After six weeks on the sidelines following his horror back injury at the World Cup, Neymar has returned to full training for FC Barcelona earlier than expected.
The Brazilian winger, 22, was the star man for Selecao on home soil as he guided the host nation to the semifinals with four goals in five games. He also won the bronze boot as the tournament’s third top scorer and was named in the World Cup All Star XI
Cristiano Ronaldo will not play in today's pre-season friendly vs. Manchester United
Fans making the trip to the Big House in Ann Arbor for Saturday's
pre-season friendly between European giants - and arguably the two
biggest clubs in the world - Real Madrid and Manchester United got some
disappointing news Friday.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti
confirmed that reigning Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo will not
take part in the match as he continues to work his way back from the
knee injury that hampered him at the World Cup in Brazil and has also
kept him out of all the team's pre-season matches to date.
"Ronaldo is working hard but we won't put him out tomorrow," Ancelotti said during a press conference. "He will begin training with the squad [in Spain] after the tour as we plan to use him in the Super Cup."
Los
Blancos are set to play against fellow La Liga side Sevilla in the
European Super Cup match on August 12, a contest that pits last
season's Champions League winner against the Europa League victor.
While
Saturday's contest against the Red Devils figures to be quite the
spectacle - the 109,000-seat home of the Michigan Wolverines is sold out
and is expected to set the record for the largest audience to ever
watch a soccer game in the United States - it is just a friendly, and
there is nothing to be gained by risking arguably the best player on
earth before the season even begins.
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
Argentina coach re Brazil: Football is illogical
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SAO PAULO (AP) -- Like everyone else, Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella can't explain Brazil's collapse to lose 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals of its home World Cup.
Sabella says the best explanation he has for the result was that ''football is illogical.''
Argentina's
players watched the end of the game on television at Itaquerao Stadium
in Sao Paulo on Tuesday night, delaying their training session for
around 20 minutes and only appearing on the field after Brazil-Germany
had finished in Belo Horizonte.
Sabella said the result was
clearly ''not normal ... but in football you have to expect these
things. It's football. It's the most illogical of sports.''
Argentina plays Netherlands in the second semifinal on Wednesday for the right to face Germany in the final.
Barcelona jerseys with Suarez name already out
After a week of denying it, the Uruguayan striker admitted to biting Giorgio Chiellini and apologized for the act.
Luis Suarez might not have officially signed the papers to represent Barcelona yet but that hasn't stopped the big Spanish club from releasing jerseys already bearing the Uruguayan's name.
New photos have been leaked and
gone viral of a sporting goods store apparently selling jerseys with the
name Suarez on the back.
There have been multiple rumors
tying Suarez with a possible move from Liverpool to Barcelona, and the
fact that the club praised the player for apologizing for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the group stage match between Uruguay and Italy showed more evidence of a possible move.
Germany feels bad for Brazilians after ruining their World Cup title hopes
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Germany's Bastian
Schweinsteiger, right, consoles Brazil's Dante after the World Cup
semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Germany at the Mineirao
Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Germany won
the match 7-1.
After the game, countless German players made their way to Brazil
coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to offer their condolences for a host nation's
dream that they had just killed. Bastian Schweinsteiger
put an arm on Scolari's shoulder and shook his head. It looked like he
was saying sorry although there were no words that could make any Brazilian feel better.
At least four Germans headed to Brazil defender Dante,
who plays his club soccer with Bayern Munich in Germany, to offer hugs
and kind gestures. Estadio Mineirao had the atmosphere of a funeral and
the victors knew better than to gloat.
"Of course," said Germany midfielder Toni Kroos, the Man of the Match, when asked if he felt pity for the Brazilians.
"Normally the difference is not that big as it was today. They have
great players and they had the higher pressure on their shoulders. We
didn't allow them to become dangerous. We took all the balls from them."
They took more than that. Joachim Loew's Germany grabbed Brazil's
pride and its spirit and its ultimate goal of lifting the World Cup
trophy for the sixth time.
The words uttered between combatants in the moments following a
contest on the biggest stage of all usually remain private, but this
time there was no need for secrecy. The theme of the conversations was
obvious. The Germans had smashed Brazil out of sight, and the Brazilians
were borderline embarrassed by how completely one-sided the game had
become.
"I think we lost a match to a great team and I think not even they believed it," said Scolari, who took the blame and apologized to the home fans.
"The chats we had, they said they don't know how this happened. They
have five [early] chances and scored five goals. They have great skills
and we respect that."
How could they not? Germany was given a large helping hand by the defensive ineptitude of Scolari's team, summed up by captain David Luiz's missed assignment in the 11th minute when he should have been clinging to goal-scorer Thomas Mueller like Lycra.
But even then the Germans' performance was clinical enough to already look like champions and to make you wonder how anyone – Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben or even Clark Kent – can find a way to outwork and outthink them over 90 or 120 minutes.
I am excited to announce that I am launching my first #CR7shirts collection towards the end of this year. Check out www.CR7shirts.com for an exclusive preview.
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Nigeria's generation next
Three years ago, Chelsea's Kenneth Omeruo was at
the heart of the defence for Nigeria's Flying Eagles as they crashed out
in the quarterfinals of the Fifa Under-20 World Championship in
Colombia to
France.
Ogenyi Onazi however did not make the party to Colombia 2011, after
coach John Obuh dropped him from the final squad for the championship,
as midfielder Ramon Azeez captained an exciting side that also included
Ahmed Musa.
These four players, together with another prospect Godfrey Oboabona
made Stephen Keshi's 23-man list for the 2014 Fifa World Cup with
Omeruo playing every minute of Nigeria's participation at the
tournament.
With Nigeria's ouster came the expected retirement of Joseph Yobo.
The former Everton defender alongside goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who
was arguably the team's best performer at Brazil 2014 made their World
Cup debuts at Japan/Korea 2002 and have carried the flag since then.
Enyeama, at 31, has probably another World Cup left in him, and so
will the likes of Michael Babatunde, Uche Nwofor, Musa and Onazi who
will definitely be leaders of the new generation of Eagles.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia is already on the horizon and Nigeria
will look to qualify for their sixth appearance at the showpiece event
albeit with the continual building of the Super Eagles with the
injection of new blood who can strengthen the team and provide the
handlers with more options.
In a three-part series, supersport.com takes a cursory look at some
of the emerging youngsters who might come good in the next four years
and become quality additions to the team while hoping that they
eventually make the grade just like Omeruo, Onazi and Musa have done and
are now the bedrock of the national set-up.
