Raphael Varane: A world-class defender in the making - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
When Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League semifinal first leg clash on Wednesday at the Bernabeu, an array of world-class, household names will be on display. Amid this talent, will be a 19-year-old centre-back by the name of Raphael Varane, who looks set to become a footballing phenomenon over the next decade.
The World Soccer Masters takes place at Sun Life Stadium, with a cast of stars from around the
world led by Lionel Messi and U.S. national team stars Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Jozy
Altidore taking to the field in the exhibition event (7 p.
Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan (seen above) and Hope Solo were the Futbolitas representin' at the FIFA Ballon d'Or last night. USA women's team captain Wambach also admitted that she was surprised to receive the award from her own teammate, Hope Solo, as she had expected Morgan to pick it up instead.
The U.S. women's national team won 14-0 over the Dominican Republic on Friday. Yes, the women's
soccer team won by that score. Amy Rodriguez scored five goals.
At halftime, Abby Wambach told her teammates to keep scoring in the Olympic qualifier, despite
being up 7-0, because goal differential can impact Olympic qualifying qualifying.
Image: Claudio Villa/Getty Images Europe. Fabs attended UEFA Pro Licence Master classes earlier this week. We have no clue what he learned there, but we studied this pic for several hours, and can confirm that a blond tinted quiff does not inhibit our collective lust. Useful to know.
Don't blame yourselves for not recognising that noise. That, dear friends, is the sound of the
Kickette office, moments after being stunned into awed silence by the above image. Credit: Claudio
Villa/Getty Images Europe.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the years.
Former Argentina international Matias Almeyda has written an autobiography which is currently being serialised in Gazzetta dello Sport, in which the midfielder who is currently head coach at River Plate makes some fairly scandalous claims about the state of the inner machinations of Italian football,including intravenous doping, pandemic match-fixing and mafia intimidation.
The curtains were finally drawn on the Calciopoli trial yesterday when chief suspect Luciano
Moggi was found guilty of sporting fraud and sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison.
The 74 year old was director of Juventus during the infamous 2005/2006 season when the club was
demoted to Serie B for its involvement in match fixing scandals that saw them win the league that
season.
Earlier this afternoon, spaced out considerably into a half hour meeting of people in suits, the
Champions League group stage draw took place in Monaco. The buildup was understandly rowdy, with
several people extracting pens from suit pockets and others still shifting in their seats. The
agenda got underway through the explanation of the rules, mainly who country representatives can
allowed to play.
TweetA host of World Cup winners and footballing legends are competing in a World All-Star XI team
facing off against a Bayern Munich All-Star Team in Munich. All the greatest names in football are
featuring including, Patrick Vieira, Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Giovanni Van Bronckhurst, Gianfranco
Zola, Jay-Jay Okocha, Willy Sagnol, Jens Lehmann, Samuel Eto'o and [.
The Golden ball has released their shortlist of players of which one will be chosen as the
undisputed best player for this past year. Yet, as it's been the case for a couple of years now,
the shortlist raised more questions than provided answers.
The list, which is chosen by France Football Magazine, has always had its critics although as of
late, it has attracted more widespread criticism than ever before.
There was a charity game held over in Portugal last night, which saw a Benfica XI take on a team
consisting of Luis Figo and his buddies one of which was a chap by the name of Fernando Mendes, the
human meatball currently tasked with presenting the Portuguese version of 'The Price Is Right'.
A gaggle of footballing legends turned out for the UN's ninth annual 'Match against Poverty'
last night, which saw a squad of 30-odd luminaries such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo (who are both
UN Goodwill Ambassadors), Didier Drogba, Fernando Couto, Luis Figo, Edgar Davids, Pavel Nedved and
Fabio Cannavaro take on a Hamburg SV All-Stars side in front of a 24,000-strong crowd in
Germany.
French great Zinedine Zidane and Brazilian icon Ronaldo put on their annual Match Against
Poverty event Tuesday, taking on a team of Hamburg SV All-Stars in Germany, and the legend-laden
squad did not disappoint.
Ronaldo scored as part of his team's 5-4 victory, with proceeds from the event going toward
combating poverty in the Horn of Africa.
When I was younger and played 11 a side football on a regular basis, I was a centre back.
Coupled with Italian heritage, I have always been a big fan of this rather unglamorous position. Â
Italy's World Cup success in 2006 was as memorable for the peerless defensive work of Fabio
Cannavaro (later seen being imitated by a stand-in at Craven Cottage in 2010) as for the thrilling
victory against Germany or the Materazzi inspired head butt in the final.
When I was younger and played 11 a side football on a regular basis, I was a centre back.
Coupled with Italian heritage, I have always been a big fan of this rather unglamorous position. Â
Italy's World Cup success in 2006 was as memorable for the peerless defensive work of Fabio
Cannavaro (later seen being imitated by a stand-in at Craven Cottage in 2010) as for the thrilling
victory against Germany or the Materazzi inspired head butt in the final.
Italy have had a solid qualifying campaign for Euro 2012, which has seen the side go unbeaten
and concede a mere two goals. The side has also looked impressive in some recent friendlies,
beating World Champions Spain 2-1 back in August. Although it could be argued that the Spain squad
fielded that day was somewhat experimental, it is still quite an achievement for a national side
that only a year previously was in crisis and bereft of confidence.
No danger of Robbie Fowler doing this in the new India league where the pitches have no grass and
no lines
Looks like Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo, Robbie Fowler, and Roberto Pires will have to wait
for another payday as the newly formed Premier Soccer League that was supposed to start on March
24th and go on till May 6th in the state of West Bengal has been indefinitely postponed.
The new Indian League franchise got their squads ready during the week, with a fantasy league type
auction.
The six week run tournament, seen each team bid for an "Icon" player and a foreign coach set up
in the same style as the Indian one day cricket format currently used to great effect.
Like an outdated fantasy league auction, the new Premier League Soccer featuring six teams based
in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal bid for the rights to sign several "icon" players."
Hernan Crespo, who scored nine goals for Parma last season, drew the highest bid and went for
$840,000 (£536,000) at the sprightly age of 36.
The new tournament in India had its auction today. A quick refresher for those who allow quirky
short-term tournament formats to slip from the back of their minds (shame): five teams, each team
bids for a leading "icon", along with two foreigners and a manager, with a wage budget of $2.5m.
(How much is being ballparked for the icons 30-40%?
Fabio Cannavaro. Sought after wherever he goes, apparently. Here, he's attracting a bit of interest
from local kids in Phnom Penh on January 9th. Image:Â STR/AFP/Getty Images.
We're not going to get wrapped in the complexities of the newly founded Premier League Soccer
tournament in India for two reasons.
Fabio Cannavaro will begin his Indian journey this February
This Monday, the six franchises of the new IPL styled soccer league put down bids for the
marquee players. Fabio Cannavaro, the 38 year old former Ballon D'Or defender drew the highest bid
of $830,000 and was sold to Siliguri.
"F**king kick him, you ponce" Â Peter Reid, bringing the beautiful game to the
India
Trying to break the massive, all-conquering hold cricket has on India ain't gonna be easy, but
the organisers of the new Indian Premier League Soccer tournament are doing their best to get the
locals interested by getting a number of ex-greats involved.
Former Liverpool strikers Robbie Fowler and Fernando Morientes have reportedly agreed to join a
revamped Indian football league.
The format, which hopes to replicate the cricketing success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), is
apparently attracting stars such as Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Pablo Sorin and Robert Pires.
With Martin Luther King's legacy being commemorated across the country, it's an eye-opening
shame that blatant forms of racism still exist around the world, specifically in the soccer
forum.
Over the weekend, U.S. midfielder Maurice Edu and Rangers teammate Kyle Bartley were the subject
of racial abuse via Twitter, an incident that resulted in the arrest of a 41-year-old man who was
due to appear in a Scottish court on Monday.
The practice of veteran stars seeing out their careers in lesser leagues isn't exactly new, nor
is it rare. The Middle East has been using oil-soaked checks to lure eager foreigners for years.
And yet, this weekend might just take the cake for odd locations and trail-blazing new football
landscapes.
Indians will see Roberto Pires in action next month
Instant cricket, the 20/20 version has found a home in India's Premier league, one of the
world's most lucrative sporting brands, till corruption eroded its worth. The success of the IPL is
inspiring a new soccer league in India which will see the likes of Roberto Pires, Fabio Cannavaro,
Juan Pablo Sorin, and others participating in a soccer competition styled on the IPL format.
Last year the Indian Football Association announced it would be launching Premier League Soccer
in early 2012, with six franchises. The franchises are located in Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol,
Midnapore, and Siliguri. When the league was announced, IFA also stated that each team would have
one icon player and a maximum of three overseas players and one overseas player from Asia.
While the players take a break from club duty for the midweek international friendlies, there's a
lot going on with the U.S. players in Europe. Here's a quick rundown:
Jozy Altidore and Steve Cherundolo are still alive in the Europa League, each reaching the
Round of 32 that begins March 8, with AZ taking on Udinese and Hannover traveling to Standard
Liege.
Fabio Cannavaro and Robert Pires will be two of the six icon players for the IPL-like Premier
League Soccer, to be kicked off in the state from February 25.
In 1996 Olympic Games, Italy played its second game against Ghana. Both lost their first game 0-1:
Ghana lost to South Korea and Italy to Mexico. It will be a definite disaster for the team that
will lose this game. Italy had some great names like Gianluca Pagliuca, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio
Cannavaro.
Serie A expert Eric Giardini is just that. Here, on Roma
This past week marked the 2011 version of the Leaders in Football conference which, according to
its website, was created to provide a "networking environment in order to bring together football's
most important leaders to share knowledge, best practice and ideas.
