Dwayne De Rosario Coming Home To Play For Toronto FC

DWAYNE DE ROSARIO IS COMING HOME TO PLAY FOR TORONTO FC!! The Canadian International and winner of four MLS cups with San Jose and the Houston Dynamo, will be suiting for Toronto FC for the 2009 MLS season.

I feel a major boost to soccer in the city of Toronto!! Toronto FC already easily has the best following out of any team in the MLS. Bringing De Rosario here will just add to the excitement of soccer in Toronto, as well as Canada as a whole. With Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver all looking to add MLS franchises, the face of football is changing rapidly in North America.

This trade was a great move not only for Toronto FC, but for Dwayne De Rosario as well. The thought of playing in front of your home town fans must be exciting, especially when Toronto FC is one of the most, if not the most successful franchise in the MLS.

What I would like to see now from TFC is to bring in a Portuguese or Italian footballer with a reputation as a designated player. If this were to happen, soccer will be the most talked about sport in the country(except for maybe Hockey, and the Raptors suck this year, very disapointing). Perfect for Canadian teams looking to enter the MLS.

The addition of Sweedish International Ljunberg coming to the MLS to play for Seattle, a Portuguese International needs to come to Toronto! I have heard rumours of both Pauletta, Figo and Nuno Gomez as possible candididates for the designated player.

Berbatov Wins Bulgarian Player Of The Year - OBVIOUSLY!!!

Berbatov winning the Bulgarian player of the year award did not come as much of a surprise to the footballing world, considering he wins the award as almost as frequently as he scores receiving the honor 5 times since 2002.

For Country Berbatov has manager to compile 41 goals in 68 appearances, an impressive stat considering the level of play in world football as of late. We all saw what he could do for Tottenham, and he is beginning to show his form for Manchester United. As a Manchester United fan (Go Ronaldo), I am hoping he hits it soon, cause Man U could really use the help. Ronaldo needs to step it up as well, especially after the season he had last year.

I would mention some of the other contendors, but unfortunately you would not no whom they are unless you follow the Bulgarian league, relegiously!

GO PORTO!!!!!

Despite losing some key players this season like Quaresma to Inter, and Paulo Assunsao to Atletico Madrid, Porto has managed to field another strong team while impressing in the Champions League. Having already qualified to the knockout stage after a win away to Fenerbache (which couldnt be easy considering the atmosphere in Turkey), they sit in second place to Arsenal.

Having won the competition in 2004, and winning the Portuguese Liga for the past 3 seasons, its odd that Porto is not considered to be amongst the favorites to win the competition.

In the off-season, Porto brought in Brazilian striker, Hulk to add goal scoring support to the incredibly affective Argentinian International Lisandro Lopez, who is a goal scoring machine. In the midfield, Lucho Gonzalez is as good as any midfielder in the world, and has proven he can dominate a game even against the greatest of opposition. Alongside Lucho is Portuguese International Raul Meireles is no stranger to the Champions league or scoring goals, and anchors the midfield for Porto. On defense, Alves leads a strong defense that includes portuguese defenders Rolando and Emmanuel. Rounding off the back Four is talented Uruguyan Fucile and brazillian goalkeeper Helton.

That looks to me like a strong team, what do you think?

Good News and Bad News For Sporting Lisbon In The Champions League

Match day 5 of the Uefa Champions League came with good news and bad news for Sporting Lisbon of the Portuguese Liga. The good news, Sporting had already advanced to the knockout stage in second place of their group with 9 points. The bad news, Sporting LOST to Barcelona, 5-2 in a match that technically saw more goals by Benfica if you count the own goals by Polga and Carneira, and penalty kick. Hell, Sporting would have lost 3-2 if you only counted the goals scored by Sporting, or goals that came as a result of stupid mistakes.

Yes it is great news that Sporting Lisbon has qualified for the knockout stage, but did they have to play that badly against a team like Barcelona? I strongly believe that Sporting has a team, that on any given day can beat any team in the Champions League, including Barcelona. They had an opportunity to show the world through pedigree, but failed miserably. Sporting HAS to step it up against major competition, especially in the first knockout phase.

Scoreline aside, I strongly believe Sporting can contend for the Uefa Champions League title (perhaps more so than Porto)! They have Liedson upfront, a capable striker and proven goal scorer. Upfront supprt to Liedson can come from Djalo, the veteran Derlei and Helder Postiga, the Portuguese International who has fallen incredibly short of his potential but god help the team that plays Sporting if he all of a sudden gets into form.

The midfield for Sporting has got to be as good as anyone's with youngsters, and highly saught after Portugese Internationals, Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso.

There weakest link may be the defense, with really only Carneira and Polga to boast about, however they both had own goals as well against Barcelona. Their goalie, Portugese International Rui Patricio who I belive is a solid goalie and a future international superstar.

Come on Sporting, show us what you can do!! We are rooting for you in the Knockout stage! Lets see that potential.

United Miss out on an opportunity to move up the premiere league table

Manchester United missed a golden opportunity to move up the Premiere League table after a goalless draw aginst Aston Villa at Villa Park. The reigning champions were sitting in 3rd place, 8 points back of the leaders Chelsea and Liverpool who currently share first place.

The stage was set, earlier in the day both Chelsea and Liverpool matches ended in draws against Newcastle and Fulham respectively. Manchester United was hoping to cut the deficit to six points, however an in form Aston Villa team led by Agbonlahor stood in the way of that goal, and climbed into fourth place ahead of Arsenal who lost their second consecutive game after a loss to Manchester City.

Because of the Draw, Manchester United remains in 3rd place, 8 points back of the leaders, with Aston Villa and Arsenal rounding off the top 5.

Portugal DESTROYED By Brazil 6-2! What is up with that!

Photo below of Maicon running circles around Portugal

For those of you who missed it, Portugal just got SPANKED by Brazil!! I can not even begin to tell you how wrong that is on so many levels, but I am going to try.

First of all, a little background on myself so you have a good understanding of why this matters to me so much. I am Portuguese, and a die hard football fan. It pains me to see the team that I take so much pride in get destroyed 6-2, thats right, 6-2 by a Country that speaks the same language as us. Brazil was once a Portuguese colony, and is now the Football capital of the world. They have enough players for 100 national teams. So they once again have bragging rights.

Second, Portugal has an incredible team. You cant blame everything on the coach. Yes there has been a difference in Portugal's style of play since Carlos Queiroz took over, but still why cant we come together as a National Team. I mean look at our team; Ronaldo, Nani, Quaresma, Almeida, Danny, Deco, Simao, Maniche, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Meira, I mean the list goes on and on. I would say our biggest weakness is the Striker position, which is the reason why we dont score to many goals. But still, 6-2. Thats hard to come back from. Oh yeah, and great goalkeeping by Quim, what the F%$ was that! It was if he was sleeping! Especially those by Maicon and Elano

On the flip side, how the hell is Brazil not the number 1 team in the world? I mean seriously, they can seriously put out the 1, 2 and 3 top teams in the world and still be eachothers biggest competition.

Anyways, Portugal needs to bounce back, from that embarassing loss. Ronaldo needs to step it up big time internationally. To be truly great, he needs to lead both his club and country.

Does anyone feel my pain? Any thoughts on the game? Comment below

John Terry You Lucky Bastard!!

John Terry was a luck bastard this past Wenesday November 19, 2008 against England's arch rival Germany. John Terry headed in the game winner 6 minutes from time to defeat Germany 2-1. England technically should have only needed one to win the game, but earlier on in the John Terry made the most ridiculous mistake!! I honestly am still not sure what he was doing, it looked so akward. I think he was trying to shield the ball for the goalie to grab, but it was the saddest effort I had ever seen, which led to Levurkusen striker Patrick Helmes to level the game at 1.

If Terry had not scored that goal, he would have been linched by England supporters! I mean letting a lead slip away against your bitter rivals cause of a stupid mistake... it would have been ugly! Thank god he scored the winner, especially after the missed penalty kick against Manchester United in the Champions League Final, he couldn't afford to lose more face.

But then again, that's why he is the captain, he comes through. Also did anyone notice Gabriel Agbonlahor and his incredible quickness and pace? He is someone to watch in the future, Aston Villa better hold on to him. Great job by Downing as well, they drove those German Defenders crazy. Which is not easy!

Should Ronaldo Win World Footballer of the Year?

Should Ronaldo win the World Footballer of the Year award? Hmmm, let me think...... OFCOURSE HE DESERVES TO WIN!!!!! What a stupid question! I wish all decesions were as easy as this one. I am not saying that the other players included in the short list are not of sublime quality, I am just saying that in regards to who deserves the best player award, then hands down Christiano Ronaldo.

Why you may ask? Let me tell you. First of all, the Footballer of the year award should go to someone who plays for a CHAMPIONSHIP team in at least one major competition. Major competions include League, Europe (Champions League and UEFA) and international competitions like World Cup and European cup. Ronaldo let Manchester United to a Premier League trophy, and a UEFA Champions Leage Trophy. So two of the 3 major competitions. Also, he led both of those campaigns in scoring as a forward, scoring an astonishing 42 goals. We have all seen the games, so we know how good he is, but yet everyone doesnt want to admit it. I dont think there has ever been a time in soccer where the winner of the award was so obvious.

Lets check out the competition and see for ourselves. Please remember, that we are talking about who DESERVES the prize, not about who your favorite player is, and def not about what is happening right now.

Lionel Messi

Ok, Lionel Messi is amazing, there is no doubt about that. If anyone can rival Ronaldo for player of the year, its Messi. However Barcelona finished second in La Liga last year and they lost in the Champions League to... thats right, Manchester United. Barcelona had a rough season last year, so obviously if your team doesnt win any worth while trophies, then you can justify giving them the player of the year award. to say that Messi deserved to win the best footballer of the year award. However, the way he is playing now, maybe next season.

Kaka

Last year Kaka deserved to win footballer of the year and he did. Although AC Milan had a rough Seria A season, Kaka led them to the Champions League title in 2006-2007 with a win over Liverpool, so it makes sense that he would win. However last year, AC Milan was knocked out by Aresnal in the First knock out round. AC Milan's Seria A season was equally bad, qualifying only for the UEFA Cup. Not that there is anything wrong with the UEFA Cup, if your Everton or Parma, but if your AC Milan, you should be challenging for the league cup every year, at least top 3, especially with the talent they have and coming off a Champions League victory.

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres had a great first season both in the premiere league and in the champions league scoring 33 goals (I belive) from all competitions. However Torres is a striker he is expected to score that many goals, especially one of his caliber, and I am sure it wont be long before we see Torres hoisting the award, but definately not this year. Yes he played a big part in the European Triumph of Spain, but did you see that team? Oh my god, it was like playstation 3 dream, with Guiza, Villa, Fabregas and Alonso in support. However Liverpool finished third in the league, and bowed out of the Champions League in the semi-finals to Chelsea. Also he was second in league scoring to Ronaldo. You know what they say... "Second Place is the first loser", and Fernando Torres names was behind Ronaldo's on the stats list in almost every important category including goals, cups, wins, etc. etc.

What else does he have to do. Ofcourse he could of had a better international campaign for the European Cup, but still, they made it to the knockout round, and Portugal was not playing at their top form, but I am not giving excuses. Either way Ronaldo deserves to win so give him the damn award already.

What do you think? Is there someone missing from my short list?

Maradonna Wins First as Head Coach of Argentinas National Team

Diego Maradona won his first game in charge of Argentina in a 1-0 victory away to Scotland. Diego's first game has gone by with little criticism, but I am sure it will just be time before people are targeting him. I have a feeling Media is just waiting for him to mess up.

Personally, I dont think Maradona will last as Argentina's head coach. Of course he will win games, he is head coach of arguably the best team in the world, made up of the top players in the world including Sergio Aguero from Atletico mardid and Lionel Messi of Barcelona. I dont see Maradona having the mentality nor the composure to be a sold coach. His previous coaching assignments ended in disasters, not sure how being at the helm of Argentina is going to be any different. I have a feeling he will be in the headlines more for his antics then his coaching.

Im not sure having an ex-junkie in charge of a National Team is such a good idea. A position like that comes with a lot of pressure, someone with a substance abuse problem may be pushed into re-using.

But then again, this is Diego Maradona here, arguably the greatest player the game has seen, if anyone can pull it off, im sure he can.

What do you think of Maradona as head coach? Leave a comment below and let us know.