Archive for July, 2009

I can hear the screams for Dunga to choose Ronaldo for the national team. Please don’t do that. Ronaldo still has some scoring magic in his old legs but that’s about it. Did you see him whiff on the PK? I mean it was bad. Ronaldo jerkily ran up to the ball. He stopped dead in his tracks and then kicked it like a schoolgirl. He missed. That says it all for me.

I want the best for him but his days as primo player are long gone. He will produce some scoring magic but that’s about it.

Ronaldo was one of the top three greatest futebol players to ever play the game. I rank him behind Pele and Maradona.

The USA pulled some magic out their in hat in the second half to defeat Panama 2-1. Kenny Cooper’s PK in the OT sealed the deal for The USA.

Now it’s a date with Honduras.

The USA beat Honduras 2-0 in-group play.  Honduras can still beat the USA.

Fluminense named Renato Gaucho their new headman today. www.uol.com.br reported this way: Renato Gaúcho é o novo treinador do Fluminense. O acordo foi sacramentado no fim da tarde desta segunda-feira, numa reunião entre o próprio profissional, os dirigentes tricolores e o presidente da patrocinadora do clube, Celso Barros.

Gaucho played with Fluminense from 1995-1997.

There is dispute if Gaucho was a player coach at Fluminense in 1996. The sources I checked don’t have record of him as a player coach yet some of the Brasilian press wrote  he did. So, we have  a little bit of a controversy. I know one thing “ never trust the press.”  I used work in the pressroom. Most of them looked at stories this way “ why let the facts get in the way of a good story.” Can you say New York and LA Times.    

A primeira passagem de Renato Gaúcho como treinador do Fluminense aconteceu em 1996, quando ele trabalhou de forma interina (ainda era jogador) para tentar livrar o Tricolor do rebaixamento. O time acabou caindo, mas uma virada de mesa manteve o time na elite do futebol nacional.’

This is Gaucho’s third time as Fluminense headman. He coached Fluminense from  September, 2002 to July 2003 and from October 2003 to December 2003. In his third stint with Fluminense, Gaucho led Fluminense to the 2007 Brasil Cup Championship. Last year he coached Fluminense to the finals of the 2008 Copa Libertadores. His Fluminense team lost LDU from Ecuador in PK shootout in the finals. He was dumped shortly thereafter. It was reported that he became the “ Laughing stock of Rio de Janeiro soccer fans.”

The Brasil press wrote this way:

Após encerrar sua carreira como jogador de futebol, Renato Gaúcho teve outra oportunidade no Fluminense em 2002, chegando à semifinal do Brasileiro. Deixou o clube em julho 2003, mas retornou alguns meses depois para tirar livrar a equipe do rebaixamento.
Depois de sair novamente do Fluminense, Renato Gaúcho acertou com o Vasco, onde ficou até 2007, retornando às Laranjeiras logo depois. Nesta passagem, levou o time ao título da Copa do Brasil do mesmo ano e a final da Libertadores de 2008 (derrota para a LDU nos pênaltis).

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

Corinthians squeezed past Cruzeiro 2-1 to win their first road match of the season. Corinthians scored first. In the 22^nd minute Ronaldo faked Cruzeiro keeper Fabio out of his jock and skipped a perfect pass to teammate Henrique. Henrique tapped in the easy winner to give Corinthians a 1-0 lead over Cruzeiro.

Five minutes later Ronaldo fired a half salvo on a semi-open goal. Cruzeiro defender Leonardo Silva deliberately used his arm flick the ball safely away. FOUL! That’s a no-no folks. Silva gets the heave hoe. Cruzeiro is a man down.

Ronaldo did a choke city and missed a gimmie PK. It was bad folks. Ronaldo looked like my grandfather trying to kick a ball. It was bad.

There was no quit in the Cruzeiro dog. They fought back and they missed many chances to get the equalizer.

Ronaldo scored his sixth goal of the season when he found the back of the net in the 77^th minute to make 2-0 Corinthians.

Kleber gave Cruzeiro a breath of life when he nailed a PK kick in the 84^th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Cruzeiro had two great scoring chances in the final minutes but alias nothing to show for their great effort.

Cruzeiro took it Corinthians. Corinthians was very lucky to escape with the win.

Sao Paulo finally got off the schnid with a win 2-1 over a struggling Santos side. This win might have saved the clown Gomes his job. Time will tell.

Gremio upset Internacional 2-1.

Atletico-PR and Coritiba tied at nil-nil.

Vitoria and Atletico-MG kissed their sister zero-zero.

My team Flamengo is a heartbreaker. They fell behind twice before the getting the equalizer in the 88^th minute. Emerson’s great strike helped Flamengo escape with a two all tie with rival Botafogo.

Flamengo is worse than my home team the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles like Flamengo find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory every time. They kill you every time. It’s a slow death by defeat. Inch by inch they kill you. They take you to the edge of victory then find a way to screw it up and lose.

Us Philly kids have a better way to say it but I won’t tell you. Use your imagination.

With the tie, Flamengo is in 10^th place with 16 points.

Sao Paulo is in 11^th place with 14 points.

Atletico-MG and Palmeiras are tied for first with 25 points.

Internacional is in third place with 23 points.

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

Diego Sousa’s one timer off a well-placed corner kick in the 23^rd minute was all Palmeiras needed to knock off upstart Santo Andre 1-0 yesterday in Campeonato do Brasil.

Palmeiras applied lots of offensive pressure to get that second goal but they couldn’t score on the Santo Andre “D”. Santo Andre had their chances as well but nothing to speak of.

Goias creamed Fluminense 4-1. Fluminense is slowly sinking off the map. They are in danger of getting the heave hoe and being sent down to D-2 ball. That’s not good. Fluminense is on a four game losing streak. They are in 19^th spot. Nautico is on 20^th spot. Nautico takes on Gremio-Barueri later today.

Cruzeiro has a big match with Corinthians. Cruzeiro has been focused on the Copa Libertadores since the start of the season. Now they lost in the Copa finals watch out folks for Cruzeiro is now ready to climb up the table.

Corinthians better beware later today when they take on Cruzeiro.

Last year Sao Paulo was near the bottom of the table. After Sao Paulo was knocked out of the Copa they went on a rampage and won last years Campeonato do Brasil.

Time will tell.

That’s it for this hot day in summer time.

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

Ronaldo is back at it again. Yes, he can still create some scoring magic. He scored twice to lead Corinthians to a 4-3 win over Sport on Thursday night. The fat cat scored twice. Both were very nice goals. The first goal was a well-placed header that found top shelf right. The second goal Ronaldo used his noggin again as he nailed a winner that squeezed between the left post and the keepers out stretched hand.

Yep, he can sure score. I can still hear the screams all the way from Sao Paulo that Ronaldo has found his form and he should  be considered for a place on the national team. Not.

You have to trust me on this. His star is fading. He can still score but that’s about it.  If Ronaldo is added, to the national team this will kill team chemistry and Dunga can kiss a real shot at winning the 2010 World Cup. The truth hurts.

The real future of the national team lies with Kaka, Robinho, Fabiano, and the Duck man.

It is not in cats like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. They are was. It is time to move on and let the young guns have a whack at it.

My wife’s team Sao Paulo stunk the joint out in a 2-0 loss to Atletico-MG on Thursday.

Maybe the brass at Sao Paulo made a huge boo-boo when they fired Muricy and hired the clown Gomes. Time will tell on this fiasco.

My team Flamengo isn’t doing much better but at least we are in 9^th spot while Sao Paulo is buried in 15^th place.

Atletico-MG is in first place with 24 points. Internacional is second with 23 points. Palmeiras is third with 22 points.

www.uol.com.br reported that Atletico-MG took over first place, Internacional, and Palmeiras won as well too.

Inspirado na empolgação dos torcedores, que compareceram em grande número ao Mineirão (54 mil pagantes), o Atlético-MG venceu o São Paulo por 2 a 0, nesta quinta-feira, e reassumiu a liderança isolada do Campeonato Brasileiro. O tricolor paulista, que ainda não conseguiu reagir na competição, terminou a 11ª rodada como começou, próximo à zona de rebaixamento.
Na quarta-feira, o Atlético caiu do primeiro para o terceiro lugar com as vitórias de Internacional e Palmeiras sobre Fluminense e Flamengo, respectivamente. O time mineiro, que vinha de vitória no clássico com o Cruzeiro, chegou a 24 pontos e voltou à ponta do Brasileirão, à frente do Internacional, com 23.

Oh! Baby! There is a logjam at top of the leader board in Brasileiro futebol. Oh, this season should be a crazy down to the wire fight between Internacional, Palmeiras, Vitoria, and yes Flamengo and Sao Paulo.

I think Corinthians will fade.

Well, that’s my two cents for this hot day in July.

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

Lots of crazy stuff is coming out of South America. What? You ask. Rodrigo Palacio said adios to Boca. He is packing his bags and headed off for Genoa, Italy. He will join fellow Argentina mate Herman Crespo.

Is Boca starting fall apart? Boca has been one of the crème clubs in South America for many years however the wheels are starting to come off the proverbial wagon. This past season Boca was knocked out in the first round of knockout stage of the Copa. They finished near the bottom of the table in the winter Clausura.

Sure, Palacio has been hurt for most of the season but he is still one of the top players in Argentina.

My team Flamengo stunk the joint out in 2-1 loss to Palmeiras on Wednesday night. Flamengo gave up two early goals. The first was a thing of real stupid beauty. A Flamengo defender tried to pass the ball back to his keeper Bruno however a Palmeiras attacker expertly stole the ball. Sousa had an easy walk in goal to make 1-0 Palmeiras after 24 minutes.

Ortigoza had another easy walk goal to make 2-0 after 43 minutes. The entire Flamengo team fell asleep. It is almost as if they wanted to lose the match on purpose. Flamengo played like garbage.

Adriano added a little bit of respectably for Flamengo when he scored on a PK shot in 71^st minute.

Flamengo drives me crazy. One match they look like world-beaters and in the next match, they couldn’t even beat the little sisters of poor. Go figure.

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

After a scoreless first half both Estudiantes and Cruzeiro lit up the scoreboard in the second half. Estudiantes found a little bit of road magic to defeat Cruzeiro 2-1 in Belo Horizonte last night to win the Copa Libertadores.

Cruzeiro’s Henrique fired a long-range bomb that bounced off the leg of an Estudiantes defender and was redirected into the back of the net in 52^nd minute to make 1-0.

Estudiantes found the equalizer in the in the 56^th minute. Fernandez broke free in the box and ripped the twines to tie it up at one all.

Boselli used his noggin to knock home the match winner in 73^rd minute to give Estudiantes the Copa Libertadores Championship for the first time since 1970.

This was a well-played match. Both teams raced up and down the pitch. They both attacked each other with all they had.

I am kinda sad. I have a few tears in my eyes. I wanted Cruzeiro to win but that’s the way it goes in the wild world of big time futebol.

Both teams played with lots of heart. Cruzeiro had nothing to be ashamed of for they gave it there all.

Cruzeiro had several opportunities to level up the match in the dying moments but they missed by “ That much.”

On this night Estudiantes was the superior team. Estudiantes and Cruzeiro are two evenly matched sides. If they played ten times, each side would win five times.

This is the third straight road win for Estudiantes in the 2009 Copa. Now it’s on to Japan and the FIFA World Cup Championship that will be played in December.

Estudiantes is the 2009 Copa Libertadores Champion.

I bet my bud’s Doctor Luis Palau is very happy.

The Brasilian press www.uol.com.br wrote this about the match:

Depois de arrancar um empate sem gols no jogo de ida na Argentina, o Cruzeiro levou a decisão para o Mineirão, que recebeu um grande público, mas o apoio da torcida não foi suficiente para evitar a derrota para o Estudiantes, por 2 a 1, de virada, e a perda do título da Copa Libertadores 2009. O time argentino conquistou a competição continental pela quarta vez.
O Cruzeiro, que chegou à final pela quarta vez em 11 participações, desperdiçou a chance de conquistar o terceiro título da Libertadores e se igualar ao São Paulo, que levou a competição em 1992, 1993 e 2005, que é o melhor entre os brasileiros. O time mineiro sagrou-se campeão em 1976 e 1997. O Estudiantes ganhou o tradicional torneio em 1968, 1969 e 1970.

The Copa has a new champ.

Congrats to Estudiantes

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

Round two of the Copa Finals will be tonight in Belo Horizonte. Cruzeiro takes on hated Argentina foe Estudiantes. Both teams tied zero-zero in La Plata, Argentina on Wednesday July 8^th. Neither team scored so now this baby is for all the marbles. The winner gets a trip to Japan to play in the World Club Championship held in December.

Defending champ Man U was knocked out by Barcelona in the Champions League Finals.

Belo Horizonte will be rocking and rolling. All 65,000 seats were sold out in less than six hours. The crazies will be there to cheer Cruzeiro on to victory.

Cruzeiro has the edge but lets remember this little diddy Estudiantes has won its last two road matches in the Copa.

For the record, Argentina clubs have won 18 Copa Titles while Brasil clubs have won 13.
I can’t wait for this match later tonight.

This match should have lots of fireworks. Both teams will leave their hearts and souls on the pitch.

Cruzeiro has an appointment with the title and Ramires is the key for the Brasil side to win, www.uol.com.br reports: A partida diante do Estudiantes, nesta quarta-feira, no Mineirão, que apontará o campeão da Libertadores, será a última de Ramires pelo Cruzeiro. O jogador, que se transferirá para o Benfica, espera se despedir com título, mas até a decisão da competição continental terá de lidar com a ansiedade que lhe tem tirado o sono.

Ramires added to win this title would be more icing to the cake for this already successful season. He has work very hard for the success he has had this season.   

O título da Libertadores pode sacramentar a trajetória de sucesso de Ramires no clube celeste. “Com o trabalho que venho fazendo, consegui um espaço bom no Cruzeiro, fiz meu nome e consegui chegar à seleção brasileira. Acho que não tem coisa melhor do que buscar esse título para sair por cima no Cruzeiro”, ressaltou o jogador, que terminou a Copa das Confederações, na África do Sul, como titular da equipe de Dunga.

Muricy Ramalho has confirmed that Santos is interested in his services.

diretoria do Santos confirmou a conversa com o procurador do técnico Muricy Ramalho, Márcio Rivelino. O treinador do São Paulo é o principal alvo do clube do litoral para substituir o demitido Vágner Mancini. O negócio, porém, ainda não foi fechado. Novas conversas devem ocorrer durante esta noite.

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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

Fluminense headman Carlos Alberto Parreira got the heave hoe yesterday. Fluminense has been stinking the joint out. They are playing horrible futebol. They stink. Fluminense lost to Santo Andre 1-0 on Sunday.

Parreira coached the Brasil National Team in 1994 and 2006. His team won the 1994 World Cup. 2006 World Cup team bombed out in the quarterfinals. Parreira 2006 team had fat man Ronaldo and head case Ronaldinho on that loser team.  If you think I am being harsh, I am. They were out of shaped. They were not ready to play world-class futebol. The team had the attitude all they had to do was show up and they would win. WRONG! All you have to do is look at the results.

Fluminense is currently in 17^th place with ten points. They are in danger of getting sent down to Serie B.

Fluminense has lost three out of their last four matches. They have zero wins, one tie, and three losses. Fluminense needed to win or Parreira would lose his job. The results have been horrible the since the start of the Campeonato. 

The firing was reported this way by www.uol.com.br Carlos Alberto Parreira não é mais técnico do Fluminense. Ele foi demitido na manhã desta segunda-feira, após reunião com a diretoria do clube das Laranjeiras. O treinador não resistiu à derrota por 1 a 0 para o Santo André, na noite de domingo, no Engenhão. O auxiliar Vinicius Eutrópio assumirá inteirinamente.

“Era necessária uma vitória para sobreviver. Mas não ocorreu. No Brasil, não se tem a oportunidade de trabalhar, é só jogar, jogar e rezar para os resultados acontecerem. Ontem (domingo), por exemplo, levamos um gol no início e com três minutos a torcida tava vaiando. Parece até uma coisa dirigida”, afirmou.

It was reported by www.uol.com.br that Fluminense is looking at former Sao Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho and Renato Gaucho to replace Parreira.

Após não chegar a um acordo com o Palmeiras, Muricy Ramalho passa a ser o principal alvo da diretoria do Fluminense. O atual tricampeão brasileiro é o sonho de consumo do presidente Roberto Horcades.

A tendência é que o coordenador de futebol do Tricolor, Alexandre Faria, inicie ainda nesta segunda-feira o contato oficial com Muricy, que havia anunciado na última semana: “Não negocio com clubes que tenham treinador”.
Apesar de o ex-técnico do São Paulo ser o nome preferido pela diretoria, a patrocinadora, como sempre, tentará promover o retorno de Renato Gaúcho. O treinador campeão da Copa do Brasil 2007 e vice da Libertadores em 2008, é amigo pessoal do presidente da Unimed, Celso Barros.

Check these sites out.

www.palau.org

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

Flamengo and Sao Paulo tied at two all. Flamengo played well throughout the entire match except for a few defensive breakdowns. Bruno had at least three brilliant saves to save Flamengo’s bacon. But alias a dumb penalty in the final fifteen minutes of the match cost my Flamenguistas a win. Instead of three points, Flamengo shot themselves in the foot and walked away with one point. At least point is better than none.

With that said both teams played dumb. Flamengo and Sao Paulo both committed stupid penalties that could have cost them the match. Sao Paulo lost Silva in the 45^th minute on a dumb red card. Sao Paulo played a man down and Flamengo blew the lead. Go figure.

In the end, two dumb teams earned what they came for a draw.

Flamengo scored first when Sao Paulo keeper Denis misplayed the kick. It hit Fierro in the butt. Fierro turned and lofted the chip shot over the dumbfounded Denis to give Flamengo a 1-0 lead after three minutes. 

Sao Paulo answered in the 18^th minute when Borges broke free in the box and blasted home the winner to it up at one all.

Adriano had a great run into the box.  Sao Paulo defender Renato Silva tackled Adriano. Adriano calmly made the PK in the 21^st minute to make 2-1 Flamengo.

Sao Paulo scored the tying goal when Miranda made a great run into the box. Flamengo defender Willians had no choice except to tackle him. Jorge Wagner knocked in the PK in the 64^th minute to level the match at two all.  

Adriano said this after match to www.uol.com.br    “Não comemorei o gol em respeito ao São Paulo, aos torcedores e a todos, pelo carinho que tive quando passei por aqui”, declarou Adriano, que defendeu o clube tricolor no ano passado.
Na etapa final, mesmo com um atleta a menos, o time da casa buscou o empate. Miranda sofreu pênalti, e Jorge Wagner bateu no canto oposto ao que Bruno pulou.
“Não foi o resultado que a gente queria, mas, pelas circunstâncias da partida, com um a menos, atrás no placar, é importante somar ponto”, comentou o camisa 7.

I have respect for Sao Paulo. This time Flamengo came away with a tie in Sao Paulo’s house. Miranda suffered a penalty Wagner gave Sao Paulo the tie. This was not the result we were looking for but we will take it.

Gremio blasted Corinthians 3-0. Gremio made Ronaldo and the rest of the Corinthians squad looked like a bunch of old men. It was a horrible showing by Corinthians. They were totally out hustled, outplayed, and out gunned.

Ronaldo was reduced to a mere spectator in this match. He showed up and that was about it.

Check out these sites

www.palau.org

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

The rain soaked pitch has turned Sao Paulo’s Palestra Italia in a huge bog. The pitch was more suitable for ducks that futebol.

Palmeiras scored first. A great free kick was placed deep into the Nautico box. Mauricio Ramos used his noodle to knock home the winner in 9^th minute to make it 1-0 Palmeiras.

Nautico keeper Eduardo never had a chance.

Nautico is near the bottom of the table. Actually, they are in 17^th spot with eight points.

Nautico has been bageled in their last five matches.

The big question is this. Can Nautico score a goal?

Another great attack by Palmeiras has resulted in another goal. Williams headed home the easy winner. The ball was right on the doorstep of the goal. It is 2-0 Palmeiras after 28 minutes.

Nautico’s defense is worse than bad. It is $$#@@!

Nautico finally ended their scoring drought in the 65^th minute. Marcio Barros weaved his way through the Swiss cheese Palmeiras defense and scored on a lethal strike just inside the box. It’s 2-1 Palmeiras.

It took Palmeiras only eight minutes to answer Nautico’s goal. A great give and go led to Armero’s goal in the 73^rd minute to make 3-1 Palmeiras.

Its all over but the shouting now. The slippery pitch resulted in a crazy ball played into the Nautico box. Players from both sides slip slide their way over and around the ball until Pierre touched the slippery ball past the fallen Nautico keeper Eduardo in the 85^th minute make 4-1 Palmeiras.

The final score Palmeiras 4 and Nautico 1.

Palmeiras kicked butt www.uol.com.br reported it this way:

Com o resultado, o Palmeiras atingiu a segunda posição da Série A, agora com 19 pontos. Vale lembrar que Atlético-MG e Vitória entram em campo neste domingo e podem ultrapassar a equipe paulista. Não só isso, como o time alviverde chegou a dez jogos sem derrotas (quatro vitórias e seis empates), seu maior período de invencibilidade no ano.

Nautico is in danger of being sent down:

O Náutico, por sua vez, manteve a situação dramática no Nacional. Após seis derrotas consecutivas, o clube permanece na zona de rebaixamento, com oito pontos.

Botafogo slipped past Avai 2-1.

Gremio blasted Coritiba 3-1.

Check out these sites.

www.palau.org

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