David Villa to Barcelona!!!

 I knew there was a reason no one took the #7 jersey. Something tells me this transfer was a done deal since last year.

Once again, Barcelona beat Real Madrid. It was said last year that David Villa was very close to signing with Madrid, but as it turns out, Barcelona was the club Villa wanted to play for all along.

Villa's transfer from Valencia was finalized this past Wednesday for a transfer fee of 40 million Euros. Valencia was forced to deal Villa due to their financial troubles and they might not be done dealing as Spanish media reports many clubs are after David Silva, with Real Madrid and Barcelona as the front runners. It has been said that if Barcelona can't reach a deal with Arsenal for Cesc Fabregas, they'll be going after Silva, but I believe Madrid might have the upper hand on this deal.

With Villa coming to Barcelona, there's a good chance Ibrahimovic will be moving on. He didn't really live up to his potential and Barcelona's style of play doesn't suit him all that well. Juventus, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and even Real Madrid are interested in the Swedish striker and the transfer fee is speculated to be anywhere from 30 to 50 million Euros.

Sad ending to a great career

If you haven't seen this play yet, take a look at what Francesco Totti did to Mario Balotelli on the Italian Cup Final.

Totally unacceptable for any player, and this looks even worse coming from a player of Totti's caliber. He was given a much deserved red card and he should also be suspended for a few games in my opinion.

After Balotelli's agent called Totti a racist, Balotelli himself says Totti called him a "Black Piece of Shit." There is no place for racism anywhere, and if this is indeed true, Totti should be suspended for a long time.

Real Madrid can rest in peace!

Inter Milan knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League, so Real Madrid's rivals won't have a chance to celebrate another Champions League win at the Bernabeu.

Franck de Bleeckere has got to be the worst referee I've ever seen in my live! FIFA should revoke his FIFA Referee badge immediately!

He gave Thiago Motta a direct red card for "caressing" Sergio Busquets face, and even with a yellow card already to his name, the play was a questionable second yellow for Motta. I have no idea what kind of fouls he was seen with every corner or every ball that was crossed inside the area. Apparently, he was the only one that was seeing the infractions, but the one foul, the one that almost entirely ripped Ibrahimovic's jersey, he didn't see it. And to make matters even worse, he saw an "intentional handle ball from Yaya Toure in a split second play that overturned Barcelona's second goal that would've sent them through to the final.

With that said, I have to tip my hat to Mourinho. This guy is now officially Barcelona's #1 enemy! This is why I've been saying all along that he should be Real Madrid's coach. He went into Barcelona's house, and simply challenged them to try to break his defense. He started playing on just his half of the field, but after Motta's red card, he basically put every single player inside the box, and Barcelona just couldn't get through. This is why I don't like him. He is probably the only coach I know that uses the anti-football tactic. Either way, his clubs always win, and that's what matters at the end for most people.

I rather lose playing good soccer, than win as Inter did. They'll most likely win the tournament and get the monkey that has been on Mourinho's back since he last won the Champions League with Porto. But in this game, Barcelona just didn't seem to ever get comfortable in the game. Xavi was hesitating a lot and holding on to the ball too long, Dani Alves and Maxwell couldn't get a single cross right, Ibrahimovic was a non factor, and Messi always had 3 defenders on him. Not a good day for Barcelona's fans, myself included, but we can't always win every one. I hope they can bounce back from this and win the Spanish league, just so Real Madrid has another year without any Cups!

Joga Bonito!!!

He still got it!!!

Roberto Carlos scored this goal with Corithians against Santo Andre from a pass by Ronaldo (the real one!)

Beat that Cristiano Ronaldo...hahaha!!!

Also, watch this goal from Baiano, currently playing for Paulista



If you don't have GolTV or Fox Sports en Español, I highly recommend you get it so you don't miss out on all the Joga Bonito from the Brazilian Leagues!

Beckham...Out of the World Cup!!!

David Beckham will be sidelined from 4 to 6 months after tearing his left Achilles's tendon in AC Milan's win over Chievo this past Sunday.

This means that Beckham, 34, won't be playing for England this summer in the World Cup at South Africa. He was trying to become the first English player to play in 4 World Cups. Beckham will also miss the rest of the Serie A season and most, if not all, of the upcoming MLS season.

Beckham was successfully operated on today in Finland by Dr. Sakari Orava, who discovered the complete tear of the tendon, which was much worse that the initial diagnosis of the injury.

Embarrassed...AGAIN!!!

Not as bad as losing to a 3rd division club, but very close when you take everything into consideration.

Real Madrid is out of the running for another title, and you can bet that it's all downhill from here.

Madrid tied 1x1 with Lyon last week and have been eliminated (aggregate goals 1x2 for Lyon) from the Champions League again in the knockout stages. They started out fast with a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo at the 5 minute mark, and after missing some clear scoring opportunities, Lyon scored the equalizing goal in the 75th minute that eventually sent them through to the next round.

My thoughts?

It's only a matter of time before Madrid's coach, Manuel Pellegrini, gets kicked to the curb. Madrid is still in the fight for the Spanish League title, so as long as it stays that way, he might finish out the season, but any more slip-ups, he'll get fired for sure. Don't get me wrong...he's a decent coach, and probably the right man for this transition phase Real Madrid is going through. It's also  unfair to expect he would build a "Barcelona-like" squad in only 6 months. With that said, WHAT WAS HE THINKING TAKING OUT KAKA, OUT OF ALL PLAYERS, FOR VAN DER VAART? LAST TIME I CHECKED, KAKA IS ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD, AND VAN DER VAART WAS BARELLY PART OF THE SQUAD!!! If Kaka couldn't do anything in that game, what made Pellegrini think Van Der Vaart was going to do better?

And what can I say about Higuain...PASS THE DAMN BALL!!! WHY DID PELLEGRINI INSIST ON HIGUAIN??? Soccer is a team sport, but you can blame this one on him. He had an open net chance after dribbling past the keeper, but he managed to hit the post, and then he shot the ball in a play where Ronaldo was right next to him, in front of an open net if he had gotten the ball. This is why Real Madrid will most likely transfer him after this season.

As for the other players, DON'T WRITE CHECKS WITH YOUR MOUTHS THAT YOUR FEET CAN'T CASH! All the talk about how "no one comes into the Bernabeu to beat us" and "we'll beat them 3x0" just gave Lyon the extra motivation to go out and do what they did. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Until Madrid gets a coach who will put all of the Spanish players in their place by telling them the team belongs to Kaka and Ronaldo, and that they all must play for the 2 FIFA WORLD PLAYERS, this club is never going anywhere. I'm talking about taking control out of the hands of these Spanish players, as it was done with Raul, and giving it to the coach, so he and other players can do their jobs, without worrying about these Spanish players throwing them under the bus.

As for a new coach, the names Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez are beginning to get mentioned as the next possible coach for Madrid. Mourinho is the right man for the job in my opinion. He has the guts to do whatever is necessary to win, regardless of the backlash. As he did with Chelsea, Kaka will be his Lampard and Ronaldo will be his Drogba! He'll tell everyone else to get out of the way of those two, regardless how big of a star the other players are. This is what has to happen for Real Madrid to regain their dominance in European competitions.

How much will it hurt Real Madrid to see Barcelona win another Champions League,  and this time, AT THE BERNABEU?

For Sale!!!

Every player must go!!!

Juventus is planning to transfer many, if not all, of their star players in an effort to rebuild a team that has been slumping for quite some time now.

It appears that players like Felipe Melo, Amauri, Trezeguet, Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Tiago, Cristian Molinaro, and even Mauro Camoranesi are all in line to be transferred over the Summer. Other players who are playing for the bianconeris, but are on loan from other teams, such as Martin Caceres (Barcelona) and Antonio Candreva (Udinese), have very few chances of securing a permanent moves to Turin.

With the World Cup and all the big names being thrown out there for the 2010 Summer transfers, it should be an exciting Summer for soccer fans around the world!

Robinho is moving on!

After recovering from an injury that kept him off the field for 3 months, Robinho hasn't been able to find a spot in new coach Mancini's starting 11. Robinho says Mancini told him he would start every other game for Manchester City, but that was just not good enough for the player, so he wanted out.

Robinho will be playing for Santos, first club in which he played for as a professional, on loan for the next 6 months. Also, it appears Robinho has no intentions of returning to Manchester after his loan is over on August 4th, as he was never able to find his game in the Premier League. The move will allow Robinho to get some much needed playing time before the World Cup in June. This is also good for Manchester City as they hope Robinho can regain his form so his value increases for a potential transfer this Summer.

Due to his high salary (160,000 pounds/week), Manchester City will still pay part of it as long as they get first choice in the potential future transfers of Santos' star players Neymar and Paulo Henrique. This will allow City to match any offers of either player.

I don't particularly like Robinho, and with Ronaldinho Gaucho back in form and Diego waiting in the wings, I really think Dunga should not make Robinho part of Brazil's squad for the World Cup. At the very least, Robinho should not be starting for Brazil.

Winter Transfers and Rumors

A few deals have been done already and there are quite a few rumors out there about player transfers this Winter. Some people even started speculating what will happen when the Summer transfer window opens.

Winter Deals:

David Beckham - LA Galaxy to AC Milan (Loan)
Patrick Vieira - Inter Milan to Manchester City
Tiago Mendes - Juventus to Atletico Madrid (Loan)
Andrea Dossena - Liverpool to Napoli (Loan)
Cristian Molinaro - Juventus to Stuttgart (Loan)
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy to Everton (Loan)
Goran Pandev - Lazio to Inter Milan
Marius Stankevicius - Sampdoria to Sevilla (Loan)
Felipe Caicedo - Manchester City to Malaga (Loan)

Winter Transfer Rumors:

Kun Aguero - Atletico Madrid to Chelsea
Maxi Rodriguez - Atletico Madrid to Liverpool
Mancini - Inter Milan to Marseille (Loan)
Fran Merida - Arsenal to Atletico Madrid
Kevin Kuranyi - Schalke 04 to Chelsea
Nani - Manchester United to Benfica

Summer Transfer Rumors:

Franck Ribery - Bayern Munich to Real Madrid/Barcelona/Chelsea
Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal to Real Madrid/Barcelona
Steven Gerrard - Liverpool to Inter Milan
David Villa - Valencia to Real Madrid/Chelsea
Kun Aguero - Atletico Madrid to Chelsea/Real Madrid
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United to Real Madrid

Good moves, or bad moves? You tell me...

He's back!

Just where he belongs...European soccer, playing in front of fans who actually know what kind of player he is!

David Beckham started training this week with AC Milan after players returned from their Christmas break. He'll give them the extra boost they need to stay on top in the Serie A and advance in the Champions League. Playing for Milan will also help him be in better shape to make Capello's 2010 World Cup squad.

Just in time to play against Manchester United...Welcome back!