News coming today that Corinthians seventeen year old centre-back Dodo (sorry about the picture but I couldn't find a clear one of the youngster) is on the verge of making a move to United. This move has been mooted for about a month and a half now and it looks to be drawing closer to a reality as the youngster has been quoted as saying he expects to join us in the near future.

Placar magazine, the most traditional and popular soccer magazine in Brazil, put together in its June issue a ranking with the biggest salaries in Brazilian football. The leader? Ronaldo, obviously. And as a reminder: Nowadays, US$1 = R$2.05.

1°- Ronaldo* (Corinthians) = R$ 1.133.000
2°- Adriano** (Flamengo) = R$ 362.

In a surprising bit of news today, Brazil proved once again that they are crazy about soccer. Fans of the Fluminense club are a little upset with the fact that their team has gone winless during the last four games.

Their last game against Santos even ended in a disappointing 4-1 loss.

So far, the return of Fred, ex-Lyon, to Brazilian football has been a big flop. Despite the few goals here and there, his club, Fluminense, has been having a horrible year. Not able to qualify for the finals of Rio de Janeiro state championship, the club now seats in the relegation zone of Campeonato Brasileiro.

Well that's the Bafana Bafana's 16th new jersey in 11 years and let's hope it is the lucky strip that will take the team past the opening round of the 2010 World Cup.

New Bafana Bafana Jersey

According to Kickoff, "the New Bafana Bafana kit is not much different from the current one, other than it being a whole lot sleeker and bearing a small South African flag, it was the one chosen from 21 alternatives by the Bafana players and technical team.

When I wanted to write a preview of the Bafana Bafana vs Jamaica match in Bloemfontein this evening, I thought I would just go and see what the online experts say.

Kickoff.com Bafana's One problem is Two Shoes

Former Bafana Bafana midfielder John "Shoes" Moshoeu says that while South Africa has not been doing very well in their last few international games, all is not yet lost.

To be clear, this is just a rumour right now. Nothing more, and certainly nothing official. Plus Guus Hiddink is officially contracted to the Russian national team until July 2010. So let's not get carried away. But...

...There are whispers being whispered that the Argentine Football Association may approach Guus Hiddink and offer him a role coaching Argentina alongside Diego Maradona at World Cup 2010.

Atlético Mineiro's Carlos Alberto celebrates against Santos

League leaders Atlético Mineiro had to come from behind to beat Santos 3-2 in the Vila Belmiro. And with Internacional slipping up away at Flamengo, Celso Roth's team were able to open up a three point gap at the top.

Neymar scored his first goal in the Brasileiro for Santos on the stroke of half-time.

After the 10th round of Campeonato Brasileiro, Atletico-MG returned to the top after the 3-0 victory in the Belo Horizonte derby. Besides the pathetic red card by Cruzeiro's Ze Carlos, the men of the match were veteran Junior and forward Eder Luis - even though in his goal goalie Andrey gave a big help.

When Cristiano Ronaldo was sold for 80m, one of the mitigating reasons was that the money would be used to buy big name players to offset the effect of his loss. Players like Franck Ribery and David Villa were mentioned as replacements.

The club then decided to change the policy and not sign any more players over 26 years as with advancing age the resale value would drop sharply at the end of a five or six year contract.

Pac Macmillan are running an Eric Cantona competition which offers you the chance to win a signed Cantona United shirt as well as five signed copies of "The Rebel Who Would Be King".

RoM don't have any signed goodies but we do have a copy of the new book, which hasn't been released yet, to give away.

Carlos Alberto Parreira is the new coach for the South African National Soccer Team. After two weeks of rumours and denials, the South African Football Association (SAFA) made the announcement just after 7pm at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg.

During this Bafana coach fiasco, it seemed all that the loyal and passionate supporters were agreed upon, is that they were happy that Joel Santana was out of the picture.

Richie Williams ... why can't the longtime Red Bulls assistant land a managerial post? Good question.

View full size photo »

Also file under: Who did Richie Williams piss off?

Fluminense Football Club is a Rio de Janeiro, Brazil based soccer team. They are currently coached by former Brazil manager Carlos Alberto Parreira and campaign in the top tier of Brazilian football the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Yesterday, Fluminense and global sportswear giant Adidas presented the club's home and away kits for the 2009/10 season.

Fitness coach Fabio Mahseredjian has revealed Inter's approach for the next month in which Inter must play a mammoth nine matches with four of which being cup finals.
Speaking to Bandeirantes Radio he explained, "It will certainly be a marathon and in the next week it will be important to evaluate the players condition and allow them to recover.

In part two of this series looking at the best Brazilian players of all time, I will be taking a look at the finest Brazilian talents of the 1970s and 80s.

From the remarkable team of 1970 through to the abundantly gifted yet ultimately unsuccessful squads of the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, there are some truly extraordinary footballers to choose from.

Fluminense Football Club is a Rio de Janeiro, Brazil based soccer team. They are currently coached by former Brazil manager Carlos Alberto Parreira and campaign in the top tier of Brazilian football the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Earlier this month, Fluminense and global sportswear giant Adidas presented the club's third kit for the 2009/10 season.

According to the Safa website: On Monday 19 October 2009 it was unanimously agreed between the Management Committee representing the South African Football Association and the Senior National Coach Mr Joel Natalino Santana, that Mr. Santana would, with immediate effect vacate his current position as Bafana Bafana National Coach.

This is a bit late, but necessary. Brazil lost the final of the U20, but the result was just a detail (besides the fact that young Brazilian squads always lose to African nations). The real question is: what can we expect of those players in the future?

Possibly, 1 or 2 will be adult World Cup material (in my opinion, one of them will be Giuliano).

The South African Football Association have parted company with manager Joel Santana after a string of poor results. Santana, who took over from Carlos Alberto Parreira in April 2008 as Bafana coach, was fired after the national team lost eight of their last nine internationals. South Africa's 1-0 loss to Iceland was the last straw [.

Carlos Alberto Parreira

The recent re-appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as coach of South Africa, replacing fellow Brazilian Joel Santana who had been hired on Parreira's recommendation, ignited that perennial question: is a national team, particularly one on the periphery of world football, better served by a local or an outsider?

Benni McCarthy is Back in the Bafana Bafana Squad

When Carlos Alberto Parreira returned as head coach, the writing was on the wall, Benni Mc Carthy would be asked to come back. The door to the Bafana Bafana team would once again be opened to the man who has scored 31 goals in 76 caps for his country.

Fábio Aurélio

On Thursday, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced that Liverpool's Fábio Aurélio has a problem with his left calf muscle and would not face England in Qatar on November 14th and Oman three days later. The last time the leftback was called up for Brazil was by Carlos Alberto Parreira for the Confederations Cup in 2003.

Inter are likely to face competition in their efforts to extend Rosinei's loan contract at the Beira-Rio.
Rosinei's loan agreement with Inter expires at the end of next month and the club are keen to negotiate an extension to the deal with Spanish club Murcia who own the 26 year old.

Brazil legend Carlos Alberto has slammed Manchester United for poaching Brazil's young players. Alberto won the 1970 World Cup and he says Man United are 'raping' Brazilian football. Man United have...
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There is a reason why matches like this one are rare. More, perhaps, is the pity. But it is not just bull-headed, brass-necked conservative imperialism which sees 50 percent of the ten South American teams qualifying for the World Cup Finals, whilst just six of CAF's 55 members will represent Africa next summer.

The match as seen from a South African supporter...
Spain defeated Bafana Bafana 3-2 after extra time in the Confederations Cup 3rd/4th place Play-off at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
We may have been defeated by the Spanish but the team can certainly keep their heads held high after another spirited performance against the number 1 ranked team in the world.

Grêmio trounce Corinthians

Mano Menezes' return to the estádio Olímpico ended in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Grêmio. Corinthians were blown away in the first-half, conceding three goals and having Jean sent off for two yellow cards. Grêmio's tight marking and pacey attacks, meant there was no space or time for any of Corinthians creative players.

On the verge of appointing a new coach, suffering from a run of poor results and they suffered defeat last weekend in the Campeonato Brailseiro. You could easily be mistaken for thinking I'm talking about Inter and not tonight's visitors to the Beira-Rio – Fluminense for tonight's midweek 11th round (21:50 local time).

Man Utd's policy of uprooting underage Brazilian talent like Fabio and Rafael Da Silva and going after highly rated Dodo has come for scathing criticism by some, including legend Carlos Alberto who famously accused the Red Devils of "raping" Brazilian football.

The knock on all this poaching is that these players rarely get to play in their own clubs having been brought up the ranks before they are scouted by the big European clubs and enticed by the large sums of money.

This time last year The Guardian writers predicted that after winning the Premiership and European Cup double, Manchester United would give up their title to Chelsea. The reasons were obvious, apparently, but I disagreed with every single one.

First they argued that if Chelsea came within a few points of us that season, with a World Cup winning manager in charge they were certain to improve.

Com a devida vénia e referência junto uma entrada do Blog Clubes Botafogo que ilustra a diferença de hoje para o passado desses dois grandes clubes brasileiros. Qual seria o valor actual desses jogadores?
Clássico dos Sonhos
Botafogo e Santos vão se enfrentar no domingo (hoje) e esses dois times ao longo da história tinham uma força gigantesca e era a base da Seleção Brasileira.

Faz hoje seis meses que comecei a contar os visitantes deste blog. Tem sido um trabalho intenso, mas também muito agradável, sobretudo na relação bloguista que tenho travado com alguns que por aqui passam. Vou continuar, com a esperança de que possa crescer e se tiver oportunidade, em abrir este espaço colaboração de quem o desejar, naturalmente dentro de alguns limites óbvios, mas que possam transmitir novas abordagens e visões do futebol, do País e do Mundo.

He ain't no Moses. But it's official. Carlos Alberto Parreira is back as Bafana coach through the 2010 World Cup. And laughing all the way to the bank, again.
This time, however, he'll have to deal with resentment in South Africa over his reappointment, particularly among those who believed the time was right for a local coach to get the nod.

World Cup hosts South Africa appointed Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira coach on Friday, a South African Football Association spokesman said. Parreira returns to a post he relinquished in April last year when his wife became seriously ill in Rio de Janeiro, and he was succeeded by compatriot Joel Santana.

Carlos Alberto, current idol, and Roberto Dinamite, current president and greatest idol, show where Vasco is going next year.

Vasco da Gama is back from hell. The Brazilian giant granted its return to the first division of Campeonato Brasileiro less than a year after being relegated. Vasco was another giant that, as it's been happening a lot lately, felt the results of the poor administrations that control most of Brazilian football.

Jogaram emPort Elizabeth, no Nelson Mandella Stadium, as seleções da África do Sul (85º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção do Japão (40º do ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
14-09-2000 - África do Sul 1x2 Japão (Jogos Olímpicos)
Árbitro: Romvaldo Baltazar (Angola)
A torcida sul-africana compareceu em bom número ao estádio de Porto Elizabeth, inaugurado recentemente para a Copa do Mundo.

Well we know how the Final Draw turned out – terrible for South Africa but here are the groups for the 2010 World Cup, in case anyone doesn't know yet. And the Official Match Schedule.

France and Uruguay are two former World Cup winners and Mexico is known as a very strong team, but South Africa will have to rely on the wide experience of coach Carlos Alberto Parreira and the passion and skill of Bafana Bafana if we want to avoid the humiliation of becoming the first host team in World Cup history to get knocked out in the first round.

"Sometimes you've just got to go."
Former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann explains why he spent a penny during Stuttgart's game with Unirea Urziceni.

"Hope it all goes well - people will be surprised to know you have a heart!"
Sam Allardyce reveals the text sent to him by old mucker Kenny Dalglish before the Blackburn boss underwent minor heart surgery.