Copa America - 2011 Awards & Brickbats

The Copa America 2011 concluded. Congratulations to the champions Uruguay. The pre-tournament expectations where very high. But the two biggest pre-tournament favourites Brasil and Argentina failed spectacularly. The lack of goals early on meant there were a lot of draws damped the enthusiasm even further. However the tournament did have its high points. Here is a list of the bests & worsts of the Copa America 2011. Our experts Chris (@Chris_Elastico) & Rob (@Santapelota) have talked to Ravi (@aupasubmarino) to give their opinions in the podcast.

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Overall Tournament

1. Best player (outfield)
1. Luis Suarez (Ravi)
   
2. Alvaro Pereira
3. Nestor Ortigoza
4. Estegarribia
5. Cichero
6. Vizcarrondo (All)
   
7. Guarin, armero
8. Cesar Gonzalez
9. Guerrero (Chris, Rob)
   
10. Messi
11. Valdivia
12. Alexis
13. Acasiete
14. Diego Lugano

2. Best coach
1. Cesar Farias - Venezuela (Chris)
   
2. Tata Martino - Paraguay (Rob)
3. Sergio Markarian - Peru (Ravi)
   
4. Washington Tabares - Uruguay

3. Biggest overachiever
1. Peru (all)
   
2. Paraguay
3. venezuela

4. Biggest underachiever
1. Argentina (Chris, Ravi)
   
2. Brazil (Rob)
   
3. Chile
4. Ecuador

5. Most disappointing star
1. Tevez (Chris)
   
2. Mascherano (Ravi, Rob)
   
3. Alves
4. Ganso
5. Neymar, Messi

6. Most entertaining game
1. Venezuela - Paraguay 3-3
2. Chile - Peru 2-1
3. Chile - Venezuela 2-1 QF (Ravi)
   
4. Argentina - Uruguay QF 1-1 penalties (Chris, Rob)
   
5. Brazil - Ecuador - 4-2

7. Who among the suprises will more likely carry this form into WC qualifying
1. Venezuela(all)
2. Peru

What do you think of our selections? Please give yours thoughts in the comments.

Thanks a lot for following us for the Copa America 2011.

Copa America Final - Preview

Ravi(@aupasubmarino) from Forzafutbol sat down with the usual suspects Chris(@chris_elastico) from theelastico.com and Rob (@santapelota) from santapelota.wordpress.com to discuss the semifinals of the Copa America and preview the final between Uruguay and Paraguay.

The final between Uruguay and Paraguay is 9PM CET 3PM ET 12 PT Sunday July 24.

Relax and snack on this short and lively podcast

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In the 2nd part of our podcast to be posted later, we discuss the best and worst of the Copa America 2011

Copa America Quarterfinal Review

Ravi discussed Copa America with Chris (@chris_elastico) co-editor of theelastico.com and Robert (@santapelota) from santapelota.wordpress.com.
We broke down the 4 Quarterfinals results and delved deep into the problems of Argentina and Brasil as well as paid tribute to the 4 semifinalists Peru, Venezuela, Uruguay and Parguay who were underdogs in their respective quarter final games

Sit back and enjoy this epic upset-special podcast.

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Ronaldo has left the building

His latter years were a bit of a caricature, the fatnomeno, the exposed belly on a too tight kit, wheezing after sprints at the Santiago Bernabeu, crumbling in a heap after his ultimate, decisive knee injury at the San Siro or shambling around in a Corinthians kit at the Estadio do Pacaembu, but in his prime he was electric.


He was the fastest player I had ever seen. He could take a ball midfield and the defenders would converge and he had some other gear, like rocket fuel, and he would blow past them, awe-inspiring as it was, but then he would set his sights on goal and he would slow down, something that only those truly great forwards have, and he would calmly, brilliantly slot it in past the already committed keeper. He was an assassin at goal and there were few that were better than he was in the grand scheme of things.

He was an awkward kid when he was spotted by PSV Endhoven. Light on his feet, looking unfinished, he still had two fruitful years in Holland netting 42 goals in 46 appearances and drawing notice from many of the top clubs in Europe. He would join Barcelona, rejoining Sir Bobby Robson and entering the heights of big time European football. He would play for both Inter Milan and AC Milan which sandwiched a long stint as lead striker at the Santiago Bernabeu.


He retired today at the age of 34, a shadow of his former self, wracked by injury and pain but with the glittering memory of an unbelieveable career. How then will we remember him? For his perseverance, returning to play for Inter after many had written him off? We called him a mercenary for repaying Moratti's loyalty by taking Real Madrid's money and leaving for Spain. We the called him a destabilizing force, a poor teammate, undedicated, and the posterboy for the worst of Florentino Perez's Galacticos: rich, fat and lazy. We add that he never won the Champions League and that his clubs often struggled to win league titles with him. We remember him for the weird soul-patch haircut on his forehead, the epileptic seizures that took him before the 1998 World Cup final against France, and the devastating knee injuries that robbed him of most of his pace, but none of skill and panache on the ball.

Whatever you remember him by is irrelevant. The facts are plain. He was one of the greatest players ever to play the game. One of the most dominant forwards his or any era. He almost single-handedly won the 2002 World Cup, winning the Golden Shoe scoring eight goals, and lifting the trophy for the selecao. He was called up for 4 consecutive World Cups (94, 98, 02, and 06), playing in the last three, becoming the greatest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup. He trails only Pele and Zico as the greatest international goal scorers in the history of the Brazilian national team. In 11 years playing on the biggest stage, for three of the biggest clubs in the world (Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid), Ronaldo scored 166 goals.

Ronaldo Luis Nazario da Lima. Ronaldinho before Ronaldinho. Truly O Fenomeno.

The Top 50 Most Influential people in World Football for 2010

Don Balon has come out with their 50 Most Influential People in World Football of 2010. Please note that this is a Spanish paper/magazine/media source and is very Spanish and Latin centric. Well here are the powers that be, the movers and shakers in the beautiful game. They were selected for their ability to influence the present and future of the sport, as well as their global, regional, and local reach.



1 Joseph Blatter (president FIFA)
2 Michel Platini (president UEFA)
3 Ángel María Villar (president RFEF Spanish Football Federation)
4 Ricardo Teixeira (president CBF Brasil Football Federation)
5 Julio Grondona (president AFA Argentina Football Federation)
6 Nicolás Leoz (president CONMEBOL)
7 Issa Hayatou (president CAF)
8 Jack Austin Warner (president CONCACAF)
9 Chung Mong-Joon (vicepresident FIFA executive committee)
10 Geoff Thompson (vicepresident FIFA executive committee)
11 Jaques Rogge (president IOC Olympic committee)
12 Mohamed Bin Hamman (president AFC)
13 Vitaly Mutko (president Russia 2018)
14 Mohammed Bin Hamad (president Qatar 2022)
15 Giancarlo Abete (president Italian Football Federation)
16 Theo Zwanziger (president DFB, German Football Federation)
17 Herbert Hainer (president Adidas Group)
18 Mark Parker (executive president Nike)
19 Richard Scudamore (CEO Premier League)
20 Jaume Roures (president Mediapro)
21 Marcus Agius (president & chairman Barclays)
22 Sandro Rosell (president Barcelona)
23 Florentino Pérez (president Real Madrid)
24 Joel & Avram Glazer (presidents Manchester United)
25 Franz Beckenbauer (member of FIFA executive committee)
26 Peter Hill-Wood (president Arsenal)
27 Roman Abramovich (Chelsea majority shareholder)
28 J. Henry & T. Werner (Liverpool majority shareholder)
29 Andrea Agnelli (president & chairman Juventus)
30 Massimo Moratti (president Inter)
31 Silvio Berlusconi (Milan majority shareholder)
32 Nicolas Ericson (TV division director FIFA)
33 Joseph V. Tripodi (executive vicepresident Coca-Cola)
34 Steve Easterbrook (president McDonald's Europe)
35 Vicente del Bosque (España national team manager)
36 José Mourinho (Real Madrid manager)
37 Pep Guardiola (Barcelona manager)
38 Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager)
39 Mano Menezes (Brasil national team manager)
40 Sergio Batista (Argentina national team manager)
41 Arsene Wenger (Arsenal manager)
42 Leo Messi (Barcelona player)
43 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid player)
44 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona player)
45 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona player)
46 Jorge Mendes (Agent)
47 Giovanni Branchini (Agent)
48 Rainer Holzschuh (president ESM European Sports Magazine Germany)
49 Andrea Monti (director La Gazzetta dello Sport)
50 Françoise Morinière (chief executive L'Equipe group)


What do you think of the list? My personal opinion, is that the list is pretty much spot on. It is really interesting to see the power and influence of the big national teams, clubs, leagues, and confederations on the footballing world. One might call this group the iluminati of the footballing world or just the business footballing elite. Big responsibility as we entrust them with the keys to the beautiful game.

Ronaldinho - The Barca Years

With his impending move back to his native land of Brazil due to take place this week, I thought now would be as good a time as any to look back at a time when he was more than a well-known name he was also a superstar on the pitch.

It was the summer of 2003 and all eyes were on Spain. Real Madrid had just won title number 29, their 2nd title in 3 years. Meanwhile Barcelona had finished the season in 6th after consecutive 4th placed finishes in previous seasons, the last time they had won La Liga was in 1999. Joan Laporta was the newly named president and Frank Rijkaard was the newly appointed manager, 2003 was a time of change. Laporta promised the Barca faithful that one David Beckham would be arriving in Catalunya, a world-renowned signing to make everyone sit up and take notice. Out trumped by the Galacticos he had to make do with his second choice, outbidding Manchester United who in turn were forced to purchase an unproven 18-year-old Portuguese winger of a similar name who was never really going to amount too much. Ronaldo de Assís Moreira arrived for a figure of €32,250,000 from French club Paris Saint-Germain. He followed in the footsteps of other great Brazilians before him Romario, Rivaldo and Ronaldo to name but a few. Ronaldinho as he was known in Europe had been plying his trade at PSG for the last two seasons and his stock was already high in England after an apparently freak goal against David Seaman whilst in the 2002 World Cup Quarter Finals. He was also reportedly swayed by then vice-president Sandro Rosell, who he had struck up a friendship with when Sandro was a Nike executive in Brazil.

Things didn't start out quite as well as they would have hoped for, after all one good signing does not make a team especially when he is out injured. Just 5 wins in the opening 15 league games for Rijkaard's side saw criticism from some sections of the home support as well as the media. Languishing in 11th place and having just been beaten at home to league leaders Real Madrid was a major kick in the teeth. At the turn of the year things changed dramatically as Edgar Davids joined on loan and Ronaldinho returned to full fitness. In 20 games they won 15 including a 9 game win streak. At the end of the season Ronaldinho had scored 15 goals in 32 games in the league and Mr Beckham had 3 in exactly the same amount of games, at least the shirts were flying off the shelves. Barcelona finished 2nd and Real finished in 4th the first time they had fallen below their rivals since 2000.

The feeling around Spain was Barcelona were back if they could just put their second half season form into a complete calendar year. A busy summer ensured as some of the deadwood made way for the likes of Deco, Samuel Eto and Rafael Márquez. Frank also made more of the talent pool that was La Masia as Andrés Iniesta started to play more regular and Xavi was made vice-captain. Ronaldinho was the star of the show though, Brazilians have always been known for some outrageous skills but this was taking the piss. Overhead kicks, passes off the back, step overs, back heels, flicks, disguised passes, ball juggling, if you could name it ? Ronaldinho could do it ! Unsurprisingly he claimed the FIFA World Player of the Year at the end of 2004 and Barcelona then secured there 1st title for 6 years. Rijkaard had built a very good side but one player stood out from all the rest. Coming in off the left flank with his pre-dominant right foot, Ronaldinho had the art of the inverted winger down to a tee. Gliding past tackles, a vision that seemed to be 360° and an ability to release the ball at the right time made him unstoppable. Just the 9 league goals for the season but more tellingly on the team he's best assist rate with 16.

Things were looking rosy and Ronaldinho was the hottest property in world football. With that in mind Barca offered him a mammoth contract to fend off preying eyes but would have seen him tied to the club for the next 9 years. He rejected the deal but did sign a shorter extension to his current deal with a release clause of £85 million. Things continued in much the same way both on the pitch and off as the buck teeth wonder scooped a second World Player of the Year and a European Footballer of the Year. Perhaps the single most defining moment of Ronaldinho's time in Spain could be categorised with what happened on the 19th November 2005. At the Bernabau, home of their deadliest rivals he put on some show scoring two outstanding solo goals in a 3-0 win. The last of which when he skipped past Sergio Ramos and slotted it in the far corner. As the camera spun around the stadium the Madrid fans stood emotionless in the face but clapping the man who had just ripped their own team apart. I personally had never witnessed such an action but it had happened before in 1982 when Diego Maradona received similar respect. All of a sudden that lob over 'Safe Hands' was starting to look a lot more like he ment it. The season finished with another La Liga but this time they had won the Champions League, only the 2nd in their history. A career best of 26 goals for a man who seemed to have a permanent smile attached to his face.

A significant thing happened at the end of that season assistant manager Henk Ten Cate left to manage Ajax. Maybe a coincidence or the fact he was the strict disciplinarian, Barcelona didn't win anything else under Rijkaard's tenure. That season Ronaldinho scored an overhead kick against Villarreal and a low free kick against Werder Bremen, when the wall jumped it slid under their feet. He had yet another fantastic season scoring his best return in the league with 21 goals. At the end of the 06/07 they were level on points with Real Madrid but lost out on the head to head rule (Barcelona had a 19 goal superior goal difference).

2007/08 was to be his last year at the Nou Camp and also the last for Rijkaard. That pre-season saw everything begin to decline, players complained of tiredness after the travelling to Scotland to the Far East and then to Germany. Frank's authority was being constantly undermined and training lacked the intensity of the past becoming somewhat of a joke. Personalities were clashing in the dressing room and Ron took a rather a large fancy to a spot of disco-dancing. Ronaldinho was becoming more accustomed to the celebrity lifestyle that his fantastic talent had enabled him to. A largely disrupted final campaign due to injury (some of which has to be attributed to the way he was then looking after himself or not as the case was) saw him score 8 league goals in 17 appearances. Ronaldinho is very much a family man, Sister (secretary), Uncle (chauffeur), Mother (chef) but having his Brother as his agent was probably not to his advantage. In some ways you could argue that he would always have his best interests at heart, but in other ways it seemed he had more of a control over his client than other agents could ever achieve.

In July 2008, Ronaldinho joined AC Milan for a fee in the region of €18.5 million. On his exit from the club he wrote a letter to the fans

http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada10-11/08/24/n100824112529.html

For Ronaldinho the Barca years were certainly the form of his life.

Ricardo Kaka: Life of a Football Great.

Tuesday, June 30th 2009 is the day we will finally saw a football great joining a giant ... Ricardo Kaka left Milan to join Madrid.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaka) was born on 22nd of April 1982 to financially secure family in Brasília.

Kaka's first step in football was when he was discovered by Brazilian club Sao Paulo FC while playing in the youth team Alphaville. Ricardo kaka continued to grow in skill as he was reaching 18 years of age, yet he suffered from a career threatening swimming-pool accident  but his will and professionalism enabled him to make remarkable full recovery. Kaka being  a spiritual individual, he attributed his recovery to god.

His professional football career at Sao Paulo FC made a lot of people turn their heads to a great talent in the making. Kaka made a wonderful debut on January 2001 where he came as a substitute and scored 2 goals in 2 minutes, helping his team to win their only Torneio Rio-São Paulo championship. Kaka made 22 appearances in the next season, scoring 10 goals. Soon enough, kaka was attracting attention for major European Football clubs, that being a sign for the end of his Sao Paulo career. Kaka made 58 caps for Sao Paulo scoring 23 times.

The wise eyes at Italian football club AC Milan saw the raw talent of Ricardo which propelled them to make an offer of €8.5 million in 2003 which was accepted by Sao Paulo FC. It only took Kaka a month to crack his way to the first team line up at milan making his first appearance on the 2-0 win against Ancona in the Serie A. Kaka made 30 caps scoring 10 goals helping his team win Scudetto and the UEFA Super Cup. Next season for Kaka was less impressive as Milan finished second in Scudetto and losing the Final of the Champions League to Liverpool, but Kaka was voted as the best midfielder in the Champions League none the less. Kaka made 36 appearances in the 2004/2005 season.

Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea allowed Kaka to step into more pivotal role at the Milan offense, alternating between the midfield and being a striker up front  in the 2006/07 season. Kaka finished that season being the top scorer at the UEFA Champions League with 10 goals. Kaka won his first Champions League as he provided the two assists in the match which Milan won against Liverpool in the final.Kaka was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. On 30 August, Kaká was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006–07 Champions League season and Club Footballer of the Year. Kaka made his 200 appearance for Milan mean while winning the prestigious Ballon D'or with 444 votes way ahead of second placed Cristiano Ronaldo. Ricardo Kaka signed an extension of his contract with Milan until  2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008. Having such a wonderful career so far made The Times magazine to name Kaká in the Time 100, a list of the world's 100 most influential people.

Januaray 13th 2009 saw Man City making a £100 million offer for Ricardo Kaka. The player said that he doesn't want to leave his current team but if Milan wanted to sell him he will consider the offer. Milan fans protested the offer, pressuring the Milan administration to end negotiations with the English club.  Yet at the end of that season, Ricardo Kaka would leave AC Milan .. joining another giant in football.

Newly elected Real Madrid president Mr. Florentino Perez was reportedly ready to make a €68 Million offer to sign Kaka from Milan. For the first time there was no denying of the offer and it was attributed later to the declining financial position of Ac Milan. Barlesconi there after was quoted as saying "We cannot allow [AC Milan] to lose £70m [...] The reasons behind Kaká's departure would be economic."

On June 8,  Kaka signed a 6 years contract with Real Madrid for a bid believed to reach the €67.2  million mark thus being the first player to be bought by Perez in his second term as Real Madrid president. Kaka  cited his move as to help Milan improve their financial position, saying Real Madrid was the only club where would have moved.

His International Career is nothing less impressive.  Kaka was called up for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship but they were knocked out after losing to Ghana in the the quarterfinal. Kaka made his debut against Bolivia in the friendly which Brazil won 2-0. Ricrdo was part of the 2002 World Cup winning team but he only played 25 minutes in the first round against Costa Rica. In 2003, Kaka was made captain for  the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. Brazil finished runner-ups as they lost to Mexico in the final. Kaka Scored 3 goals in the tournament

In 2005 , Kaka participated with his national team in 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, playing in all 5 games, winning the championship final against Argentina. Kaka scored 1 goal in the 4-1 win in the final .

the 2006 World cup saw kaka failing to keep up with the momentum of the tournament, only scoring one goal. Brazil was knocked out of the World cup after losing to France in the quarterfinal.

Kaka attributed his absence to play in the 2007 Copa América to his exhaustive schedule. He later returned to play for Brazil against Algeria in a friendly match on August 22, 2007

In 2009, Kaka lead his team to to win the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, scoring 2 goals in one match against Egypt and playing in the 3-2 win against the US in the final.

It is worth noting that when ever Kaka scores, Brazil never loses.

Confederations Cup: Brazil

The Brazilian squad for the Confederations Cup has been announced. Brazil are in Group B where they will be facing Italy, USA and Egypt.

How they got here: 2007 Copa América Champions

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, Italy), Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Victor (Gremio)

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan, Italy), Daniel Alves (FC Barcelona, Spain), Kleber (Internacional), Andre Santos (Corinthians), Juan (AS Roma, Italy), Lucio (Bayern Munich, Germany), Luisao (Benfica, Portugal)

Midfielders: Kleberson (Flamengo), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos, Greece), Josue (Wolfsburg, Germany), Ramires (Cruzeiro), Elano (Manchester City, England), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina, Italy), Julio Baptista (AS Roma, Italy), Kaka (AC Milan, Italy)

Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan, Italy), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla, Spain), Nilmar (Internacional), Robinho (Manchester City, England)

Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were not named in the squad. Alex (Chelsea), Maicon (F.C. Internazionale Milano) and Anderson (Manchester United) were named in the squad but had to drop out due to injury.

I'm looking forward to seeing Pato and Dani Alves play a big part in this tournament they both can really shine. Brazil are playing in the toughest of the two groups going up against the World Champions Italy, the Africian Champions Egypt and hopefully the USA can give Brazil a proformance like they did against Argentina last year.

Come back tomorrow for the Iraqi squad.

The Olympics Effect on La Liga

The Olympics have started and will continue until the end of August, assuming that the particular national team advances all the way to the final games. The recent complaints by the big teams and in light of the recent decision by CAS in favor of the clubs, I thought I would take a look at the Olympics and the affect on La Liga.

Here's the list of players:

SERBIA

Midfielder: Milan Smiljanic (21) (Espanyol, Spain)

ARGENTINA

Goalkeeper: Oscar Ustari (Getafe)

Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol), Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid, on loan to Racing Santander), Federico Fazio (Sevilla)

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Ever Banega (Valencia),

Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona) (OR Marco Ruben, Villareal), Lautaro Acosta (Sevilla).

NETHERLANDS

Midfielder: Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid)

NIGERIA

Forward: Ikechukwu Uche (Getafe)

UNITED STATES

Forward: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)

BELGIUM

Striker: Tom De Mul (22) (Sevilla, Spain)

BRAZIL

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves (23) (Almeira, Spain)

Defenders: Marcelo (20) (Real Madrid, Spain)

Strikers: Rafael Sobis (23) (Real Betis, Spain)

ITALY

Strikers: Giuseppe Rossi (21) (Villareal, Spain)
The latest rulings have probably ruined future Olympics, friendlies and national team tournaments. Especially in regards to European big teams. But if we look at the statistics. Here is the impact on a team by team basis, which in my opinion is not insurmountable.

Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Villarreal - each have allowed 3 players. In fact, should Madrid decide to call back Ezekiel Garay from Racing Santander, Real Madrid will lead with 4 players released.

Espanyol, Getafe, and Valencia - each have allowed 2 players to play at the Olympics.

Almeria, Atletico Madrid, Barçelona, Racing Santander, and Real Betis each have released 1 player to the Olympic games.

What these statistics demonstrate to me, is that the majority of the richer or top teams have been quite generous in releasing players to the Olympics and have not brought matters to the Spanish press. Several smaller teams have been extremely understanding IE Getafe and Espanyol, and have taken a cosmopolitan attitude toward player and national team commitment. This is a global world and it is a shame that some teams are more concerned with money, insurance and club results, rather than a once in a lifetime opportunity for their players.

How Ronaldinho Gets His Groove Back

Well it is official. Ronaldinho has found a new how with a few less dollar signs.

I think this is a very good move for Ronaldinho and has the opportunity to be a great move for Milan.

Let's start with the player. Ronaldinho has not set the world on fire for quit some time now. First things first, lets get him back in shape. Milan love talking about the Milan Labs, now lets work on him. Have him get back into playing shape and ready for the season. We all know Ronaldinho possesses the skills to dazzle millions. But will he change his recent ways in Milan? I think he will. Yes there are still a huge party environment in Milan but I think for at least the mean time he will be good and get back on track by training and watching the weight. How long that lasts well, I hope until the day his contract runs out.

Let's go over to the club. Milan know that his name will sell and sell a lot. He will sell even more for the team if they are performing well on the pitch. Which takes me to my next point, as long as Milan do well on the pitch, we really can't complain.

I am looking forward to this season beginning and I am hopeful we will see Ronaldinho back at his best entertaining millions and winning games for Milan.

Ronaldo: O Fenomeno

It's a shame really. You know him as the fat-nomeno, a caricature of a carioca forward, butt of a thousand Real Madrid jokes, last remnant of a Galactico winter, but those like me who remember 1994, when Brazil won the World Cup against favored Italy, the name Ronaldo still carries weight.

For me, he was the paciest player I have ever seen. At PSV he was, a gangly center forward, just off the shuttle from Brazil, spending two fruitful years in Eindhoven bagging 42 goals in 46 appearances and drawing notice from Barcelona, leaving for the waiting arms of Sir Bobby Robson and big time European football.

We often forget how dominant a forward he really was at his heights. He pulled Brazil almost singlehandedly into the 2002 World Cup, won the Golden Shoe scoring eight goals, and lifting the trophy for the selecao. He was called up for the last 4 World Cups, playing in three, becoming the greatest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup. He trails only Pele and Zico as the greatest international goal scorers in the history of the Brazilian national team. In 11 years playing on the biggest stage, for three of the biggest clubs in the world (Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid), Ronaldo scored 166 goals.

Despite all the accomplishments, we often note that he never won the Champions League and that his clubs often struggled to win league titles with him. We remember him for the weird soul-patch haircut on his forehead, the weirder chia-pet one for Milan, the epileptic seizures that took him before the 1998 World Cup final against France, and the devastating knee injuries that robbed him of most of his pace, but none of skill and panache on the ball. Instead of remembering him for his perseverance, returning to play for Inter after many had written him off, we call him a mercenary for repaying Moratti's loyalty by taking Real Madrid's money and leaving for Spain. We call him an destabilizing force, a poor teammate, undedicated, and the worst of the Galactico policy.

We even remember him more for his personal life, filled with a litany of Brazilian supermodels, television presenters, singers and actresses. We see the fast cars, the easy money, and the high life. We see him slow down, gain weight and we call him lazy. Even the President of Brazil calls him fat and lazy.

We all age and change, but a phenomenon has no business being human, he is constantly compared to the player he was, even if he has a lot left to give. It would be so much easier if he went away, if we could just remember the good times, then he could be a legend one that burned brightly and flamed out, rather than the one who lagged about and overstayed his welcome.

Now he has injured himself again. A twin injury to his first, one in rossoneri compared to one in nerazzurri. We blame Milan labs, or the PSV doctors, or the Brazilians themselves, and again we ignore the player. We continue to ignore the man for the myth. We break down our idols after building them up. Will we be able to appreciate his skill only after he has retired?

I think he still has a great deal to play for and to play towards. Is it in Brazil or in the U.S.? Who knows. Remember, he is younger than Hernan Crespo, David Beckham, Alessandro Del Piero, Clarence Seedorf and Fernando Morientes. He is only slightly older than Thierry Henry and Raul Gonzalez, and he is the same age within days of Francesco Totti. I think he has earned a right to choose for himself.

He is not just a commodity, a manufactured image, a poster on a wall. Nike's football savior, until they find another one, a younger, slimmer model with rock star good looks, and pretty step-overs, but none of the definition and serene finishing. Despite sharing the same name, and a common language, this new Ronaldo (Cristiano) will never fill the shoes of Ronaldo Luis Nazario da Lima. Ronaldinho before Ronaldinho.  O Fenomeno.

Forza Futbol Interviews - Tim Vickery

Tim Vickery is an English football journalist who has lived in Brazil since 1994. He currently serves as the South American football correspondent for the BBC, writing a weekly column for the corporation online. Vickery frequently contributes to World Soccer and Sports Illustrated, is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and has an affection for F.C Barcelona. His favourite footballer of all-time is the Brazilian holding midfield player, Toninho Cerezo.
He is perhaps best known for his work on The World Football Phone-in, which airs weekly as part of Up All Night on BBC Radio 5 Live on Saturday mornings. On the show Vickery is known as the 'Legendinho' or 'Vikipedia' for his vast knowledge of Brazilian football.

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