More Brasil (and a touch of England - wonderful Anderton goal) here in poor quality :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saAYOruxBg0

The build up to that Roberto goal is nuts.

Those goals were pure insanity!

So who else think Cristiano Ronaldo is a twatfap.

Christiano Ronaldo is a total cunt but I can't deny that he's about as close as anyone has got to being the perfect player: insane dribbling skill; lethal finisher; superb passer and arguably the best dead-ball specialist the game has ever seen. He's also strong. I think Messi is an incredible player but saw how Chelsea effectively neutralised him during their two legs in the champions league. Ronaldo does what he does week in week out against tough Premiership defences. I'd even question whether Ronaldinho at his peak could've done that. Ronaldo is only let down by his capacity to sulk a bit on the pitch when things aren't going his way, and an arrogance that makes him quite the easiest footballer to hate right now. As a player though (IMHO) he's pretty untouchable. Love the player, hate the man.

I can't agree with you re Ronaldo...and that's from a born and bred United fan. Yep ...great dribbler, strong and athletic, knows where the goal is. But I think his dead ball skills are piss poor and reckon the stats would back me up there. Beckham, for instance, kicked his ass at free kicks and there's been plenty of other more sublime dead ball merchants over the years who'd hit the target far more often than Ronnie. Ronnie has all the tricks but Giggs was a better dribbler in his prime. Ronaldo did what he did week in week out against the shabby defences of the vast majority of Premiership teams but his record against other top 4 teams was poor and he often went missing in our big euro games. Quality defenders sussed him. Ultimately his greatness weakness has been his selfishness...his unwillingness to play for the good of his team rather than just himself and his belief that he is bigger than the club that he plays for. I predict a slow slide into relative obscurity amongst the galacticos at RM and that he will never again reach the heights of his 42 goal season at United.

I wanted him gone last year and am delighted at the ridiculous money we got for him. And in my opinion there's a player at OT who is far far nearer to being the "perfect player" than Ronaldo. He got shoved out of position onto the wing to accomodate Ronaldo but put up with it and now United can and should build their team around him. Wayne Rooney has the ability to be the greatest player to come out of England...as strong as an ox, can dribble, can pass with both feet, can head the ball, can tackle...you name it. And Rooney loves the game so much he'd probably play for nothing just to get a kickabout...the last of the street footballers. Look at what he's been doing for England. He's a future captain of both United and his country imo and is central to both teams chances of silverware in the future.

Other than that I wholeheartedly agree with everything you posted :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6wO3HhOu6Y get in!

Well, I can see your point on a number of those things but disagree on others. I think that there's a lot of hype around Ronaldo (not helped by my last post, admittedly) and i do think there's been better players - Zidane, Maradona, etc) but in the context of the modern game as it is now, I don't know. If we just take Man U players, Giggs was a better dribbler, Beckham was better at free kicks but these are all was-es. I'll admit that right now Rooney definitely has a better footballing brain but as a complete package I just think that Ronaldo pretty much has it all at the moment.I honestly can't see him fading into obscurity when he plays for Real either. If anything, the increased space that players get in la Liga will allow him to flourish in a way that he arguably wasn't able to in the Prem. I actually think that man U this last season weren't that great a team and that their struggles against the other top four teams was more down to that than anything else.

It's a good call on Rooney potentially being the greatest footballer England has ever produced. It's hard to compare him with players like Moore, Matthews, Greaves, Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards, simply because they came from completely different eras. In the 'modern' era though, he'd be up against names like Shearer, Gascoigne, Gerrard and possibly Bryan Robson. I think Rooney could very easily come to eclipse those as players, if he hasn't already.

Yep. one of the best goal i've ever seen scored by an Englishman. Although my favourite is still this. Gascoigne was for me the most naturally gifted player England has ever produced, if not the brightest.

Good post. I'm praying that United get to play RM next season. The thought of Rooney having the chance to put Ronaldo into the advertising hoardings is a pleasant one :D

Ronaldo will definitely get battered if he has to play against Man U. Rooney will be well up for it, especially following the World Cup thing. Just a shame you don't have Keane anymore to break his legs. Still, you could always ask Scholes just to tackle him. That should do the trick.

That said, if Real Madrid end up playing Man Utd in the Champions League I hope he scores a hattrick and sends the innate red scum (<-- it's an anagram!) home.

Giggs. He'll probably be playing his last season anyway, a ten-game suspension* won't hurt him.


*like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKt4IBxD5oo

Well with Real gaining Ron and Kaka they should definitely be in the position to challenge Barcelona for the title as well as the UEFA cup, hopefully they bump into Man U and Rooney can make Ronaldo his bitch.

This is typical of Real though. They overload themselves with massive names, all of whom expect to play which leads to frictions when they spend a good part of the season on the bench. Most of the times I can remember, Real have had great players but not a particularly great team.

And on the Ronaldo battering tip, forget Giggs and his ten match ban, Keane would happily come out of retirement and a do bit of jail time if it meant ending a player's career.

Yeah, I'll never forget that one... absolutely disgusting foul for which he should have gotten jail time. It's a disgrace the FA didn't suspend him for a long time (6 monthes at least) after he showed no regrets and even admitted it was completely intentionally.

Real Madrid always buy the greatest individual players in the world and then expect the coach to build a team out of them. Naturally the Galacticos are expected to play every single game. Barca always tend to build a team out of their own talents and then improve that by buying some specifically targeted players for certain positions.

I'm sure the president of Real Madrid has no idea that you can only field eleven players at any given time.

Same nausea here.
Isn't there a country where a guy gets suspended as long as the one he destroyed ain't fit to train again?
I thought there was, but can't remember the nation. Germany?

I'd be laughing a hyena laugh if Real gets to the point they can't pay their players. It only happens to small teams, but that'd please me. You know, the guys shamefully going on strike.
And you should think about insurance policies too...
Four team members crash their car, the driver's safe (Ronaldo, who trained in British tunnels), the others die, that's three lives away and trials with former clubs (why should I pay for a dead player, blah blah blah)...
Real is a mad club.

I actually know a MU fan who stands by that Keane tackle. Anyway, I agree in principle with the idea of a player being banned for the duration that the player he injures is out of action, although I'm not sure how workable it would be.

Biggest shock for me is that MU are set to sign Michael Owen. MICHAEL fucking OWEN, for fuck's sake! I just hope their medical insurance is up to scratch. It's obviously a money saving exercise because no way is it a footballing one. Owen's been a has been almost as long as he's been a, erm, been, and with Tevez likely to move to Man City by Monday, Utd just look weaker and weaker by the day. Even a fit Owen is a nightmare. He needs a team to be built around him which will never happen at Utd so long as they have Rooney. Maybe they should buy Heskey so they can get that old Heskey-Owen partnership going. It really is hilarious. I suppose the real problem for Ferguson though is that while he has the money to replace Ronaldo, the obvious candidates are either staying put or hot-tailing it to Spain. At least they still have Berbatov and new boy Valencia. Hahahahahaha.

I used to idolise Michael Owen, he was my hero when he was at Liverpool. I lost interest in him when he left, though I know he did well with his limited opportunities at Real Madrid. I don't think he did anything at Newcastle, but I still don't think signing him will be a massive risk. It's a free transfer, and a pay-as-you-play contract, plus Man U will have a good team. My inner twelve year still wishes he would come back to Liverpool.

would you guys know i was so out of mi mind last weekend, i totally missed the matches.

i showed up at the mexican supermarket in search of food and alka-seltzer in the middle of the afternoon, only to find the game was over (big screens dominate the eating area).

any huevos, pinches zorros, if there were great moments please advice.

America were sort of unlucky, although in the second half Brazil were clearly the better side. The build up to America's second goal and Landon Donovan's finish were probably the best moment for either team in the whole game. Brazil didn't do anything really spectacular. They were just able to step up a gear when they needed to.

Here's a highlights clip but it only really shows the goals and some build up. I take it that's it's in Brazilian, judging by the strange jingle that's played every time Brazil score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoEbwoik1Hc