It looks like Suarez is gonna join him there.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...ansfer-uruguay

there or where? does real really want him?

and has he served his full sentence (ha) in england?

--

ps- 18 dates of suspension is a whole lot. i know you say owners don't give a shit, but "the fenway group" is in the business of making money and expects a return on their investment.

"the press has sullied him". ha ha!

Real definitely want him. They've said they'll pay 40m for him but Liverpool want 50.

I don't think the ban would cross countries, unless it was given out by UEFA rather than the English FA. I think it was an FA ban, although I could be wrong.

Re the enough is enough thing with owners, I think the problem is identifying a player's true (as in financial) worth to begin with. A lot of what a player brings to a club (both positive and negative) seem pretty unquantifiable. The other thing is the ego fogged logic of the owners that buy them. Most of these big club owners are in it for the glamour and the prestige so want to surround themselves with the most glamorous and prestigious players. Real are particularly guilty of that, with their whole galacticos thing, which they ditched under Mourinho but may now be trying to revive with Heynckes.

So another piece of the transfer jigsaw is confirmed (not that anyone doubted this particular one.)

Let the madness commence

Heynckes should be retiring today.

I really hope so. He's on top of the fucking world. Time to move on.

--

Ps- done. he said he's not coaching 2013-14 and he said he got offers from rich clubs where money doesn't matter but that such clubs don't interest him. hA!

I'm glad he's made that decision. The only job I think he should consider now is the national side.

Found an excellent Bundesliga season review/awards thing that I thought el symbols at least might enjoy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...desliga-season

I can't really put into words how much entertainment this gif has provided me in the days just after the final. 89th minute. Pure comedy gold... and mesmerising too. I can watch it again and again just to see the reaction on each individual face.





Even now while posting it 2-3 weeks later my co-worker just asked why I have such a big grin on my face.

THANKS!


it's really awesome!

Anyone watching the Confederations' Cup? It's not the Euros or the World Cup or even the African Cup but it does involve lots of countries with things to prove (and Tahiti?!?). Just finished watching the first game: Brazil beating Japan, 3-0. Brazil look good. Neymar was excellent. Lots of tricks but not only.

Next match is tomorrow, Mexico v Italy. Should be a good one.

hey! i saw that a couple of hours ago. i thought it was a dull match mainly because the japanese team was so inept. did kakawa even touch the ball once?

anyway, about neymar: he was good i thought but he's not "the next messi" as people claim. hells no. oscar was more important i thought. and hulk! what a great name.

anyway hm er i did miss the first half hour though ha ha ha. ooops!

a couple of interesting matches tomorrow!

Yeah, it wasn't a classic but better than nothing. I suppose with Neymar, we'll only know for sure when we see him at Barcelona and even then it'll likely take a couple of seasons before he beds in. Anyone suggesting he'll be up their with Messi is setting standards almost impossibly high but I see no reason why he couldn't end up at the level of someone like CRonaldo - especially given that his current age and experience means he's only likely to get even better.

EDIT: Oh, and an interesting 'Team of 2012/13' thing based on players playing in Europe from our man at Zonalmarking:

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/06/...season-201213/

The Zonalmarking XI:

GK: Neuer (Bayern Munich)
DF: Lahm (Bayern Munich); Chiellini (Juventus); Dante (Bayern Munich); Alba (Barcelona)
MF: Martinez (Bayern Munich); Vidal (Juventus); Mata (Chelsea); Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
FW: Messi (Barcelona); Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)

Difficult to argue with anything there (although the comments seem to saying Weidenfeller over Neuer). Either way, it's amazing (even if entirely reasonable) that not a single Barcelona player makes the midfield.

"Mexico are struggling do much to get some possession that Chicarito has had to leave the penalty area". Best burn I've heard in a long time.

"E-T-H-I-O-P-I-A I'm headin to Ethiopia are you headin my way.. above them all I must confess, Ethiopia she is the best.."

Black Lions with a clutch win against Bafana Bafana Ethiopia clinched an advance to the next round for the first time in over 30 years!!

spain is looking pretty damn good

I missed the Spain game but saw the Mexico Italy one earlier.


Haha. About sums it up, although I'll still not hear a bad word about Chicarito.

Re: Chicharito: Here when he kicked a lame shot instead of passing the ball forward as he should have done one of the commentators said "he just doesn't have the quality for playmaking situations." Regardless, pretty scorching first half for me, though by the 2nd Italy settled into complete dominance.

Spain was good yeah but I think also that Uruguay was pretty shit. They are currently 5th on the CONMEBOL WC qualifiers, at risk of not getting a spot, and that table doesn't even include Brazil.

BTW, the UEFA U21 has been going on and I didn't know and I watched one of the semis match (Italy/Netherlands) and it was pretty cool. The final is this coming Tuesday, and it's also going to be Spain vs. Italy. These fuckers own the past, the present and the future, it seems.

Chicharito definitely divides people. I know you're a fan, as am I, but he's obviously limited in terms of effectiveness. He's a goal poacher, a 'fox in the box' but a brilliant one. I still think any team would benefit from having him in its ranks but mostly as a sub. As a plan B he's perfect but you couldn't really build an entire strategy around him, at the very top level, anyway. If you're a goal down in a must win match with only half an hour to go, there can't be many options on the bench better than him.

Mexico's recent El Tri reign of terror across the Americas is set to end. Chicharito is about the only redeeming thing left on their squad. US wants revenge for the America's Cup, and helping knock Mexico out their group in the WC Qualifiers would come just about close by the USMNT standards ;)

yeah i like his goals, he has some brilliant ones, but he's not any kind of fit for total fotball. he's 1/2 a player in that sense. kinda like germany's gomez!

True, on the International level, the South Americans have dominance, but even there, in group stages Mexico is always like the scrappy motherfucker nobody wants to play, because they know they can beat them, but that it certainly won't be easy. In the America's( CONCACAF) Gold Cup? Mexico has been the big bully on the block. That is sort of what I was referring too, I follow USMNT which means (a) I only keep up with the South Americans during the World Cup and (b) Mexico is my sickest rival.

Yeah, I've never understood why Mexico underachieves to the extent that it does. Could it be because the population's so split between regions that follow football and those more into baseball?

I read an article that was saying that the reason they under achieve is that a lot players don't seek european football since the Mexican clubs pay so well and hence don't push themselves to greater heights.

i have no idea why mexico sucks so hard at football for a country that size, but they do.

on the other hand, they have produced some great boxers.

This is a big part. The reality is Mexican players really don't care about going to Europe because their own domestic league soccer is locally successful, well-paid, and respected. Are they like Europe? No. Does the Mexican National Team play as well internationally is it'd hope? Of course not. But I still enjoy Mexican league soccer, there are some great teams. They have a different kind of style of play than Euro teams, its in part why they haven't been able to translate into international success. The other part is as you've said, they enjoy enough relative success at home.

So I'm off to Madrid tomorrow for a few days away. Where am I most looking forward to going whilst there? THE FUCKING BERNABEU STADIUM OF COURSE! Man am I looking forward to it. I'm gonna give my mate Zidane a call and see if I can get a personal tour by him.

the Americas means north/central/south! (Because you gringos stole the whole continent's name-- s'okay though).

anyway yeah here in El Norte there's been nobody else but mexico since the sport began, and it's shit all-around, but it's good to see the Yooessay is on top of the table-- maybe finally people will stop calling it "socker"-- wtf that stupid ass name.

also, the MLS is fucking dullness. player drafts, regional "conferences", stupid shit copied from other sports = shit.

anyway, gotta watch the italy/spain u21 match i recorded this morning. no spoilers!!!!

Utterly jealous. And if you see Pepe, be sure to kick him for me. Better still ask your mate Zidane to head butt him.

No, South America is so damned legendary at soccer that they get their own private designation, SOUTH America, whereas the Americas plural in the FIFA system includes North and Central America (hence the plural) and the Caribbean. All of these are teams I like and generally support, so when I say "Americas" I am referring to CONCACAF ;)

okay, humpty dumpty! :D

And let's not forget Salma Hayek.

From what I've seen of Mexican league football I'd say the style is far more Europe-friendly than I've seen in say the Brazilian league. What they have traditionally lacked though is outstanding individual talent. Hugo Sanchez is the only one to really stand out - in the modern era, anyway. Even Chicharito is no more than a bench player at Man U - although I personally think he's better than that. Either way, you just can't compare Mexico's history of great players with the seemingly endless production-line of brilliant ones produced by Brazil and Argentina. Not sure what Mexico can do about that. If any country could work out Brazil's and Argentina's formula for breeding that calibre of individual talent they'd obviously be using it.

and fantastic mushrooms!

that spain italy match was fucking great. wow. if this is a sign of things to come, everyone else is doomed.

de gea, so young??

isco

thiago alcántara

borini


WOW

i need to re-watch

And tacos al pastor

Can we all just agree that, besides football, Mexico just rules? (I say that, never having been there.)

Here's hoping!

hoping that spain continues to be champion of everything?

italy has great players too but 4-2 was painful

(well tehre was the gift of a penalty that really took the wind out of italy's sails)

i didn't see the whole tournament and now i regret it. would have loved to see the other teams.



and narco-gangs! but no, mexico is awesome, and the food is just fucking fantastic.

It does.

I LOVE me some Jozy Altidore. US has 13 points to lead their group and have a nice cushion to enter the next round. we can draw out and still lead.

I was only being semi serious. I don't really want any country to dominate everything in football but if I did it'd probably be Spain or Italy ... or Argentina or ....

Ultimately, though, I just want Mexico to become the global superpower of everything (except football)