A blog about the latest soccer news, best players, transfer talk and anything else about the world game, with a heavy focus on the Selecao and Inter Milan!
The two stand out games of matchday 34 were Milan vs Reggina and Atalanta vs Juventus. The first saw Kaka’ return to his usual blistering form by shaking off his niggling injuries to bag a hat-trick and complete a game that ended in a 5-1 drubbing of bottom-placed Reggina. While Del Piero impressed even more, grabbing his own hat-trick without the need for any penalties and leading his side to a 4-0 assault on Atalanta. Enjoy the highlights below.
Brazil played Sweden at the Emirates stadium in England last night and it was the youngster, Alexandre Pato that came off the bench to score the winning goal for his country in his first game for the Selecao. The game was to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1958 world cup final that was played in Sweden.
During the first half both teams had a lot of chances but nothing that was troubling either keeper all that much. There were a lot of substitutions throughout the match as expected for a friendly but two of them proved decisive. Shabaan replaced Sweden’s keeper at the restart while Pato came on after 60 minutes and and 12 minutes later the ball was in the back of the net. Shabaan had cleared the ball only as far as Pato who was able to snatch it then lift and curl it into the open goal.
Dunga was cautious about all the hype surrounding Pato and insists that he is not a starting member of the squad yet. He still has very little experience as a player and although Dunga admits he is very similar to a young Ronaldo aka The Phenomenon, at 18 years of age he shouldn’t have too much pressure on him. The youngster has been humble and asked for comparisons to Ronaldo and Pele to stop as he still has everything to prove.
Just some video highlights of the best from round 30.
Milan only beat Torino 1-0 but truly assaulted their goal during most of the match.
Roma vs Empoli 2-1. Inter’s lead at the top has been cut short to just 4 points now. Although Giovinco was causing all sorts of problems for Roma, a couple of goals from Tonetto and Panucci were enough to settle this match.
Sunday meant a lot to Milan for various reasons. The debut of Alexandre Pato, the return of Ronaldo from injury and a convincing display against Napoli to remove the jinx of playing at home this season (Milan had not won at home all season). The Brazilian connection between Ronaldo, Pato and Kaka’ did not disappoint.
Ronaldo had a good opportunity early on, although it was blocked, he didn’t have to wait long to begin celebrations. On 10 minutes the phenomenon was set up by Kaka’ and found the goal after his shot deflected off the keeper. The Napoli defence tried to clear it off the line but it had already crossed. Pato had a furious long-range effort blocked as it proved to hot to hold on to. Napoli equalised on 27 minutes through a lovely team play that Milan’s defense had no answer for.
On 31 minutes Milan took the lead again. Although Napoli’s keeper, Iezzo was on fire, he could only block so many attempts. Pato had two chances which were blocked before the ball fell in front of Seedorf for him to smash into the back of the net. A few minutes later Iezzo was called on again to block Pato’s near post shot and soon after Kaladze gave away a penalty. A rare event of late that the Milan attack was doing so much better than their defense. The match was tied again 2-2 going into the break.
Less than a minute after the restart, Ronaldo found the back of the net again, heading in a Seedorf cross. Reminding everyone that he’s the world player of the year, Kaka’ added his name to the score sheet in the 68th minute. Finally Pato wrapped things up and completed a memorable debut to confirm the hype surrounding him. A great display of strength and poise in front of goal fitting of one much older than him. The youngster dedicated the goal to his family and girlfriend. Pato also paid his respects to Ronaldo who he idolised growing up and considers it a dream playing alongside him.
Ronaldo has send out a message that he’s not quite ready to call it quits in Europe and return to Brazil. He wishes to repay the faith and patience that Milan has given him, the living legend Maldini himself commended Ronaldo’s efforts during training, labeling him as one of the hardest workers on the team. If he continues to do well, he will surely get a contract extension, Berlusconi was also quick to state that “His love story with Milan will not end in six months’ time”.
Ancelotti has applauded Ronaldo’s performance last night, he commented how Milan played very well, especially Ronaldo. It’s a great start after being out for 6 months, it’s only the second appearance for the team this season so hopefully with increasing fitness he can continue to improve. The coach was also full of praise for Pato who not only scored in his debut but was also provider for a great number of scoring chances. He commended his pace, ability to turn and shoot and that now the job is just to ensure he’s getting enough of the ball. However, Ancelotti reserved his man of the match vote for Clarence Seedorf. He was involved in all of the plays and adapted to the deeper role without fuss, a true team player.
There seems to have been a lot of speculation and drama surrounding Ronaldo over the last few weeks. It seems that Flamengo (The Rio-based club) have been pulling out all stops and schemes to sign the phenomenon.
It all started when the press in both Italy and Brazil quoted the Flamengo president as saying that Milan had authorised talks to begin taking place between Ronaldo and the Brazilian club. To me it seems that someone over there got a little too excited when Adriano was loaned to Sao Paulo by Inter so he can try to recover from his problems and rediscover his form. AC Milan actually released an official announcement the day after Christmas which clearly denied any authorisation to begin transfer talks with any club.
Ronaldo has been back in Brazil for a while, seeking help from the Selecao doctor to cure his injury woes (he doesn’t seem to have a great relationship with the Milan doctors after they botched up his last injury diagnosis), as well as partying it up with another out of form Brazilian striker. The latest injury to Ronaldo was a first-grade calf injury which happened while warming up for his return during a match but the Selecao doctor was happy with the progress and cleared him to meet up with Milan in Dubai for a winter-break training camp.
The Flamengo president, Kleber Leite, continued to stir the pot by saying that Ronaldo was keen to join the club. He continued by saying that he wasn’t interested in Milan’s refusal to sell the striker and that within two weeks there would be an offer. He was expecting Ronaldo to buy out the rest of his own contract and play with Flamengo until 2010 after which he would be an ambassador for the club. The club hoped to pay his salary by allowing to hold on his image rights, probably a fair amount of cash there but still hardly tempting for one of Ronaldo’s prestige.
The fans certainly want Ronaldo to wear the Flamengo black and red over the Milan version, as you can see in what they lifted from the stands in a recent game. It’s no secret that the club is in his heart and that he’s always been a supporter but a return is still a bit early I think, he can still make some impact in Europe. Flamengo will be turning to their sponsors (probably Nike especially) in a desperate bid to raise enough money to lure him back to Rio.
Ronaldo played 45 minutes in the friendly against the UAE which ended 2-0 in favour of Milan. He was quoted as saying that he is recovering well and will be fit for when Serie A resumes on Sunday and that although he is aware of Flamengo’s interest, he is still keen to prove himself at Milan. He is keen to repay the faith Milan have shown in him and earn a spot in the team. Hopefully this will be easy enough with Inzaghi injured again and Gilardino not playing very consistently or well for that matter. Although January both bring about the debut of “The Duck”, Alexandre Pato. A powerful Brazilian trio could be formed with the duck, the phenomenon and world player of the year, Kaka’, helping to lift Milan from their mediocre standing in the middle of the table. Galliani has said that he would consider a new contract depending on how Ronaldo’s fitness holds up over the rest of the season.
Here are some highlights from the UAE game, Ronaldo came be seen in action coming close with a header!
There seems to have been a lot of speculation and drama surrounding Ronaldo over the last few weeks. It seems that Flamengo (The Rio-based club) have been pulling out all stops and schemes to sign the phenomenon.
