World Cup 2010

This is a late article. I know. It has been months and the American soccer fans have invariably shifted back to the pressing subjects of how bad the MLS is. It is a league so bad that it comes as a shock that David Beckham isn't that good. He shouldn't be good. He was over the hill at 27, back when nobody had heard of Barack Obama.
But back to the World Cup. It wasn't very good. Lets face it. Any world cup where the final is beetween 2 underacheiving teams is bad. Somewhere people got the idea that Spain deserved it because the were, get this, entertaining. Entertaining like an episode of Whale Wars. The fact was that they could maintain a slight sliver of consistency. So heres my world cup heroes and villains.
Heroes:
K'naan: Yep, its a singer who made the catchy and meaningful World Cup song. What does Waka Waka mean anyway, Shakira. Yes, the drumming was overdone, but I preffered it to past World Cup songs, with the exception of Ricky Martin's 1998 effort.
Asamoah Gyan: The Ghanain striker was everything a World Cup should be. He danced, he scored, he came close, he smiled, he cried, he cared, and eventually he missed a penalty. My player of the tournament, because he was fun to watch not in a soccer way, but in an entertainment way.
Nelson Mandela: For one, he's Nelson Mnadela. Also, he cared, unlike other World Cup hosting men. He didn't just smile and clap like Mick Jagger at the USA Ghana game.

Villains:
David Beckham: What was he doing on the England bench? It didn't help, thats for sure.
Alexi Lalas: Didn't make any bad mistakes talkin on ESPN, so no jokes about americans and soccer. The shame.
Luis Suarez: Denied Ghana witha handball. Subconciously, everyone loved Ghana. They just don't know it yet.

All Time Team, Costa Rica!

Goalkeeper: Luis Conejo
Defense: Luis Marin,Roger Flores,Jervis Drummond Gilberto Martinez
Midfield:Walter Centeno, Rolando Fonseca, Mauricio Solis
Offence: Paolo Wanchope, Hernan Mendford, Alexandre Guimaraes

Coach: Bora Milutinovic

RISING STAR: EZEQUIEL LAVEZZI!

Transfer Musings

As the transfer window draws to a close I have been thinking. Real Madrid payed 30,000,000 euros for Xabi Alonso, who is a very good, if not game changing midfielder. In 2003 a certain Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona for 21,000,000 euros, incredibly expensive at the time. Is it believable now that Joleon Lescott a centerback who is good but not revolutionary was signed by Manchester City for 24,000,000 pounds, more than Barca payed for a legend. Interesting.

MAN UNITED'S DILEMMA!

When Manchester United sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and failed to hold on to Carlos Tevez, they suffered a huge dilemma. They got a huge profit, but their money can never replace Ronaldo and, to a lesser extent Tevez. Although their replacements Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen are able, decent players, the sheer presence of Ronaldo was priceless. Ronaldo was one of the reasons why people signed for United, and his iconic number 7 jersey was available everywhere, from the 13 buck fake copy I bought in Portugal to the glitzy top of the line shirtzillas available on Eurosport.com. Valencia is quite decent, but his strike rate is undesirable. Owen on the other hand is an England great but can't keep living off his form from 1998. Replacing Tevez with Owen is like replacing a Rolex for a barbie watch from a cereal box, while Ronaldo's replacement with Valencia is like replacing Ronaldo's Buggatti for a Honda Civic. This is meant with all due respect to Valencia and Owen whose talents are undoubtable.

ARSENAL'S YOUNG GUNS THRASH SHEFFIELD UNT.!

Arsene Wenger played an Arsenal team with an incredible average age of about 19. 16 year old Jack Wilshere was a sensation scoring a fantastic goal and bossing the midfield. Mexican wonder-kid Carlos Vela, age 20, scored a superb hat-trick as Arswnal rampaged to a 6:0 thrashing. Danish star Nicklas Bentder scored two goals for his team
as the young Gunners tormented the Blades's back line and could have won by ten. They are now Carling cup favorites along with Manchester United, winners 3:1 over Middlesboro.

BERBATOV COMPILATION!