The Brazillians have long been regarded as the Kings of football, widely considered the most stylish, attractive and best football team in the world.

The samba stars have produced a long line of brilliant individuals: Pele, Zico, Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, the list goes on.

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So many rumors and stories the other day I had to trim the fat:

• Phillip Lahm linked with Barcelona?
  
• New Roma deal for Mexes.
  
• Barca and Arsenal making a high-profile swap?
  
• Conor Casey wants out of Colorado.
  
• Inter giving Maicon a new deal?
  
• Dzeko targeted by Man.

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Kaká

For their final fixture of the year, Brazil take on Oman in Muscat this Tuesday.

Coached by French man Claude Le Roy, Oman are ranked 79th in the world. Brazil are expected to win comfortably but Dunga added a note of caution: "They're a strong team and have experienced athletes who play abroad.

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Kaka and Dani Alves welcome you to Day 4 of the Brazilian Bootcamp! And you really need to clap your hands at that photo. What on Earth were those two thinking?! They're putting all of us in the spirit of el clasico next week.

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Brazil and England was going to be a reserve festival, as injuries took away many players from the match. So if in theory this is a match with no favorites, in reality, Brazil got that title as it had less players in the ER. Brazil had the responsibility to play better and add another match to the unbeaten streak against England that is 19 years-old.

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Kaká battles it out

A second-half goal by Nilmar was the difference in a forgettable match between Brazil and England in Qatar on Saturday.

The Villarreal man struck in the first minute of the second period after heading in a lovely floated ball from ex Manchester City player, Elano.

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The meeting of one great footballing mind and Dunga

Brazil take on England in Doho, Qatar, for the first of three international friendlies before the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Dunga's men see the England game as a real test against one of their main contenders in the competition in 2010.

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What: England vs Brazil (or Brazil vs England), friendly game of football
When: Saturday November 14th, 2009. 5pm kickoff UK time. 12noon US eastern time.
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar
I Don't Live There!

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Luis Fabiano

What can be said about Luis Fabiano?� The guy is red hot and he and everyone else in La Liga is perfectly aware of this fact.� Fabiano scored two goals this weekend against the Yellow Submarines and Sevilla edged out the blossoming squad 3-2 thanks to the offensive performance from the Brazilian.

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Valencia squeezed through to the next round of Copa del Ray after drawing 2-2 at home to local side Alcoyano, progressing with a 3-2 aggregate win. The Primera Division side had led through goals by Carlos Marchena and Nikola Zigic but after Victor Curto pulled one back, Alexis' sending off paved the way for Carpio to level the scores on the night.

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Here's the squad for the game on Saturday (ITV, 4:15pm):

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster, Robert Green� & Joe Hart

Defenders: Wayne Bridge, Wes Brown, Gary Cahill, Glen Johnson, Joeleon Lescott, John Terry, Matt Upson & Steven Warnock

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Shaun-Wright Philips & Ashley Young

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe & Wayne Rooney

Missing: Ashley Cole (fractured leg, will apparently miss a few weeks),� Carlton Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard (who - despite being supposedly injured -� started on the bench at Anfield before being used as a sub v Birmingham this evening), Emile Heskey, David James and Aaron Lennon.

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Sevilla has been playing with a lot of confidence recently.� In fact the squad has quietly rested in the top three spots all season and� won seven matches� out of ten� and only lost two over that span.� In other words Sevilla is one of the best clubs in the league.� But could they be the best?

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Diego Perotti didn't know what he was in for when he decided to join Kanoute and Fabulousooo in their celebratory group hug! Anyway, Los palanganas fought hard in their 3-2 victory over Villarreal last night and Manolo Jimenez thinks it's all down to the fans.

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Sevilla vs Stuttgart

Group G leaders Sevilla can book their place in the knock out stages with a win over struggling Stuttgart as the Group's prize positions begin to take shape.

Sevilla's rampant form has seen them blitz their way to the top, with 9 points from a possible 9.

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It was a rare week in La Liga becasue Barca did not win.� Don't get too excited because they did not lose either.� But you have to hand it to Osasuna.� They have played as well as anyone recently and they gave the treble winners a battle 1-1 leaving the door open for clubs to move up the board a few points.

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FIFA has announced its 23-man shortlist for World Player of the Year. Lets discuss who we think should win and why.

Michael Ballack
Gianluigi Buffon
Iker Casillas
Diego
Didier Drogba
Michael Essien
Samuel Eto'o
Steven Gerrard
Thierry Henry
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Andres Iniesta
Kaka
Frank Lampard
Luis Fabiano
Lionel Messi
Carles Puyol
Franck Ribery
Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney
John Terry
Fernando Torres
David Villa
Xavi

Club-wise distribution

Chelsea 5
Manchester United 1
Liverpool 2
Valencia 1
Barcelona 6
Real Madrid 3
Sevilla 1
Inter 1
Juventus 2
Bayern Munich 1
Arsenal 0

Oh wait !

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This morning Man United striker Wayne Rooney has been shortlisted for the FIFA World Player Of The Year award. He has been named alongside other English Premier League stars Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry.
Other Premier League players named are Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres and Michael Essien. Click to continue reading...

The Spanish Copa del Rey continued on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 with four matches. In action were Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla FC, and Sporting Gijon. Here's a recap of Tuesday's Copa del Rey matches along with video highlights.

Spanish Copa del Rey Recap Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The upset of the night was Alcorcon crushing Real Madrid 4-0.

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FC Porto striker Hulk has earned his first ever call-up to the Brazilian national team. Brazilian manager Dunga gave the striker a call-up for next month's friendlies against England and Oman.

Hulk will be lining up against some of Brazil's brightest stars when he makes his international debut, as his fellow strikers will be Manchester City's Robinho, Villareal's Nilmar, and Confederations Cup sensation Luis Fabiano of Sevilla.

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Hulk, Michel Bastos, Fábio Aurélio, Carlos Eduardo

Dunga has called up 24 players to face England on November 14th in Doha, Qatar, and Oman three days later in Muscat.

The squad includes Liverpool's Lucas and Fábio Aurélio� plus Manchester City's Robinho. Porto frontman, Givanildo Vieira de Souza (Hulk), gets his first call-up.

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We love this tipo, and we're sure you do too! Yes, CQC's resident louco reporter, Felipe Andreoli recently went on one of his missions during the legendary Selecao Bootcamp week and he got pretty far asking Lucas, Luis Fabiano, Dunga, Julio Cesar and Kaka absurd questions.

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Jogaram em Campo Grande, pelas eliminatórias da América do Sul, e para um público de 30.000 pessoas, as seleções do Brasil (1º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Venezuela (51º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Eliminatórias da Copa: 14 jogos, 13 vitórias do Brasil, 1 empate, 57 gols do Brasil e 3 gols da Venezuela. Click to continue reading...

Rangers vs Unirea Urziceni

The two bottom feeders of group G are set to face off on Tuesday although I think it is unlikely either of them will go through to the next round. So, in essence, it is a fight for the Europa Cup spot.

Rangers have been in absolutely horrendous form of late and need a win to boost their confidence.

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An impressive 1-0 win by Deportivo La Coruña over Sevilla on Saturday raises Depor to a tie of third place with Sevilla at fifteen points, four points behind league leaders FC Barcelona.� Los blanquiazules have won five of their first seven matches this season, and their only two losses came at the hands of Espanyol 2-3 and Real Madrid 2-3.

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France Football magazine has announced the following 30 nominees for their 2009 Golden Ball (Ballon D'Or) Award:
Andrei Arshavin (Russia and Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (France and OL/Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Spain and Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Manchester United/Real Madrid)
Diego (Brazil and Werder Bremen/Juventus)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast and Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Bosnia and Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon and Barcelona/Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain and Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Spain and Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay and Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (England and Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Wales and Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (France and Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (France and Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden and Inter Milan/Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Spain and Barcelona)
Julio Cesar (Brazil and Inter Milan)
Kaka' (Brazil and AC Milan/Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (England and Chelsea)
Maicon (Brazil and Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil and FC Seville)
Franck Ribery (France and Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (England and Manchester United)
John Terry (England and Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Serbia and Manchester United)
David Villa (Spain and Valencia)
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10 Premier League players have been named in the 30 strong list for the European Player Of The Year Awards- three of which are Man United players.
Here is the list-
Arsenal- Andrey Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas
Atletico Madrid- Diego Forlan
Barcelona- Thierry Henry, Xavi, Yaya Toure, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi
Bayern Munich- Franck Ribery
Bordeaux- Yoann Gourcuff
Chelsea- John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba
Inter Milan- Samuel Eto'o, Julio Cesar and Maicon
Juventus- Diego
Liverpool- Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres
Man United- Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney
Real Madrid- Karim Benzema, Iker Casillas, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo
Sevilla- Luis Fabiano
Valencia- David Silva
Wolfsburg- Edin Dzeko
Barcelona dominates the list with six players and in all honesty. Click to continue reading...

Ryan Giggs joins Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic in the short-listed 30 players for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.

Andreï Arshavin (Russia, Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (France, Lyon/Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United/Real Madrid)
Diego (Brazil, Werder Brême/Juventus Turin)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Bosnia, Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, FC Barcelona/Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Wales, Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (France, Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (France, FC Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter Milan/FC Barcelona)
Iniesta (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Julio Cesar (Brazil, Inter Milan)
Kak� (Brazil, Milan AC/Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea)
Maicon (Brazil, Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil, FC Séville)
Franck Ribéry (France, Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United)
John Terry (England, Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United)
David Villa (Spain, Valence)
Xavi (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast, FC Barcelona)

"Giggs In Ballon d'Or Shortlist" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...

Anotó ayer uno contra Ecuador, mientras que Luis Fabiano, estrella brasileña ya no sumo y así el "Chupete" gana la carrera del liderato de goleo del proceso eliminatorio de CONMEBOL con 10 anotaciones. 'O Fabuloso' se quedó con nueve dianas.

A nivel mundial, como pláticabamos ayer, se quedó en tercero, a dos goles el primer lugar.

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It wasn't the prettiest match in football history, nor was it supposed to be. Brazil had already qualified and Venezuela had almost no chances of qualifying (unless they beat Brazil 6-0 and Argentina beat Uruguay 9-0!), so it was what it was. Dunga did some experimenting and some things are definitely clear: Robinho should never come back, neither should Filipe Luiz, who plays anything but good football.

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No way through against Venezuela

Brazil ended their WC qualifying campaign with a goalless draw at home to Venezuela. Dunga's side played most of the second-half with just ten men after São Paulo's Miranda was sent off. But with Paraguay losing at Colombia, Brazil finished as group leaders.

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Lucas (left) training with Brazil

Brazil play their final match in the WC qualifiers tonight in the estádio Morenão in Campo Grande. Gilberto Silva, Kaká and Luis Fabiano, who were� rested for Sunday's loss against Bolivia, all return. Daniel Alves and Josué are suspended. So, Dunga has brought in Liverpool midfielder, Lucas.

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El goleador chileno, Humberto Suazo quien milita en los Rayados de Monterrey del Fútbol Mexicano es el máximo goleador del continente americano en las Eliminatorias Mundialistas empatado con Luis Fabiano de Brasil, y por encima de figuras mundiales como Diego Forlán o Lionel Messi por citar algunos.

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The only person who looks ready for this family and class photo is... Andre Santos! Nevertheless, manos failed to secure a win over the Bolivians yesterday... losing 2-1 to them instead. it must have been the altitude! Nilmar scored the only goal for the selecao, but as they say in Brazil, poderia ter sido melhor!

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Blue is the colour

For their penultimate game in the WC qualifiers, Brazil take on Bolivia in La Paz and Dunga is expected to make changes from his regular starting line-up. With Kaká, Gilberto Silva and Luis Fabiano all rested, the coach could test Josué, Miranda, and Diego Souza. The latter two have had good seasons for São Paulo and Palmeiras respectively but have yet to secure a place in the squad for next year's finals.

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It was like watching The Notebook all over again at the Bootcamp da Selecao yesterday... romântico, huh?

While doing their ball-control exercises, manos held one another's hands to prevent themselves from slipping on the wet grass. Check out the Dani Alves/Fabulouso love and Andre Santos' facial expression.

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