By FRANCO PANIZO

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations got underway this past weekend, and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea opened the tournament in dramatic fashion.

Former Real Madrid player Javier Balboa scored three minutes before the death to give Equatorial Guinea a 1-0 win over Libya.

News coming out of Italy is that French Club PARIS ST GERMAIN & REAL MADRID player & midfielder KAKA may have come to an agreement for the latter to catch a plane from Madrid to Paris for next season. The news comes from the Italian paper "La Gazzetta dello Sports" & concludes that the final step needed is an agreement between Clubs.

FIFA handed tonight the 2011 GOLDEN BALL ( BALON D´OR) AWARD - the Best Player in World Football - to FC BARCELONA player LIONEL MESSI. Its his third straight Golden Ball & puts the 24 year old Argentine in the elite class of 3 x winners like Platini, Van Basten & Cruyff. The second place was given to REAL MADRID player CRISTIANO RONALDO & third to FC BARCELONA player XAVI HERNANDEZ.

On-loan Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor believes that the most realistic aim for the Spurs is to fight for a top-four finish rather than aiming specifically for the first place, which is currently occupied by his parent club Manchester City.

The Citizens endured a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Napoli last night and are now on the verge of elimination from Europe's top-tier club competition.

ESPNsoccernet is reporting that Brazilian stat Neymar has agreed to join Real Madrid next summer from Santos for around £53m.

At 19, Neymar is one of the brightest talents in world football having shone for his club Santos and also on the international stage for Brazil. Yesterday he was included on the shortlist for the World Footballer Of The Year.

After recently voicing out his irritation about being placed in a new position at Tottenham Hotspurs, Rafael Van Der Vaart's future at the club could very well be in jeopardize.

This possibility occurred after Spurs' manager, Harry Redknapp, answered back to Van Der Vaart's statement by stating that if the Dutchman is insisting to play on his preferred role than the ex-Real Madrid player must compete with Jermaine Defoe for one position in the starting eleven.

Being played out of position can be a real problem for some players, including Tottenham Hotspurs' Rafael Van Der Vaart, who recently voiced out his disappointment of being continuously placed in a wider positions in recent matches including the London derby against Arsenal.

The Dutchman confessed that he doesn't like being played in a wider position as he felt that his best post is playing from the center.

Manchester City's Spanish forward David Silva slammed Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque for his biased team selection and claimed that the only reason he never featured regularly for his national team was because he was not a Barcelona or Real Madrid player.

City are indeed having a good season so far and many people are starting to take their title ambitions very seriously.

If you think yourself a David Beckham fan, then below is a challenging quiz which will test your knowledge on famous left footed footballer. It will be a mix of football trivia and moments from his personal life.
Why not challenge your football or partypoker friends to the quiz on a lads night in, where you can watch the match and even play fantasy football if you are feeling lucky.

If you think yourself a David Beckham fan, then below is a challenging quiz which will test your knowledge on famous left footed footballer. It will be a mix of football trivia and moments from his personal life.
Why not challenge your football or partypoker friends to the quiz on a lads night in, where you can watch the match and even play fantasy football if you are feeling lucky.

Emmanuel Adebayor says he would now be a Real Madrid player if Jose Mourinho had total control over transfers, but he insists he is happy to be plying his trade at Tottenham.

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From the Bushman Archives: Loftus Road Pre-QPR (For other Photos from Bushman's Collection, See Photo Archives)
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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

Portuguese Club BENFICA has "tweeted" this interesting picture. Its Benfica President Luis Felipe with Spanish International & VILLAREAL Spanish Football Player CAPDEVILA. Mates? Was in Lisbon & I thought I would drop in to say hello? No, apparently putting the final touches to a transfer agreement were Capdevila is the chosen defender to take the place of the now Real Madrid player Fabio

Liverpool faces competition from a host of clubs in the race to sign Sergio Canales.
Reports in Italy claim the player is edging towards a move to Roma, whilst Goal.com reported only yesterday that Valencia were set to launch a bid for the player.
Last week, QPR boss Neil Warnock was linked with a loan move for the player, but the former Blades boss isn't the only manager keen to bring the player to England.

Former Real Madrid player David Beckham believes that Real Madrid will win everything with Jose Mourinho as he is master coach and a fantastic person. David Beckham played for Real Madrid for 4 years from 2003-2007 but left in less than ideal circumstances. But Beckham still believes that Real Madrid will end Barcelona's dominance and [.

'Um Ano com Mano': The Rebirth of Brazil Continues... is a post from: Just Football

Mano Menezes assumed the role of Brazil's manager after the last World Cup, promising a completely different approach with more emphasis on attacking and without Dunga's bias towards European-based players.

'Um Ano com Mano': The Rebirth of Brazil Continues... is a post from: Just Football

Mano Menezes assumed the role of Brazil's manager after the last World Cup, promising a completely different approach with more emphasis on attacking and without Dunga's bias towards European-based players.

Real Madrid One of World Football greats, ex Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus & REAL MADRID player, Frenchman ZINEDINE ZIDANE made the public announcement today that he will be the new FOOTBALL DIRECTOR of the REAL MADRID first team as off next Monday. The Frenchman was up till now personal advisor to Club President Florentino Perez & will now add to his responsibilities the Football "matters" of the

Former Real Madrid player Zidane has said that there are many reasons why Barcelona are having such a dominant time in European football. He says that the main reason why Barcelona are dominating so much is because they have players like Xavi, Iniesta and Messi playing at the same moment. Not only that, they are [.

The U-20 SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM list was handed in yesterday for the upcoming FIFA U-20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS to be held between the 29th of July & the 20th of August in Colombia. Up to seven players from FC Barcelona are in the list of 21 players which include the U-21 Euro Champ Montoya & Real Madrid player Canales, just to mention two known names.

Busy day yesterday for young 18 year old French central defender RAFAEL VARANE. The now ex LENS player landed in Madrid close to 15.00 & was rushed for his medical exam & then droven to the "Santiago Bernabeu Stadium" were he signed his new six year contract with REAL MADRID. From here back in a car & to the airport to fly back to France.

Like Sergio Ramos, we're in a holiday mood and typing this from a hair salon! But unlike him, we weren't able to spend our summer in Marbella, Spain this year. There's no point fretting there's still time (jajaja, get our hint?) Anyway, the Real Madrid player was recently linked to United and Chelsea but has refuted those rumours, insisting that he wishes to retire in the capital city.

Lots of rumors in the Spanish and British press about a bust-up between Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho and that Real Madrid are willing to listen to offers for their best player.

At the heart of the story is the fact that Ronaldo was not happy with Mourinho's tactics in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

Lots of rumors in the Spanish and British press about a bust-up between Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho and that Real Madrid are willing to listen to offers for their best player.

At the heart of the story is the fact that Ronaldo was not happy with Mourinho's tactics in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

Lots of rumors in the Spanish and British press about a bust-up between Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho and that Real Madrid are willing to listen to offers for their best player.

At the heart of the story is the fact that Ronaldo was not happy with Mourinho's tactics in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

MANCHESTER CITY owner Sheikh Mansour is reported to be willing to pay 180M€ for REAL MADRID player CRISTIANO RONALDO according to "rumours" coming out of England & picked up here locally by the local Spanish Sports daily s. The Portuguese star cost REAL MADRID 96M€ in 2009 & Manchester City hopes to convince the Spanish Football Club by doubling the initial investment Cristiano Ronaldo 2011

UEFA has desestimate today the REAL MADRID claims of serious Racist comments allegedly made by FC BARECLONA player SERGI BUSQUETS towards the Real Madrid player MARCELO. Barça has ratified the UEFA announcement which gives the green light for Busquets to play the Champions League Final against Manchester United on the 28th of May.

Federico Macheda's agent, Giovanni Bia, has conceded that the player's loan spell has been an unsuccessful one due to the pressure he was under.

When he joined the club on loan at the beginning of the year they were 8th, however, they have felt the departure of Antonio Cassano, who left for AC Milan a month before Kiko's arrival.

Nuri Sahin: A Fantastic Signing in my opinion
So it's official. Nuri Sahin, formerly of Borussia Dortmund is now officially a Real Madrid player.

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He is now the 3rd Bundesliga player to join Real Madrid in Florentino's 2nd stint at the Madrid presidency following Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

Nuri Sahin: A Fantastic Signing in my opinion
So it's official. Nuri Sahin, formerly of Borussia Dortmund is now officially a Real Madrid player.

.

He is now the 3rd Bundesliga player to join Real Madrid in Florentino's 2nd stint at the Madrid presidency following Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

Nuri Sahin: A Fantastic Signing in my opinion
So it's official. Nuri Sahin, formerly of Borussia Dortmund is now officially a Real Madrid player.

.

He is now the 3rd Bundesliga player to join Real Madrid in Florentino's 2nd stint at the Madrid presidency following Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

Manchester United can beat Barca, but the match officials, also known as the referees are rooting Barcelona.

We have seen the ref's questionable decisions in the semi-final match between Chelsea and Barcelona years ago. There were obvious calls for penalty that fell on deaf ears. Clear handballs by Barcelona players inside the penalty box.

Humans make mistakes. It's in our nature. It's how we learn. The one that Marcos Alonso made on Monday was admittedly one of the dumbest that any human can make. For those that have missed all the news, here is the rundown of what we know:
Marcos Alonso sent this tweet early on May 2nd (still May 1 in the United States, where both Bolton Offside bloggers are located):

For those that don't speak Spanish, this translates to:

With Jamie (Navarro) drinking something and enjoying a couple of days off with the family.

Liverpool are reportedly considering a summer move for Dutch international midfielder Royston Drenthe, according to reports.
The versatile 24-year-old Real Madrid player, who can also play in defence, joined Hercules on loan in the summer and is helping the La Liga strugglers in their fight against relegation.

Just some trivia for Spanish Football fans & followers around the World. Spanish National Football Team Captain & goalkeeper, apart from Real Madrid player, IKER CASILLAS became last night the highest "capped" player is the history ( in all categories) of the Spanish National Team. Spanish goalkeeper IKER CASLLAS Iker Casillas overtakes another goalkeeper & Spanish legend ANDONI ZUBIZARRETA

By Chris Wright

Cristiano Ronaldo's brace against Real Sociedad on Sunday evening saw him draw level with Barcelona's Lionel Messi at the top of the La Liga scoring charts with 24 goals and also saw him usurp the great Ferenc Puskas as the fastest Real Madrid player to reach 50 league goals.

With his tow goals at the weekend against Real Sociedad, Cristiano Ronaldo made Real Madrid history as he became the first Real Madrid player to score 50 goals in only 51 league games.

The previous record had been 50 goals in 54 goals which had been held by the legendary Puskas.

An amazing record by Ronaldo.

REAL MADRID player CRISTIANO RONALDO will play his 50th game with the Club in the Spanish League tonight against Osasuna. Apart from the congratulations the Portuguese is racing onwards towards record breaking numbers. Cristiano Ronaldo has 49 goals from 49 games ( some sources put 48 goals because a goal that hit Pepe on the back is doubtful) that calculates into a 100% average that not even

Spurs defender Jonathan Woodgate looks set to cement a loan move to Wolves. The former Real Madrid player has had a career plagued by injuries, and at 31 years of age he's looking for one final chance to resurrect his career. Harry Redknapp has already spoken of his admiration for Woodgate, and a loan move could be the medicine he needs to return to peak form.

Former Arsenal and Monaco striker Emmanuel Adebayor was officially presented as a Real Madrid player at the club's Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Thursday. Adebayor joins Real Madrid on loan until the end of the season from English Premier League side Manchester city after falling out of favor with Citizens manager Roberto Mancini.