CAN FABINHO REPLACE EMRE CAN?

Champions League finalist Liverpool have confirmed the signature of Fabinho as replacement for the set to leave Emre Can. The German has refused to agree fresh terms at Anfield with increasing links to Juventus after both sides agreed a pre-contract in January.

The Brazilian midfielder cost the Reds £40 million to lure from Monaco. The 24-year old featured impressively in the past few seasons for the Ligue 1 side as they competed fiercely with Paris St Germain. He is expected to join other Brazilian stars that have gone on to become a success in the Reds jersey.
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COPA LIBERTADORES: SAN LORENZO, BOTAFOGO AND SANTOS REACH LAST 8

This year, an all Argentina-Brazil quarter final at the Copa Libertadores would not happen as two Brazilian sides lost to Bolivian side Jorge Wilstermann and Ecuador club Barcelona.

Barcelona rivals from Guayaquil, Emelec could have been the third side but they failed to get past San Lorenzo.

Lorenzo won Emelec last month in the opening leg by the slimmest of margins but the Ecuadorian side returned the favour in Buenos Aires by the same margin. San Lorenzo had to dig deep to win 5-4. The result means three Argentinean teams would feature in the last eight. The domestic calendar did not favour the team as they struggled against Emelec.

Emelec played the last thirty minutes with ten men and they were still threatening. When the quarter finals would be played in mid September, the Argentinean league should have resumes and the team with the required fire power. Read more »

RICARDO KAKA ADVISES NEYMAR

The former Brazil international, Ricardo Kaka sarcastically advised his ex-teammate, Neymar on what to do in order to be a more successful footballer and also for him to be the world best footballer as the previous Brazilians.

The Barcelona star, Neymar has been performing wonderfully fine for his team, Barcelona since he moved to Spain from Brazil, with last season being one of his best seasons ever.

He had an invaluable impact in the club’s amazing 6-1 come-back over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16.

The 25-year old Neymar found the net twice to help Barcelona reach the quarter-finals before they were being knocked out by the Italian giants, Juventus.

Kaka thinks Neymar is currently on his path to being the world’s best player and he dropped a little joke sayingthat Neymar should try changing his name to Reymar as the previous most successful Brazilians’ name stars with “R”.

Meanwhile, the former Real Madrid forward could have a point as the likes of Ronaldo, Revellino, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho are all Brazilian stars of then.

“Taking a peep at everything he has done and achieved at Barcelona, Neymar could well be next in line to be awarded the best player in the world,” Kaka said. Read more »

Ventura wants more from Botafogo

Botafogo manager Jair Ventura wants his players to fight more on the pitch.

He believes that he has a good squad and that the players need to learn how to fight for the ball. He said that they have managed to do it on some occasions, but he wants to see the same mentality in all the matches.

Indeed Jair Ventura was excited when his club managed to win a game against Sports Club despite the fact that the opposition team was leading. Botafogo managed to equalize and win the game despite playing with 10 players.

Ventura said that this was a great performance from his team and that he wants to see a repeat of this in each and every game they play. He believes that the team has great potential but that all the players will have to give their best on the pitch.

Ventura said that he wants all his players to be fighters and to not surrender until the final whistle of a game. He believes that Botafogo can improve a lot if all the players decide to give their best on the pitch and follow his instructions. Read more »

ANDERSON – THE GOLDEN BOY WHO LOST HIS SHINE

At the young age of 20, former Manchester United midfielder, Luiz de Abreu Oliveira had the whole soccer world at his feet after being awarded the Golden Boy award, with all indication that the Brazilian prodigy would end up becoming a big star in world football

After his debut as a teenager with Gremio in home country, Anderson signed for Portuguese side FC Porto after club President stated the club was interested in the youngster. There he gained first team status during his two trophy-laden seasons at the Portuguese side.

English Champions, Manchester United announced the signing of the promising player at a fee of £30 million and in his first season, won the Premier league and Champions League crown playing a good number of games despite not been a regular starter. He would later go on to make 38 appearances though without a goal unable to consolidate his role at the Red Devils as expected. Read more »

Enrique has no issues with Neymar

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has stated that he has no problem with Neymar’s current lack of goals as he believes that the player is performing well on the pitch.

The last game against Espanyol has seen Neymar failing to score for the ninth game in a row.

His last goal came in the Champions League win over Manchester City at the end of October, and the Brazilian forward has failed to find the back of the net ever since.

However, the player has increased his number of assists during this period and has created 13 goals for his Barcelona team mates in this period. Luis Enrique said that football is a team sport and it is equally important for a player to create occasions. He said that Neymar has become a creative player and that as long as he is helping the team score goals, he is happy with him. Read more »

BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL LEGEND CARLOS ALBERTO DIES

Brazilian football legend Carlos Alberto has died at the age of 72. The World Cup winner led the Brazilian football team to glory in 1970, scoring a goal that had defined Brazilian football for long.

The ex-football star died after a heart attack in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, reports say. The right back played for his national team side and in the United States. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame for both countries in recognition of his exploits.

The legend played with football icon Pele at Brazilian club Santos. The club made a statement after the death of the ex-player which reads

“He [Alberto] played 445 matches and scored 40 goals from 1965-1975, and is considered the best right back in the history of Praiano Alvinegro.”

The 1970 World Cup star scored one of the most important goals in World Cup history in the final against Italy. Brazil defeated their rivals 4-1, and Alberto – who was the captain – lifted the trophy. For a talented player that played in the shadow of Pele for most of his career for club and country, it was a special period for him. He was referred to as captain more than thirty years after the victory. Read more »

Brazil wins back fans

Brazil has managed to win back their fans by winning the gold medal at the Olympic football tournament.

This comes after their disastrous campaign at the last World Cup where they were humiliated by the German team on their home ground. This time, they managed to beat the same country in the Olympic final and win their first ever gold medal at the Olympic tournament.

Although the Olympic football tournament does not have the same prestige as the World Cup, it will be a boost to the fans morale after their poor World Cup campaign. In a country where people breathe football, it is important to win a football tournament, and this is what the national side did in the Olympics.

Now fans will be hoping that the good form will be translated to the senior team and that they can have a good World Cup qualifier. There are currently trailing the leaders in the table, and they will want things to change in the next round of matches. They will be looking again towards Neymar to inspire them on the pitch, and they will be hoping that they can get a good run of form. Read more »

Dunga not the culprit: Pele

Pele reckons it is unjust that nobody is paying attention to the real factors that caused Brazil to register their worst Copa America performance in 30 years and everyone is trying to find fault with the management.

According to Pele, the lack of time to work up together ahead of the competition was one of the biggest factors for what transpired. Other than that, discontinuity in selections was also a reason why the term of Dunga was not fruitful.

The players playing one tournament were not playing the other. The selection omissions obviously had different reasons, but, the meaning of so many changes is that the steadiness of your squad goes for a toss and Brazil was not steady at all when Copa America was on the horizon.

Pele, however, has welcomed Adenor Lenoardo Bacchi lauding him as a dependable fellow and the most astute manager in the current time.

Baptista sympathizes with Selecao

Meanwhile, another ex- Brazilian player Baptista has words of sympathy for the Selecao as he is of the view that small tournaments are often tricky especially when each and every side taking part is so skilled

After a scoreless draw for the starters, the men in yellow had slammed 7 goals in match no. 2 and were just a point away from advancement to the quarters, but, in the last match, they found themselves on the receiving end of an illegal goal which handed them a loss and a painful exit.

Baptitsa believes the Brazilians were just luckless to have to board the return flight early.

The 34-year old forward who closed his international career in 2010 has a couple of Copa America champion medals himself as he won the competition twice with his country a decade back.