It has always been the pinnacle of all dreams for the Brazilian player to wear the green and yellow shirt and represent the selecao at the landmark tournament The World Cup.
Recently, however, positivity for the national team has been at an all time low. And one year before the curtain raiser that is Brazil 2014, Felipe Scolari appears to be a hamster running on borrowed time.
Despite only flying in from international duty in Mexico just 26 hours earlier (though he didn't
actually play), Fluminese striker Fred bags himself a hat-trick against Coritiba on his return to
Brazil on Wednesday evening opening his account with a truly beautiful, angled overhead kick.
It's only Day 2 of the Selecao Bootcamp and so much has gone down! Man United's
Fabio who declared once that he'd prefer to play for Portugal ("Oh no
he DI'INT!") went through the traditional
'Baptism Brasileira' process which involves standing on a chair
and telling the whole room why you're proud to play for Brazil.
It's Offbeat Wednesday, filled in by your Weekly Gossip Gang! This week, check out Gerard Pique's
latest fashion editorial, Barcelona players trying to speak Turkish, Brazilian footballers creating
havoc at Carnaval and Ronaldo with his New Ride.
Barcelona's Gerard Pique recently rocked the launch of his latest Mango
campaign in Spain.
Just over a week ago the race looked to be over. You could have called the engraver and no-one
would have batted an eyelid. In the race for the title of top scorer in Brazil‘s top flight,
Santos striker Borges was all alone at the summit.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation reports that Keon Daniel may have contracted dengue
fever, a mosquito-borne illness, and will miss the CONCACAF World Cup qualifier against Bermuda.
The guy simply cannot catch a break.
JP Dellacamera says the Kansas City draw is cause for optimism.
Mondragon tweeted this picture and message on Tuesday: "With my 'man' James leaving the Crozer
Hospital. Thanks to everyone at the hospital for their care."
Union
Even though Philadelphia Union captain Faryd Mondragon surely wants the focus to be on tonight's
game against New England and the team, the news that he is expected to miss four weeks after
successfully undergoing surgery to repair the distal phalanx (great band name?
Sheanon Williams is named to MLSsoccer.com's Best XI for Week 16. This is the second time he's
gotten Best XI honors from the league's website.
The Union score big in Goal.com's midseason awards with Carlos Valdes named Newcomer of the Year
and getting an honorable mention nod for Defender of the Year.
Ahead of Saturday's game in Vancouver, Kevin Kinkead presents another excellent scouting
report.
In the Goal.com head-to-head preview, the Philly guy sees the Union winning 2-1, the Vancouver
sees the Whitecaps winning 2-1. The sport betting website SBRforum.com predicts a 2–1 win for the
Union.
Jonathan Tannenwald reports the Carlos Ruiz deal is complete and that a signing announcement
should be expected today or Tuesday. He reports the "source with direct knowledge of the deal" also
says Ruiz has been training with the Union. No further details are presently known.
From the Union website, one of the major benefits from the upcoming trip to Greece will be
bonding within the team.
MLSSoccer.com says of Freddy Adu, "there is one club in particular that would make the best fit
and give him a real chance at success: the Philadelphia Union." As of this writing, 75% of of those
who participated on a poll on the topic agree.
FC Nürnberg midfielder Marek Mintal responds to reports that the Union are interested in him on
this German website, "I know of the interest.
On the Faryd Mondragon Watch front, the FC Köln keeper reportedly coming to the Union had a
tough one this weekend, giving up a hat trick to Schalke's Raul Gonzalez in a 3–0 loss in his
last game for Köln.
Deutsche Welle put Mondragon in goal for their worst Bundesliga 11 of 2010: "Many players pitch
a hissy fit if they get benched, but ex-Cologne keeper Faryd Mondragon took his tantrum to a
previously unknown biblical level.
Someone figured out that Chris Seitz had trade value, but unfortunately it wasn't Philadelphia
Union.
Good for him, at least. Not so good for the Union.
The Seattle Sounders took Seitz with the 9th pick in the MLS Re-Entry Draft and then traded him
to FC Dallas for a fourth round pick in the amateur draft.
Peter Nowak spoke at a press conference shortly after the conclusion of the Re-Entry Draft, the
prime message being have faith, we're building for the long term. Here are some notable
quotables:
"We have a certain number of players we're looking at right now...if there's someone
interesting who is going to fulfill our requirements in the salary cap, the money we have at our
disposal, then we are going to be interested, but we don't want to tie our hands up right now on
December 15th.
The Philadelphia Union, who had the third pick in the second stage of the Re-Entry Draft, passed
on making a selection and thus dropped out of the draft.
Soon after, Chris Seitz was picked by Seattle.
Fred was picked by New England in the second round after both DC United and Chivas USA passed on
making another selection.
No movement for the Union (or in most of the rest of the league, for that matter, with only two
of the 35 available players being selected) in yesterday's Re-Entry Draft first round. That means
Fred and Chris Seitz have until Monday to renegotiate a new contract or opt to make themselves
available for next Wednesday's second round.
Philadelphia Union midfielder Fred and goalkeeper Chris Seitz will be available to other Major
League Soccer clubs in the league's first ever re-entry draft on Dec. 8.
The league office today released a list of 35 players available in the draft, which is the MLS
version of free agency. Their inclusion on the list means either their contracts expired and their
teams didn't offer comparable salaries, or their teams didn't pick up option years at comparable
salaries.
Melbourne Heart of the Australian A-League have completed what Fox Soccer calls "a masterstroke"
by signing Brazilian playmaker Fred. Many Union fans will remember Fred as that guy who made a lot
of money and didn't live up to the hype before Carlos Ruiz arrived.
Four students from the Cortiva Institute School of Massage Therapy and Lengthy Names won an
essay contest to provide massage therapy to the Philadelphia Union.
Diego Gutierrez has joined the Union's technical staff as the Head of Scouting and Player
Development. "Knowing the foundation already laid, the fans, the philosophy of the club and the
vision for the future, it's a true delight for me to become part of the Union's technical staff,"
Gutierrez said in a Union press release.
Defensive mistakes leading to goals have been a constant so far this season for D.C. United and
this afternoon's 2-1 loss to Dutch power Ajax of Amsterdam was no different. Ajax scored early and
late to overcome their pesky MLS ...
Chris Pontius scored on either side of halftime and Charlie Davies scored his MLS leading 5th goal
of the season in D.C. United's surprisingly comfortable 3-0 win tonight against Toronto FC at BMO
Field. United jumped out to a 2-0 ...
That's an aspirational headline, not an outright prediction. But, having hedged my professional
prognostication reputation with that disclaimer, let's just put it right out there: despite the
rigors of cross-country travel and lurking parity, the Los Angeles Galaxy is the better team in
each of the three match-ups that start tonight with the contest at RFK Stadium against DC United
(then Toronto FC and Chicago Fire).
No television, grainy internet feed, or even radio of the Open Cup qualie up here in the wild
hinterlands of central PA, but I was biting my nails watching the final minutes unwind on
Twitter...
Okay, so I wasn't exactly biting my nails, but it seemed like a thrilling enough finish. Two goals
in the second period of extra time canceling each other out so Hamid could play the hero in PK's on
his season debut.
No television, grainy internet feed, or even radio of the Open Cup qualie up here in the wild
hinterlands of central PA, but I was biting my nails watching the final minutes unwind on
Twitter...
Okay, so I wasn't exactly biting my nails, but it seemed like a thrilling enough finish. Two goals
in the second period of extra time canceling each other out so Hamid could play the hero in PK's on
his season debut.
He certainly won't be at Euro 2012, and no he doesn't play in the Premier League, but former Lyon
star Fred scored this nice overhead kick for Fluminese over the weekend that we just couldn't
ignore. The beautiful game. ... Continue reading →
Pareggio, deludente, con il Venezuela all'esordio, ancora un pari rocambolesco nel secondo match
del Girone B di Coppa America, contro un ostico Paraguay, per il Brasile di Menezes. Allo stadio
"Mario Kempes" di Cordoba, finisce 2 a 2 al termine di una sfida ricca di emozioni e goals.
Sembrava tutto facile, dopo la rete di [.
A goal line clearance and a pair of saves from FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (left) kept this
match scoreless and denied United a chance to win back-to-back games for the first time since June
2009. Photo: Martin Fernandez.
