Categoría: Tienda de Fútbol Online

Diego Forlan, the extraordinary Uruguayan attacker, was awarded by Fifa, the Golden Ball as the World Cup’s Best Footballer, a circumstance that prizes and rounds up in a certain measure the team’s joint performance.

– He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on May 19th, 1979.

– As player, his career started in Danubio F. C. , then, Penarol F. C. both Uruguayans teams.

– In 1997 he was transfer to Independiente from Argentina and he played in that team till 2002. From 2002 – 2004 in Manchester United from England.

– Villareal CF from Spain 2004 till 2007 and Atletico Madrid also from Spain, since 2007 till 2010.

Diego Forlan titles: Manchester United – Premier Legue 2002-03; Community Shield 2003 and FA Cup 2003-04 – With Villareal, Interloto Cup 2004 and with Atletico Madrid, Uefa League 2010. Uefa Golden Ball 2004-5 and 2008-09 and in Spain, Pichichi Trophy 2004-5 and 2008-09, EFE Trophy 2005, in the Uefa Europe League 2010 he was consider the Best Player and finally in South Africa World Cup 2010, he was awarded the Golden Ball.

Diego Forlan has become the Uruguayan idol forever for his excellent World Cup and for haven received the topmost reward, the Golden Ball. Usually these reward its for a player that dispute the final, but in this case, this was the first time that the prize was awarded to a footballer that do not dispute the final, a fact that made his conquest even more important.

Diego Forlan played very well all the matches, with 5 goals. He showed his technique, commitment and his intelligence and shot to the Uruguayan’s team service. He was an excellent centreforward, he moved twenty metres down to get in touch with the ball, prepared the game, planned advances and annoyed defenders with his moving about.

Only 4 players from South America, received the Golden Ball: Diego Maradona from Argentina in 1986 and from Brazil, Romario 1994, and Ronaldo 1998. The fourth, South

America footballer was Diego Forlan – 2010.

I’m sure, that today Diego Forlan is the Best Soccer Player in the World.

The English Premiership is the biggest sports franchise in the sporting world with global viewing audience scattered over the entire continents of the world. It presently consists of twenty teams that are expected to play 38 games each totaling 380 games from August to May each year.

The English Premiership has seen the influx of Non-British citizens especially Nigerians over the last couple of years. Their positive influence cannot be adequately emphasized considering the fact that they remain a major force in world football. Below is a profile of the top 5 Nigerian footballers plying their trade in English Premier League clubs.

• Dickson Etuhu

Dickson Etuhu is an attacking Midfielder with Fulham football club of England. An integral part of their first team, he helped the club reach the final of the Europa Cup in 2009, where they narrowly lost to Athletico Madrid of Spain.

He is also a member of the senior national team of Nigeria- the Super Eagles of Nigeria. It is interesting to note that Dickson Etuhu participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Africa and had a fairly good tournament.

• Victor Anichebe

This Everton attacking maestro has always been a key member of David Moyes team until injury sustained during Nigeria’s build up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup hampered his progress. He was a member of the Silver winning 2008 Olympic Football team that represented Nigeria at Beijing. Victor Anichebe has been used largely as a sub over the past three seasons, due to the presence of established stars like Luis Saha and Yakubu Aiyegbeni in the Everton front-line.

• Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Love him or hate him, Yakubu Aiyegbeni deserves some mention among the top Nigerian stars in the English Premier League. He has previously played for Portsmouth F.C and Middlesbrough. His appearance for Everton has however been restricted to the bench in the 2010/2011 season due a dip in form.

Yakubu earned the wrath of Nigerians at the last FIFA World Cup when he made the biggest miss of the tournament in Nigeria’s third and final match against South Korea. Even though he later scored through a penalty in that same match, Nigerians back home have not forgiven him for a miss that would probably have seen Nigeria through to the next round of the World Cup.

• Osaze Odewengie

Osaze Odewengie set tongues wagging when he left Russian Club Lokomotiv Moscow for Premiership side-West Bromwich Albion in 2010. He became an instant revelation in the Premiership as he scored crucial goals in the win against Arsenal, Newcastle United and West Ham United. Osaze whose father is a Nigeria and mother Russian, opted to play for the Super Eagles and was selected for the 2004 African Nations Cup where he scored a brace against South Africa in one of the group matches. He also won silver with the Olympic team at the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing and recently played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup where Nigeria got bundled out in the First round.

• Obinna Nsofor

Obinna Nsofor is a striker with the English Premiership side- West Ham United. He is presently on loan from Italian side- Inter Milan where he has been for the past three seasons. He also played on loan for Malaga F.C of Spain.

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Monday 18th April 2011 at the Dabsonville Stadium in Soweto South Africa got their campaign off to a flying start with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Black Starlets of Ghana. It was a match that witnessed the best of African football from both sides.

The unfortunate aspect of the game however, was the bad state of the pitch which was not helped by heavy rainfall and lack of maintenance. The pitch was bumpy and very heavy on the surface. It was difficult for the players to exhibit their skills in such situations.

The John Obuh tutored team however dictated the pace in the early minutes of play and were duly rewarded in the 17th minutes of play when Rangers F.C of Enugu forward- Innocent Nwofor latched unto a fine pull out from Abdul Ajagun to make it 1-0 in favor of Nigeria.

The Ghanaian were stung and the goal woke them up from their slumber. Their effort to equalize was resisted by the defence line-up ably marshaled by the experienced Terna Suswan. Goalkeeper Danjuma Paul who kept goal for Nigeria was called into actions on some few occasions but he was up to the task.

The defending champions however got the needed equalizer off a glancing header by striker Kwame Nsor in the 32nd minutes after some nice interchange of play at the flank. It was to remain stalemate in the first 45 minutes, as both teams could not break the deadlock.

At the resumption of the 2nd period of play, Ahmed Musa of VVV Venlo of Holland became a thorn in the flesh of the Ghanaian defence, with his beautiful runs down the right flank. James Achampong who was manning the sticks for Ghana was the busier of the two goalkeepers, as Innocent Nwofor and Ahmed Musa ensured he was on his toes in the early minutes of the 2nd half.

The game was almost heading towards a stalemate when out of nothing Innocent Nwofor found some space close to the Ghanaian flank and was getting set to make a pull out when the ball made a wicked bump and flew past the hapless James Achampong for the decisive winner. It was a rather bizarre goal, as the striker never believed his luck when the ball rested in the back of the Ghanaian net. The goal was scored in the 82nd minutes of the 2nd half.

Several attempts by the Black starlet to salvage a point from the game proved futile as the Flying Eagles defence frustrated each effort. The blast of the referee whistle at the end of the game witnessed some wild jubilation at the bench and among the players as they celebrated the acquisition of three precious points from their West African rivals.

For the third season in succession Chelsea found themselves pitched against the current European champions, Barcelona in group A. Werder Bremen and Levski Sofia make up the quartet and it would be a huge surprise if either of those teams progressed.

In group B Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Sporting Lisbon and Spartak Moscow will do battle. Bayern have been weakened by the loss of Ballack to Chelsea, but should still be good enough to get through. Inter Milan have strengthened at the expense of their scandal hit rivals in Italy and will be hard to beat.

Group C sees Liverpool, winners in 2005, returning to the scene of their Istanbul triumph to play Galatasaray. Turkish football seems to have gone off the boil and Gala might struggle against both PSV Eindhoven and Bordeaux.

Group D pitches Valencia, Roma, Olympiakos and the dangerous Shaktar Donetsk, and the first two should make the last sixteen.

Group E sees the most successful European team ever, Real Madrid against Lyon, Steau Bucharest and Dynamo Kiev. Real begin the campaign under the returning Fabio Capello and they should improve on last season’s dismal performance. Lyon under Gerard Houllier are still improving and should qualify.

Group F coughs up an Anglo-Scottish clash. Manchester United sent a reserve team up to Glasgow just before the season started and duly thumped the Scottish champions 3-0. Not many give Celtic much chance against United’s first XI who have started the season on fire. Benfica look dangerous again. They knocked both United and Liverpool out last term and will need to be respected. FC Copenhagen makes up the quartet and may surprise a few people.

Group G features Arsenal, last year’s beaten finalists, and they take on Porto, CSKA Moscow and Hamburg, not an easy group on paper for any of them and Arsenal will have to improve on early poor results at their brand new stadium. But expect them to qualify. No London team has ever won the European Cup/Champions League and Arsenal are desperate to beat their rivals Chelsea and Spurs (they’re in the UEFA cup this time) to that particular honour. But Arsenal have lost several notable players such as Pires, Campbell and Bergkamp and though they have young rapidly improving players like Van Persie and Walcott, it is hard to envisage them picking up the trophy this time round.

Group H sees the banned, but reinstated AC Milan host surprise qualifiers Lille, AEK Athens and Anderlecht. Expect AC to win the group comfortably, and the others to all take points from one another.

For those who like a bet, early odds quoted go: Barca 4/1 favourite, Chelsea 5/1, Real 9/1, AC Milan 10/1, Man Utd 11/1, Inter 13/1, Arsenal and Liverpool 18/1 and 20/1 plus on all the others. You can still get a free $30 bet at betfair.com by inputting the code 6CHE3VPWJ when required.

So who will land the pot of gold of the Champions League this year? Barca have added Thuram and Zambrotta from Italy, but they were surprisingly smacked 3-0 by their compatriots Sevilla in the Super Cup, the match between the Champions League and UEFA cup winners. Barca displayed a surprising weakness in the centre of their defence and John Terry and his pals at Stamford Bridge are certain to have noted that. Best of the outsiders is the fast improving Lyon.

Chelsea have added Ballack and the wonderful Shevchenko, and may be Ashley Cole too. As I have written elsewhere, I think Chelsea can do it this time. They would surely trade the Premier League title for the Champions League. But what do I know? I’m still working for a living. Make up your own mind. Good watching.

We have reached the climax of the 2010 FIFA soccer World Cup in South Africa, and the moment of glory is fast approaching, when the winner of the tournament would be declared. The battle is between two European nations – Spain and the Netherlands. Each of the teams has given a very good account of themselves since the tournament began on the 11th of June; and come 11th of July, we shall all know who emerges champions.

When the tournament started on the 11th of June, not too many soccer enthusiasts beamed their satellites on Spain or the Netherlands. Their satellites had been directed toward Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, Italy and France. All six countries have won the world cup at least once; and looking at the strength of their teams and the quality of players they came with, it was logical for them to have concluded that one of them would win.

However, thoughts, logic and wishes soon got separated from reality as some of the big names like Italy (defending champions) and France were eliminated in the group stage. England followed in the second round; Brazil and Argentina took their exit in the quarter finals stage, leaving Germany as the clear favorites after they bundled out Argentina 4-0.

On Wednesday 7th July, Spain ensured that the remaining favorite, Germany, was sent home, leaving only Spain and the Netherlands to decide where the world cup goes to this time around. It is now very clear that the world is expecting a new champion because the two teams remaining have never tasted world soccer glory before; none has ever kissed the FIFA soccer trophy.

But who wins this year’s edition?

The two sides have done remarkably well; they have shown class, discipline and technical efficiency. On paper, the Spaniards have an edge over the Dutch; they are the reigning European champions and the bulk of the team is made up of former UEFA champions, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Considering what they did to Germany in their semi finals match, they are surely not a push over.

The Spaniards have got a potent striker in the person of David Villa, with 5 goals in 6 matches; and also a good mid field and defense supported by Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Pedro, Charles Puyol and Sergio Ramos. They also have a goal keeper (Casillas) who has not conceded many goals from the commencement of the tournament.

The Dutch on the other hand, have a reliable striker, Wesley Sneijder, who has so far scored 5 goals; and a dependable mid field marshalled by Bronckhorst. They also have reliable attackers like Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie and Kuyt.

We therefore expect a very fluid, attacking football, balanced with tactical discipline from both sides. The outcome of the game would be decided by the technical crews, and also by the number of opportunities utilized by both sides. Wastage has to be minimized by anyone who hopes to emerge as the crowned champions. Selfishness on the part of the strikers has to be checked as well. Temperaments must be controlled, and all kinds of diving and false alarms must be avoided if they are to give their teeming fans something to enjoy; and they should be ready to win the match convincingly to the delight of all spectators.

We earnestly await the crowning of a new world champions come Sunday 11th July 2010. We wish the finalists best of luck in their quest to win the trophy for the very first time.