TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| World Cup 2010: South Korea offer Ahn Jung-hwan hope of playing in South Africa Ahn Jung-hwan best known for scoring golden goal which knocked Italy out of 2002 World Cup. telegraph.co.uk |
SOCCER: Liverpool Wins as Torres Nets 50th Fernando Torres's 50th English Premier League soccer goal in stoppage time gave Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa and moved his side to within four points of a Champions League berth. feeds.nytimes.com |
SOCCER: Mali Races Back to Tie Angola, 4-4 Mali struck back from being 4-0 down in the 79th minute of the opening match of the African Cup of Nations to earn a sensational 4-4 draw with the host, Angola. feeds.nytimes.com |
Gabon upsets Cameroon at African Nations Cup World Cup qualifiers are still without a win at the African Nations Cup after Gabon beat Cameroon 1-0 on Wednesday in Angola. cbc.ca |
Robinho just another broken Brazilian Manchester City's £32.5m flop is treading the well-worn path previously used by the likes of Mirandinha and Rafael ScheidtRobinho has added to the exoticism of the Premier League, but not in the manner intended. Few will ever forget a £32.5m acquisition who was demoted to the substitute's role with Manchester City and then humiliated by still being taken off in the defeat at Everton.The attacker can undoubtedly be faulted, but there is a traditional tone to Robinho's decline in this country. While his story entails a far higher budget it still has echoes of Mirandinha's career. The forward was bought by Newcastle United in 1987, shortly after he had scored against England. Mirandinha's international career came to a rapid end, but he did have temporary prestige.It was sufficient to bewitch Newcastle United that summer. "I don't see any risk attached to it," the then manager Willie McFaul said of the purchase from Palmeiras. Within two years, McFaul had been sacked and the St James' Park club was relegated. Mirandinha had not been incompetent, but his scoring record was mundane.When Mirandinha next caught the eye, it was in the closing weeks of last season. He observed that Alan Shearer was a "bad choice" to manage the team in its most recent and unavailing relegation struggle. Like Mirandinha, Brazilians have registered in England without capturing the country's imagination. Sylvinho, for example, is on the books with Robinho at City. Chelsea find Alex a worthy member of the squad and Arsenal appreciate Eduardo da Silva, a striker from Rio de Janeiro who subsequently opted to represent Croatia.England is still out of step with the countries it regards as its peers. Great Brazilian performers have tended to confine themselves to Spain and Italy when they come to Europe, although work-permit issues are also a barrier to coming here. The impact elsewhere has been astonishing and since the inception of Fifa's world player of the year award in 1991, the prize has gone to Brazilians on eight of the 19 occasions it has been awarded. Ronaldinho has won it twice and Ronaldo three times.The latter was with PSV Eindhoven, but had switched to Camp Nou by the time he was first given the Fifa prize as a 20-year-old in 1996. Indeed, the Brazilian recipients have all been at either Barcelona, Real Madrid, Internazionale or Milan when presented with the accolade. It seems unlikely that such individuals feel compelled to confine themselves to Spain and Italy. Brazilian footballers are often hard-nosed and adaptable. In any case, a rainy night in the Stadio delle Alpi is as chilling as a bitter one on Tyneside.Rafael Scheidt, admittedly, was an unforgettable exception. Celtic paid £5.6m for an individual who scarcely appeared for them. The defender explained how a later manager at the club informed him he had no future there. "I like players who are not like you," said Martin O'Neill. "I like footballers who play well."The transition to Europe is seldom so disastrous. If Anderson has faltered a little at Manchester United it will not be the weather that has unsettled him because there are many frosty mornings in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul. He is in good hands, but dealing with footballers from other cultures and continents has not been the forte of British managers. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Gilberto Silva gave exemplary service to Arsenal under the command of a Frenchman, Arsène Wenger.The Premier League was a relative latecomer to globalisation. After all, José Altafini, who would be capped for Brazil and then Italy, exchanged Palmeiras for Milan 52 years ago. When an English club does try to make a belated breakthrough the tone can be laughably strident. "They bottled it," said the Manchester City chief executive, Garry Cook, when Kaká remained with Milan a while longer.The Brazilian most warmly remembered in England may be Juninho. He came to Middlesbrough in 1995, when he was 22, and loved places like Roseberry Topping in the North York Moors, as well as a certain nightclub in Redcar. His mum was so enraptured by Marks & Spencer that she thought of buying a house nearby. It is our loss that English football has otherwise been so poor at attracting and getting the best out of the world's supreme footballing race.RobinhoManchester CityPremier LeagueKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |