The Gunners will expect Arshavin, Denilson, and Abou Diaby to be ready to play for us in this all-important encounter at Emirates Stadium.

We need to kick butt and take names.

Three points are a must for Arsenal. 

Chelsea will have a game in hand. This is due to the fact that the Blues have a quarterfinal FA Cup match with Stoke City.

Manchester United takes a little road trip to Molineux Stadium to take on Wolverhampton.

The Red Devils are struggling mightily on the road. Last road outing on February 20^th the boys from Old Trafford had their butts handed to them by Everton 3-1.

Man U stinks on the road.

Man U will be without the services of Michael Owens and Wayne Rooney. Owens will be out for the season with a bad hamstring. Rooney will miss due to a bad wheel.  His knee is in bad shape.

Wolves are currently in 17^th place with 24 points. Wolverhampton is one-step away from getting the heave-hoe.

Hull City has 24 points too.

The only thing that is saving their sorry season is Wolverhampton has a better goal difference than Hull City.

Wolvers are a minus 24 while Hull City is a minus 29.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

Flamengo defeated Madureira 2-0. The win was not pretty. Fact, Mengao played like crap.

Rubro-Negro should have killed this lower division side but no Flamengo let them hang around to almost the bitter end before a strike by Vagner Love in the 88^th minute put the match out of reach.

Love spilt the “D” on a well placed through ball by Ramon. Love fired the shot over the keeper Jefferson’s head. Top shelf right sealed the deal.

Love should have scored in the 4^th minute but his shot was tipped away by Madureira keeper Jefferson.

Mengao finally scored in the 14^th minute. A well-placed free kick into the goalmouth was batted around until Flamengo’s Fernando corralled the ball and knocked home the winner for a 1-0 Mengao lead.

Vagner Love had another chance in the 28^th minute but his shot flat out missed the mark

Flamenguistas were getting very restless with the stinko play. A chorus of boos was heard throughout Maracanã.

We were getting restless.

Globo Esporte  http://globoesporte.globo.com/  had these kind words to say-O Flamengo venceu. Mas não escapou das vaias dos 2.190 rubro-negros que foram ao Maracanã e da convicção de que o time, assim como afirmara Andrade na véspera, não consegue se mobilizar para as partidas contra os clubes pequenos no Campeonato Carioca. Mesmo assim, o triunfo por 2 a 0 sobre o Madureira mantém a equipe com 100% de aproveitamento na Taça Rio.

Madureira almost hit the equalizer early in the second half but Bruno swatted away the for sure goal to save Mengao’s hide.

Globo Esporte wrote this – No início do segundo tempo, o Madureira esteve perto do empate aos nove minutos. Bruno entrou na área e bateu à esquerda do gol. Juan respondeu com um cruzamento que quase surpreendeu Jefferson. O goleiro colocou a escanteio.

Thank God for Bruno.

 Love had a great opportunity in the 62^nd minute but Love was a little late getting to the great pass by Vinicius Pacheco in the box.

Love had another gimmie goal in the 78^th minute. Love was one on one with the keeper. He shanked it.

Globo Esporte had this to say- Aos 17 minutos, Vinícius Pacheco cruzou da ponta esquerda e por pouco Vagner Love não alcançou. Sob vaias a todo o time, o Artilheiro do Amor recebeu passe de Vinícius Pacheco, aos 33, entrou cara a cara com Jefferson, mas chutou em cima do goleiro. Vinícius pedia a devolução do passe, mas estava impedido.

The match can be summed up this way. Mengao had a too close to call 1-0 win over Madureira until Vagner Loves’s goal in the dying moments of the match made it 2-0. UOL www.uol.com.br  put it this way- No fim, quando tudo levava para uma vitória magra por 1 a 0, Vagner Love, aos 43 minutos e num golaço, marcou o segundo, brecou qualquer reação do Madureira e deu números finais ao confronto.

All in all, it wasn’t pretty but a win is a win. Guys we are going to have to play better if we want to win the whole enchilada again.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

You can cut this seventy-five ways to Sunday the USA is king of hill in North America but when it comes to the rest of the world, we are a day late and a dollar short.

The final score will indicate a closer match than what it was. Netherlands defeated the United States 2-1.

Netherlands was in total control from the outset.

The saving grace for the USA in this match was Tim Howard. He gave up two goals. The first was a PK.

The second was a solid deflection off the USA defender Jonathan Bornstein from a shot by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Howard was hung out to dry.

This was not Howard’s fault.

Tim Howard single handily kept the USA in the match. He prevented at least three shots from finding the back of the net.

The USA is a just a step slower than the fourth ranked team in the world the Netherlands.

Tim Howard is the only world-class player on the USA roster.

Argentina got by Germany 1-0. Gonzalo Higuan scored the only goal of the match in the 45^th minute. Gonzalo Higuan scored an easy gimmie goal when the German keeper wandered 45 yards out of goal to stop Higuan. Zippo Higuan does a dipsy do past him and this was all she wrote.

England fell behind early to Egypt 1-0. The English stepped up the pressure to cruise to a 3-1 win.

Peter Crouch hit the daily double. Crouch tickled the twines in the 56^th and 80^th minute.

Before Crouch’s score, in the 56^th minute, the English side was playing like crap. They were stinking the joint out.

Crouch’s first goal was the match changer.

Shawn Wright Phillips punted the ball towards the goal. The keeper Essam Hadari totally goofed up the play. The ball does a holy roller into the back of the net.

So what have we learned from these final tune-ups.

Nothing much. Brasil will still be the favorite entering into 2010 World Cup competition. Spain and the Netherlands will have very strong teams. Either of these two teams can win it all.

German will be a long shot.

England has chance but they need to put the John Terry incident behind them.

Argentina has a very strong team. Messi and Tevez will pose a double threat. But it all comes down to the idiot Argentinos have as a head coach Maradona.

Maradona is the wild card. Will he have a wild hair up his butt when the final squad is picked?

I sure hope Maradona puts Messi and Tevez on the pitch together.

These are big ifs.

I still think that Argentina needs to fire Maradona and bring in a real coach.

Argentinos have the players to win it all.

The USA is still an also ran. The USA can make it out of the group stage but that is about it.

Not until United States has their best athletes play futebol, the USA will always be a second-class citizen in futebol.

The best athletes in the USA play football and basketball.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/extreme/

Ireland hung tough with the boys from Brasil for most of the first half. An own goal Ireland’s Keith Andrews in the 44^th minute sealed their doom.

Robinho added a classic goal in the 76^th minute to seal Brasil’s 2-0 win over the game Irish squad.

Robbie Keane was the Irish captain.

Ireland came out smoking.

Keane made a mad dash down the right sideline. He weaved his way into the center of the pitch. Keane let fly with a zinger. Brasilian keeper Julio Cesar ate up the shot near the right post.

The Irish launched another attack but Paul McShane’s header just missed connecting with the back of the net.

The Brasilians began to apply the pressure.

The guys began to take control of the match after this. Adriano and company began to display the attacking style of futebol that made us famous.

Robinho fed Adriano with a perfect ball but the Emperor was stopped dead in his tracks. The ball came straight to Robinho. Robinho fired the one timer. The shot goes ker plunk off the back of Irish defender Kilbane and into the hands of keeper Shay Given.

Adriano had a great shot off a free kick but Irish keeper Shay Given brushed aside the shot.

The break came in the 44^th minute. Kaka made a great dribble drive into the box. He passed to his mate Robinho. Robinho fired. Bingo. The ball met Ireland’s Keith Andrews. It’s an own goal.

This was the match breaker.

UOL www.uol.com.br wrote that Adriano Robinho combination didn’t work too well    Dupla de ataque da vez, Robinho e Adriano tiveram desempenho apagado, pelo menos coletivamente, com os dois atuando na maior parte do tempo em posicionamento exageradamente centralizado. Neste cenário, o flamenguista acabou aparecendo mais na cobrança de faltas e, após muitas trombadas físicas com os irlandeses, acabou substituído por Grafite na etapa final. Individualmente, o santista se saiu melhor, ao participar dos dois lances de gol, além de uma série de lances que pararam na defesa rival.

Globe Esporte http://www.bolaradio.com.br/ wrote the Brasilians didn’t play that well. Brasil played just well enough to win. Uma vitória com a estrela de Robinho. O Brasil não deu show mas, com participação decisiva do atacante do Santos, jogou o suficiente para vencer a Irlanda por 2 a 0, nesta terça-feira, no Emirates Stadium, na gelada Londres. Foi o último amistoso da seleção antes da convocação para a Copa do Mundo da África do Sul. A lista sai em maio, no Rio de Janeiro. 

We stunk the joint own.

We have to perform better than this.

Maybe we should scrap the Adriano-Robinho dual attackers.

UOL said that we relied too much on Kaka and counter attacks Em sua maior virtude ofensiva, os contra-ataques, o time de Dunga mostra dependência das arrancadas de Kaká e do acionamento de Maicon. Como aconteceu com frequência respeitável em jogos recentes do Brasil, o lateral-direito foi diante da Irlanda um dos principais caminhos de acesso até a área do adversário, junto com Kaká. Foi através do lateral que acabou construído o primeiro gol da vitória no Emirates Stadium.

Before we go ape shit over this half assed performance by Brasil let’s remember this was a tune match. This match was designed to give Dunga a chance to look at different combinations and to see how they worked or didn’t.

This is what a friendly is for.

Dung will now have a clearer picture what combinations work.

The final tune is done.

Lets see how the squad will shake out.

Dunga will make his final decision on the 23 man World Cup roster in May.

Desta maneira, a seleção encerra o período de testes e observações e agora só volta a se reunir para a Copa do Mundo, semanas depois do anúncio da lista para a competição, que deve ser divulgada em maio. Até lá, mesmo com a sensação expressa de grupo fechado, o técnico Dunga lidará com uma avalanche de especulações a respeito de seus 23 eleitos para a África do Sul.

I bet dollars to holes in a donut Dung has already decided who will play for him.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

We have the final tune up before the 2010 World Cup kicks off in June in South Africa. Brasil battles Ireland at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday March 2^nd.

This will be Dunga’s last chance to tweak the line up and see which players will make the final World Cup squad.

Sure, bets are Robinho, Kaka, Cesar, Luis Fabiano, Maicon, Lucio, Daniel Alves, and Felipe Melo.

This is just a partial list.

Adriano will be teamed with Robinho up front. I sure hope this works out. Adriano is still very iffy.

This is my take on the situation.

Please Dunga whatever you do not and I repeat do not include the head case Ronaldinho and the fat old man Ronaldo on the squad.

Please for this will surely ruin the team chemistry.

In plain and simple English, this will kill the team.

Globo Esporte had this to say http://globoesporte.globo.com/ Adriano deve ser o substituto de Luis Fabiano no ataque da seleção brasileira para o amistoso contra a Irlanda. O atacante do Flamengo participou entre os titulares da movimentação tática comandada pelo técnico Dunga nesta segunda-feira, no Emirates Stadium, em Londres, na Inglaterra. O “Fabuloso” foi cortado por causa de uma lesão muscular no peito.
A outra novidade foi a escalação de Ramires no meio-campo. Os titulares treinaram com Julio César: Maicon, Lucio, Juan e Michel Bastos; Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Ramires e Kaká; Robinho e Adriano. A partida é a última antes da convocação final para a Copa do Mundo da África do Sul.  

Brasilian superstar Kaka is worried that the guys may wind up getting hurt. UOL reported www.uol.com.br O temor a respeito de lesão foi levantado nesta segunda-feira por Kaká, um dia antes do amistoso da seleção brasileira contra a Irlanda em Londres (o jogo acontece nesta terça, às 17h05, de Brasília, com acompanhamento do Placar UOL Esporte).

“A gente vive a expectativa antes de cada convocação. Mas é um passo de cada vez. São dois meses até a próxima convocação, muita coisa pode acontecer. Não dá para entrar em campo pensando em não se machucar, mas o jeito é orar e esperar para que nada aconteça, porque jogamos no limite todo final de semana”, disse Kaká antes do treino da seleção desta tarde no Emirates Stadium, em Londres.

These fears are real. All one has to do is look at what happened to Arsenal’s RVP in a friendly World Cup match.

Lets hope Kaka and the guys come home unscathed.

We need to be at full strength to win this sucker.

I said we for I am an America with a Brasileiro heart.

My wife is Brasilian. Besides that, I love Brasil futebol.

I am a Flamenguista through and through. My family is Flamenguistas too.   

This is my passion.

On Wednesday, there will be a full tilt of World Cup friendly match ups.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

Flamengo was missing their best attacker Adriano.  The Emperor was on loan to the national team. Adriano will play in Brasil’s final World Cup tune up against Ireland on Tuesday March 2^nd.

Kleberson missed to due national team duty as well. Petkovic and Alvaro are out due to injuries.

Globo Esporte had this to say http://globoesporte.globo.com/ O técnico rubro-negro, Andrade, foi obrigado a escalar um time misto. Adriano e Kleberson tiveram de se apresentar à seleção brasileira para o amistoso contra a Irlanda, na terça-feira. Álvaro e Petkovic sentiram dores musculares e foram vetados. Bruno Mezenga, Fernando e David, respectivamente, os substituíram. Mas tudo deu certo, e o técnico ainda pôde observar os estreantes Ramon, que tabelou com Love em um dos gols, e Rodrigo Alvim.

Mengao struggled with Macae before turning on the jets to pull away for a 4-1 win.

Mengao was outplayed most of the match by Macae.

Vagner Love hit the daily double for Flamengo. He nailed a PK in the 28^th minute. Love later nailed the close range power shot in the 68^th minute.

Vinicius Pacheco hit for the daily double too. Pacheco scored off a quick free kick by mate Vagner Love in the 58^th minute. Pacheco had an easy one on one with the keeper Jeferson. This was no match.

Pacheco fired a long rang sniper shot from the top of the box in the 73^rd minute that flat out beat the keeper through the wickets.

The difference maker in the match for Mengao was Vagner Love.

For most of the match, Flamengo stunk the joint out. UOL put it this way www.uol.com.br  O Macaé jogou melhor a maior parte do confronto, mas Vagner Love fez a diferença em favor do Flamengo. O atacante marcou duas vezes e deu dois passes, um deles usando da ‘malandragem’, na goleada por 4 a 1 do time neste sábado, no Estádio Raulino de Oliveira, na estreia da equipe na Taça Rio, segundo turno do Campeonato Estadual. Enquanto Vinicius Pacheco fez os outros gols dos visitantes, Laio marcou o solitário dos mandantes.

I will take it. A win is a win but this Flamenguista is not a happy camper with the way my guys are playing against the smaller clubs. If Mengao does not improve, we will not compete for the two peat.

Liverpool scored a huge win 2-1 over Blackburn at Anfield. Fernando Torres started his first match for Reds since January 13^th.

Torres also ripped the twines in the 44^th minute. Steven Gerrard  started the Reds off right with a huge goal in the 20^th minute. This gave Liverpool an early 1-0 lead.

Tottenham picked up a huge 2-1 over Everton at White Hart Lane.

Sunderland and Fulham were deadlocked nil-nil.

The EPL race shapes up this way Chelsea is top gun with 61 points. Man U is second with 60 and Arsenal is third with 58. Spurs and Man City each have 49 points but Tottenham is fourth on a better goal difference. Spurs are a plus 23 while City is a plus 17.

Liverpool is sixth with 48.

The Miracle worker Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score the match winner in the 74^th minute. Man U just got by Aston Villa 2-1 to win the Carling Cup.

The match started off on an ominous note for the Red Devils. A dumb foul in the box by Vidac. He should have been given the heave-hoe but the ref said no way boys.

Play on.

Villa’s James Milner nailed the PK.

This made 1-0 Aston Villa.

Michael Owens hit the equalizer in the 12^th minute.

Villa defender Richard Dunne lost the ball to Berbatov. Dunn makes a brilliant recovery. He strips the ball from Berbatov. Somehow, the ball comes loose and Owens scopes up the garbage and scores.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/