There Is Only One Sinnacle

Report: Inter Defender Maicon Ruled Out For A Month

The Brazilian sustained a thigh strain on international duty and will miss the crunch match with Juventus on April 11.

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You know club coaches hold their breathe hoping injuries like these don’t happen when their players are away on International duty. Despite Inter’s depth Maicon skill at right back will be hard to replace over the next month.

Milan Star Ronaldinho Wants Barcelona Return – Report

The Brazilian’s agent has hinted that Ronaldinho would be more than happy to return to former club Barcelona, leading to widespread reports in the Italian media that he may just do that.

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Why would Barcelona want a player who lost his passion for the game after the 2006 World Cup? It’s Messi team now, having Ronaldinho back would just confuse everything.

Atletico Madrid Eyeing Malaga’s Portuguese Winger Eliseu

Los Colchoneros are looking to strengthen their squad with one of Malaga’s unheralded impressive performers this season.

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Key part of this article is below.

He currently only has a €600,000 buy-out clause in his contract – a sum Atletico will easily be able to afford

Someone could give Eliseu agent a round of applause for that low buy out clause. With Eliseu play this season look for him and his agent to be a lot richer come this summer.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is preparing an £18m bid for Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o. (Daily Mirror)

Looks great on paper but not going to work. Each team needs a peaking order. With Liverpool everyone understands Steve Gerrard role on the team and more importantly in this situation Fernando Torres also understands his role as the top dog in front. Someone like Samuel Eto’o who is a world class player but is very much a me first player. He wants the spotlight, he wants to be the top dog and on a team where he should be in heaven playing for, Eto’o often times pouts about something and after six months these same problems would occur with Eto’o in Liverpool.

Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry has conceded he may have to consider his future if the club do not secure Champions League football by finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season. (Daily Mirror)

Aston Villa should consider Barry’s future for themselves after his indifferent play this last month.

Portsmouth striker John Utaka is set for a return to France, with Bordeaux lining up a £7m swoop. (Daily Star)

For a team rumoured to be in a financial crisis Portsmouth has done pretty well for themselves in transfers fee with the likes of Lassana Diarra, Sulley Muntari, Jermaine Defoe this past year.

Hertha Berlin are only prepared to pay £4m for on-loan Liverpool striker Andrei Voronin, if the German club qualify for next season’s Champions League. (Daily Mirror)

Not a bad return for Liverpool considering Voronin was a free transfer back in 2007.

Up to 11 of Newcastle’s top earners will be axed from the club, including Michael Owen, Joey Barton and Damien Duff, if the Magpies are relegated this season. (Daily Mirror)

Part of Newcastle’s problems can be summed up in the next sentence. Newcastle have the 5th (or 6th) highest payroll in England and are currently in 18th spot in the EPL. Pretty much means their highest paid players aren’t pulling their weight.

Fox wins US TV rights to Champions League

NEW YORK (AP) -Fox Soccer Channel beat out ESPN for right to the European Champions League starting next season, adding the top club event to a lineup that already includes the English Premier League and Italy’s Serie A.

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Somebody at ESPN dropped the ball is all I could think of. You figure drawing 800000 viewers on a Wednesday afternoon for last year’s Champions League final between Manchester and Chelsea would of highlighted the potential which having Champions League rights. Great move for Fox Soccer Channel however unsure if it’s a good move when it comes to growing the game as ESPN 2 is seen in 3x the homes than FSC. Keeping an eye out towards the future will be interesting to see if ESPN looks to gain revenge by winning the rights to show EPL games when that contact comes due in 2010.

French magazine France Football on Monday released its annual list of the highest earners in soccer and David Beckham, currently on loan at AC Milan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, again tops the list with total earnings of $42.7 million in 2008.

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Now we know why David Beckham was willingly to take a pay cut in order to stay with A.C Milan. I also wonder if Ronaldo is going to call his agent wondering why he makes 13 million less than Messi? Below is the complete list.

1. David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy/AC Milan): $42.7 million
2. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona): $37.7 million
3. Ronaldinho (AC Milan): $25.8 million
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United): $24.1 million
5. Thierry Henry (FC Barcelona): $22.4 million
6. Kaká (AC Milan): $19.9 million
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan): $19.9 million
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United): $17.8 million
9. Frank Lampard (Chelsea): $17.1 million
10. John Terry (Chelsea): $15.4 million

Aliaksandr Hleb In Talks With Pep Guardiola About Barcelona Future

The Belarus captain has admitted that he had a chat with his coach about his situation at Barca, but won’t reveal the details of the discussion.

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Most likely a short conversation and Guardiola’s answer should be that Hleb’s future is watching the likes of Messi, Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta from the bench.

Sunderland Close To Signing Maniche From Atletico Madrid

The Portuguese midfielder looks set to swap one red-and-white team for another…

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Sunderland could do a lot worse than Maniche who performances improve when the stage is bigger. Kinda of a headcase but a tireless midfielder who would become a fan favorite if he does decide to move.

On a unrelated note yes I avoided any talk on the World Cup qualifies on purpose. Enjoy your day.

Manchester City are keen to sign Real Madrid’s unsettled defender Fabio Cannavaro. (Daily Mirror)

Great player but it’s clear Cannavaro has lost a step these last two years which won’t translate well to the English game. If Real Madrid doesn’t want to re-sign Cannavaro, he should go back to where it started in Napoli and try to help them land a top four place in Serie A next season.

Wigan are closing in on Ecuador forward Cristian Benitez, with the Santos Laguna striker valued at £7m. (Daily Mirror)

Hopefully Benitez doesn’t break his leg again which delayed this transfer previously.

Benitez’s arrival may signal the £17m departure of midfielder Luis Antonio Valencia from the Latics to Manchester United. (Daily Mirror)

Don’t see how as one player is a striker and the other a midfield player. At the end of the day if United want Valencia they will sign him.

Michael Owen’s England future looks to be over, with national boss Fabio Capello preferring Tottenham’s Darren Bent ahead of the Newcastle striker. Owen was told he represented Three Lions “history” by boss Capello. (Various)

All this talk over Wayne Rooney hitting 150 England caps over the weekend got me thinking about Owen who six years ago one could of easily said the same thing about him.

England captain John Terry has warned his team-mates to beware of striker Andriy Shevchenko ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Ukraine. Terry believes the former Chelsea striker still has something to prove after he failed to make an impact at Stamford Bridge. (The Guardian)

To be fair Shevchenko has also failed to make an impact at A.C Milan as well this season.

South Korean electronic giants Samsung claim they are the latest company to be approached by Manchester United, with a view to becoming their next shirt sponsors. Saudi Telecom and Indian companies Sahara and Tata have also made similar claims. (Daily Star)

Since the U.S government owns about 80% of AIG they should make United change the jersey to that hope picture of Obama until United find a new cash cow.

(By the way, yes I know that I suck in photoshop)

Really enjoyed watching this documentary on Sir Bobby Robson. Just shows how far Newcastle have fallen too since he left. In this clip Newcastle were playing Barcelona in the Champions League. Not quite the same now-a-days for Newcastle fans. For any Toronto FC fans, current head coach John Carver is shown many times throughout the hour as an aside.

Report: Juventus Could Get First Option On Palermo Defender Simon Kjaer

The Rosanero will allow the promising defender to move to Turin if they get Swedish midfielder Albin Ekdal on loan.

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Juventus and Palermo do have recent history making a deal with Amauri moving from Palermo to Juventus last summer so that might give Juve an edge in signing Kjaer. Either way it appears cash and lots of it, will be what it takes to convince Palermo to sell Kjaer.

Spain Coach Vicente del Bosque Assures Bernabeu Return Won’t Be Awkward

The often dead-pan coach has promised that he will not let the emotions of his homecoming get in the way of helping Spain beat Turkey.

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Well it has been six years and countless of other coaches in between since del Bosque was let go as Real Madrid. Moving on, in the end he’ll be judge come World Cup 2010 by Spain beating of England with del Bosque had his team looking quite impressive.

Enjoy the games this weekend. Cheer for Portugal…k….thanks! Except if your Swedish then I could understand. Everyone else no excuses.

AC Milan have reignited their interest in Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor after failing to land him last summer. (Daily Express)

Adebayor got his new contact last year so that should keep him happy for the time being. Besides despite A.C Milan 2007 Champions League win, it isn’t like A.C Milan are racking up the silverware lately either.

Barcelona have warned Chelsea and Manchester City that Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is not for sale at any price. (The Sun)

Well Messi does have a minimum release clause so he does have a price but not ever Manchester City would pay a quarter of a billion dollars for a player. Besides Messi has smartly hitched his wagon to Barcelona sorta speak. When you think of one, you will think of the other for a very long time.

Liverpool are favourites to sign £20m-rated Spain midfielder David Silva after Valencia indicated they would prefer to sell him abroad. (Various)

Just because you are taking a Spanish player to a team with a Spanish coach and many Spanish players doesn’t make Liverpool the favourites. Way too early to call any team the favourite for any players signature.

Aston Villa have been alerted to the availability of Standard Liege midfielder Steven Defour. (Daily Mirror)

The player one said he’d play for Aston Villa if his current club Standard Liege agrees. Not exactly a come and get me plea at all costs.

Stoke want to sign Manchester City striker Benjani and will move for him at the end of the season. (Daily Mirror)

Despite his goal against Manchester United last year, Benjani has been nothing but a bust for Manchester City. They should of left him sleeping at the airport on transfer day in 2008 instead of pushing through his transfer from Portsmouth.

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has stepped up his bed to sell his 50% stake in the club, instructing financial giants Merrill Lynch to find a buyer. (Daily Mirror)

Maybe this could be why George Gillett wants to sell the Montreal Canadiens?

Sir Alex Ferguson will quit as manager of Manchester United next year, according to his son Darren. (Various)

Wonder how many managers are going to trip over themselves to become the next United manager when Ferguson does retire which I hope isn’t for many years to come.

Manchester United are in advanced talks with Saudi Telecom to replace shirt sponsor AIG. (Daily Mail)

It does amuse me seeing websites slash the prices on Manchester United jerseys in recent weeks. When I head down to the States in a couple of weeks I may wear my United jersey just to see if I incur a wrath of some American as they see the AIG logo on me.

On second thought may just wear my Deco jersey.

On the heels of Ronaldo’s two goal performance this wekk against Brazilian minnows Ponte Preta I wanted to take some time and briefly reflect on the many ups and downs of Ronaldo’s career.

In many respects it would be hard to feel sorry for a man who has made millions of dollars, is known all over the world and holds the World Cup record for most goals ever but in Ronaldo’s case I actually do feel for the man. Just by watching his body language over the years it just seems like he lost his love for football along time ago. While many of us going through high school, chasing girls and playing sport for the sheer love of it, here you have a reserved kid already being ear marked as the next and maybe ever greatest Brazilian player ever produced.

Ronaldo was bought over to be little more than a tourist in the 1994 World Cup but eyes were already focusing in on him as it would clear the then 17 year was going to be the one Brazil would turn to four years later at the 1998 World Cup. In between 1994 and 1998 Ronaldo had already made three big money moves. First to PSV where he was able to horn his skills without the intense spotlight of Italian and Spanish football glaring on him. Former PSV and now Barcelona coach Sir Bobby Robson came calling and bought Ronaldo to Barcelona where he was an unstoppable force scoring 34 goals in 37 games, helping Barcelona along the way to the UEFA Cup. Finally in 1997 he moved to Inter Milan leading up to the 1998 World Cup.

No one truly knows what happen the night before the 1998 World Cup final but his seizure and Brazil eventual 3-0 defeat to France soured many a opinion for many a year when it came to Ronaldo. By this time it must of been obvious to Ronaldo that whatever he does he’d always be in the shadow of most noticeably Pele. Imagine living your life and no matter the accomplishments you achieve people are always going to compare it against only the greatest (arguable) football player who has ever lived? Nothing Ronaldo could do during this time could stand on it’s own. Everything he did people either compared it to Pele or said with his talent Ronaldo could still do so much more.

Another thing also occurred after the 1998 World Cup, years of punishment by defenders who were forced to foul Ronaldo caught up to him as he spent most of the time between 1999 and 2002 injured. Ronaldo moment in the sun obviously came at the 2002 World Cup, one that Brazil struggled to even qualify for while he was injured. Despite arriving at the tournament very much a question mark, he left a month later World Champion something that no historian could take away from him.

The summer of 2002 was pretty much the zenith of Ronaldo’s career. Despite playing for storied clubs like Real Madrid and A.C Milan afterwards, his greatest statement was made at the World Cup of 2002. No one could deny his talent or place in the football history capped off with scoring two goals against Germany in finals. People may knock his passion and dedication to the game and continually ask what if but if they stopped asking what if and looked at what he did accompish surely one would marvel at everything Ronaldo has done in his playing career.