I always enjoyed supporting smaller teams against giants, and this season of the UEFA Champions League is really offering me this opportunity. I will focus on three teams in this article: Malaga CF, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Lucas Piazon at São Paulo's youth sides training centre in Cotia
The interview with Lucas Piazon took place in São Paulo on May 28th the day of the Champions
League final between Manchester United and Barcelona and just 48 hours before he was due to join
Brazil's U-17s at their training centre in Granja Comary.
With a new year upon us, the January transfer window will be opening up soon. While normally we
don't see super-stars switch allegiances in this period, but 2011 could be different. The names of
Klose, Toni, Gilardino, and Kaka have been circulating, but can we really expect these players to
move in January?
There isn't many days left in 2010 and that can only mean one thing... a massive New Year party is
in the offing, no wait, something much more important than that! The January transfer window. Even
the Christmas festivities hasn't stopped the rumour mill from producing a never ending batch of
transfer stories and here at Serie A Weekly we pick through a selection of them, so you have an
idea of the.
And 10 weeks of Serie A have gone by, and I have to say they've gone by pretty fast. We're
already in November, and pretty soon it will be the winter break. The 10th Giornata was a pretty
good weekend of Serie A, lots of interesting results, and the Derby della Capitale. It was
a game of penalty kicks, as Roma's two goals were from the spot, and Lazio maybe should have been
awarded one when Mauri was pulled down by Riise.
There have always been nicknames in soccer. Most players have nicknames, whether the are created
by the media, the fans, coaches, other players, there are nicknames everywhere. Then there are the
nicknames you make for players you hate. Those are always the most fun. (Like last season with
Klaas-Jan Junkelaar).
Wow, that's all I can say seeing some of the transfers that have gone through in the past few
days. While there aren't too many "big" names which moved around, there's are certainly some
interesting, young and skilful players which are going to be wearing new jerseys this season. Let's
see some of the signings that clubs have made, and how they'll affect the Serie A, and maybe
European competitions.
The inevitable demise of Jose Antonio Reyes - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
When Jose Antonio Reyes scored the fastest goal in the history of the Seville derby last weekend, snatching that record from opposing manager Pepe Mel in the process, it seemed too good to be true.
Jose Antonio Reyes celebrates during Sevilla's remarkable derby win
When he added another goal and an assist before half time Sevilla fans wondered if they'd died and gone to heaven.
Malaga are reportedly preparing an offer for Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner.
The 24-year-old Denmark international, who has two years remaining on his Gunners contract, is
looking to move away from the Emirates Stadium this summer after Arsenal signed forwards Lukas
Podoski and Olivier Giroud this summer.
Cesc and his sweetheart Carla attend Julio Baptista's wedding
Both Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie could be unavailable for the Liverpool opener as per
Wenger because they are still struggling to be match fit. The duo are rejoining August 5th on the
day of the official photo call.
Within the past decade, La Liga has evolved (or devolved, depending on who you're talking to)
into a two-horse race between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Between TV contracts, exposure and
merchandise, the Spanish league is divided into distinct categories: the haves (two teams) and the
have-nots (18 clubs).
Barcelona will be hoping Atletico Madrid will do them a favour in the Madrid derby as La Liga
packs in a full round of games midweek.
Atletico host Real Madrid on Wednesday but in bad news for Barcelona, Atletico have failed to
defeat their local rivals in 20-straight clashes.
A win for Atletico would be their first since the 1999/2000 season and would give Barcelona a
chance to move within one point of Real Madrid at the top of the table.
Los conteos y recopilaciones la mayoria de las veces son injustos y odiosos, en esta ocasion sin
afan de generar polemica traigo hasta ustedes el top 10 de los mejores goles entre estos equipos
que levantan pasiones, 101 grandes goles lo hizo, pero aqui los primeros diez ordenados
cronologicamente.
Presenting, the ten best goals (that I could find corresponding videos for) scored during the El
Clasico fixture since the dawn of time. To be perfectly honest, they're just ten fine goals the
order is more or less superfluous.
Former Arsenal and Real Madrid striker Julio Baptista showed he still has star quality with this
superb injury-time bi-cycle kick which gave Malaga a dramatic 3-2 win over Getafe
at the week-end. This one is right up there with Rooney and Derdiyok's goals.
Stat Attack: The Real Value Of Sergio Aguero - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Sergio Aguero has been a long-term target for both Manchester City and Real Madrid for the past
few months, ever since the Argentine announced his intentions to leave Atletico Madrid back in May.
Manchester City see him as an ideal replacement for Carlos Tevez, and someone who is much less of a
problem off the pitch.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Thani could have done anything with his
time, and with all of his responsibilities on his docket, president of a football club would seem
to be near the bottom of his list. Â Born from Qatari royalty, the Sheikh billionaire currently
sits on the Board of Directors of Doha Bank and the Qatar Equestrian Federation as well as running
a business empire including but not exclusive to hotel chains, shopping malls, and cellular phone
companies.
Malaga have signed Brazilian attacker Julio Baptista from Roma according to Jose Carlos Perez,
who is a close aide of club owner Sheikh Al-Thani.
Baptista has struggled to get playing time at Roma under Claudio Ranieri this season and he has
been long linked with a move back to La Liga and to Malaga.
Schalke boss Felix Magath has stated his intentions of bringing Brazilian forward Julio Baptista to
Germany.
After finishing only five points off title winners Bayern Munich last time out, Schalke only needed
to add a little more firepower to challenge for the league more strongly this season.
Here's a stat for you: Real Madrid's total transfer spending this century has 10 digits and
three commas. Marca calculates that since Florentino Perez first took over as President in the
summer of 2000, the total of combined transfer fees paid out comes to a wallet-weakening
1,022,000,000 euros. That's a billion euros.
Roma striker Julio Baptista continues to be linked with the Premier League, and now Liverpool and
Manchester City have joined Tottenham in the race to sign him.
Il Romanista newspaper reports the player's agents Alessandro Lucci and Juan Figuer will be in
London this weekend to open up dialogue with the trio of Premier League clubs.
Rumour No. 1: Despite only being in the job for less than a morning,
newly-appointed Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is already drawing up plans to spend
the £15 million transfer budget he has been handed.
This weekend saw a couple of blinding overhead kick scored across the continent, with Eren
Derdiyok and Julio Baptista both netting with rather sublime acrobatic efforts question is, which
one was better?
Exhibit A: Eren Derdiyok, BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs Wolfsburg
Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy today signed for La Liga outfit Malaga. van
Nistelrooy was available on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at German club
Hamburg, and despite rumors linking him with a move back to the Premier League, the Dutch
international chose to return to Spain.
Julio Baptista saluta la Serie A e la Roma e si prepara a riabbracciare la Spagna, destinazione
Malaga. Dopo due anni e mezzo trascorsi nella capitale, sulla sponda giallorossa del Tevere,
l'avventura della "Bestia" (questo il suo soprannome quando era tesserato per il Siviglia), ultimo
acquisto del compianto Franco Sensi, è arrivata al suo epilogo.
Il Genoa lo aveva già cercato in estate, ma la trattativa di calciomercato non si era
concretizzata. Ora, invece, potrebbe diventare realtà , attraverso uno scambio alla pari tra le due
società di Serie A. Parliamo della cessione, al club di Preziosi, del brasiliano Julio Baptista,
attaccante della Roma.
Roma are currently considered the anti-Inter, a team which invigorates itself with spirit in the
sole purpose of defeating Inter Milan. And while last season started all wrong, Ranieri picked up
the team and drove them to a resounding 2nd place. So plenty of fans are now hoping that starting
with Ranieri this season will end Inter's run.
>> Click Here To Watch HollandVsBrazil Live Now <<
Holland Vs Brazil Live Streaming & Match Preview
FIFA World Cup 2010 – Holland Vs Brazil Live Online Click Here
Friday, July 2nd 2010
Kick Off : 15:00 BST
Venue : Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth South Africa
The World Cup quarter-finals fixture between Holland and Brazil will take place at the Nelson
Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday 2nd July 2010, kick-off set for 3:00 PM.
Malaga's European run continued into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League after Manuel Pellegrini's men overcame a one goal first leg deficit to beat ten-man Porto at La Rosaleda 2-0, winning 2-1 on aggregate.
Isco's wonderful opener minutes before the break gave the home side the lead to cancel out Joao Moutinho's first leg goal before substitute Roque Santa Cruz scored just four minutes after coming on to seal a famous win.
A week rich of wonderful goals with European and World Cup qualifications games, however, most of
videos I am posting today are from small leagues or clubs
Malaga - Getafe 3-2 victory witnessed two wonderful goals. First is the opening goal by by
Getafe
Malaga 0-1 Getafe by simaotvgolo12
Then, at the closing minute, when it was 2-2, the Brazilian Julio Baptista scored a great bicycle
kick winner
A stunning late comeback from Malaga maintained their position at the top of the La Liga. The
Andalusian side were briefly knocked off the top by Valencia, but they defeated Getafe 3-2 to
reclaim pole position on Saturday.
Getafe led 2-1 in the 88th minute remaining courtesy of goals from Pedro Leon and substitute
Nicolas Fedor Miku, either side of Ruud van Nistelrooy's equaliser.
