Crazy soccer

Robinho’s tenure in England keeps getting better, for those quasi-humorously writing about it.

West Yorkshire Police arrested the 25-year-old Brazilian, over allegations of “serious sexual assault” Jan. 14 at the Space nightclub in Leeds.

Robinho cooperated, and was released “pending further inquiries.” He returned to training and was in the lineup for today’s match against Newcastle.

The arrest comes a day after Robinho returned from an unauthorized jaunt home to Brazil, for which he was fined the maximum £320,000. His trip was not a coincidental flit of fancy. His birthday was on Sunday. He also had expressed frustration about City’s failure to land Kaka.

Rare for a Brazilian footballer, Robinho is known to like the ladies. At an October 2007 party for the Brazilian National Team party, he reportedly asked a subordinate to bring him 40 condoms. Presumably, (or hopefully) the sheaths were not entirely for his personal use.

Robinho’s involvement in the assault case is unclear. What is clear is that, despite performing well on the pitch, 12 goals in 19 appearances, he’s not the happiest camper at Eastlands, and the club hasn’t been particularly enamored with his antics.

Unfortunately for both, he will be at City for a while. No club, in this economic climate, will approach his £32.5m transfer fee. No club will pay nearly £160,000 per week salary. Such is the folly of paying top dollar.

Filed under: Football, Soccer , Brazil, Manchester City, Robinho, Sexual Assault

Santa Cruz, the Paraguay international who has been sidelined since March with a knee injury, has sealed confirm his transfer from Ewood Park to Eastlands for an undisclosed sum, although sources close to the deal suggest an initial down payment of £16 million, rising to £18m based on goals and appearances.

Santa Cruz becomes City's second major signing of the summer following the £12m purchase of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa earlier this month and the club are now hopeful of closing a £25.5m deal for Carlos Tevez following the Argentine's decision not to accept the offer of a five-year contract at Manchester United.

Barring a late move by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who is keen to land a major signing for new manager Carlo Ancelotti after failing to attract a marquee acquisition so far this summer, City are confident that they will be in pole position to sign Tevez in the coming days.

The successful conclusion of the 12-month pursuit of Santa Cruz, does not affect plans to add Tevez and Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o to the Eastlands strike-force.

Mark Hughes, the City manager, identified the need to acquire a proven target-man shortly after his arrival at City last summer and Santa Cruz, a player he signed for Blackburn, has always been his favoured signing to tick that particular box.

With only Jan signing Craig Bellamy likely to have a long-term future among City's current forward line, Hughes also pinpointed the need for two top-class forwards to play off the target man and both Tevez and Eto'o remain top of his wanted list.

Barcelona remain determined to retain Eto'o, however. The Cameroon striker is out of contract at the Nou Camp at the end of next season and the European champions will sell if he fails to agree a new deal, but Barcelona President Joan Laporta admits that they are still striving to keep the player.

Laporta said: "Eto'o ends his contract next season and that means we have to sit down and talk. The club would like him to be here for a lot more years, but only in line with our salary structure."

Here is my latest post for The Big Lead. The title explains fairly, what the article is about.

Filed under: Football, MLS, Serie A, Soccer , AC Milan, David Beckham, England, LA Galaxy

Cristiano Ronaldo has copyrighted “CR9” in his home country of Portugal, sparking even further speculation he’s off to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo already owns “CR7,” emblazoned on a boutique and other merchandise.

Should he move to Real Madrid, however, Ronaldo would need to change his number as Raul already wears the number 7 shirt.

The 23-year-old already announced he’s learning Spanish. A Portuguese bank has a sponsorship deal with him that kicks in, if he moves to Spain.

The only worse kept secret than Ronaldo moving to Real Madrid next summer is LeBron signing with the Knicks in 2010.

Filed under: Football, Soccer , CR9, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Real Madrid

Kaká returns for the World Cup qualiiers vs Venezuela and Colombia October 2008

Discover Brazil’s new Kakás and Robinhos here

Brazil’s squad for Chile and Bolivia September 2008 here

Brazil international, Kaká, is set to undergo surgery on his left knee and will not be available for his country’s friendlies against Canada and Venezuela in the USA on 31^st May and 6^th June.

The player will be operated on in the Pasteur hospital in Rio de Janeiro on Friday 22^nd May and will need around two weeks to recover.

Kaka though, should be available for Brazil’s World cup qualifiers vs. Paraguay and Argentina on the 14^th and 18^th June.

AC Milan decided to operate now because the midfielder is not due to be back with the Italians until September.

(update 30 May) Today, Brazil coach Dunga admitted that he was more or less resigned to the fact that he will be without Kaká for Brazil’s Beijing Olimpic campaign because the midfielder’s club are unlikely to release him for the tournament.

Barcelona Team

James Milner
Aston Villa



Name: James Milner
Date of Birth (age): 4. 01. 86 (23)
Place of Birth: Leeds, England
Position: Winger
International: Has made a record 40 appearances for England U-21’s. Is in the current England squad.

Club: Aston Villa
Squad Number: 8

Previous Club(s): Leeds United, Swindon Town (loan), Newcastle United.

Profile
The record holder for most England...

James Milner
Aston Villa



Name: James Milner
Date of Birth (age): 4. 01. 86 (23)
Place of Birth: Leeds, England
Position: Winger
International: Has made a record 40 appearances for England U-21’s. Is in the current England squad.

Club: Aston Villa
Squad Number: 8

Previous Club(s): Leeds United, Swindon Town (loan), Newcastle United.

Profile
The record holder for most England...

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Jonny Evans
Manchester United




Name: Jonathan Evans
Date of Birth (age): 02. 01. 88 (21)
Place of Birth: Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Position: Centre Back
International: 12 full international caps for Northern Ireland

Club: Manchester United
Squad Number: 23

Previous Clubs: Royal Antwerp (loan), Sunderland (loan).

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In football there are well-known pantomime villains, like Robbie Savage. Fans love to boo Savage, but the majority don't really hate him because at least he appears to have some sense of irony and self-awareness: he knows what he is (he's Vinnie Jones Lite, with added vanity and girl's hair).

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Carlos Cuellar has warned Cristiano Ronaldo that he will struggle to make an impact on Spanish football if his mooted transfer to Real Madrid goes ahead.



Speaking in AS, the Aston Villa defender stated his belief that Ronaldo’s power is perfectly suited to the Premier League, but a move to the Bernabéu and La Liga would not be beneficial to the Portuguese star.

"I am not sure that our league would be the...

Carlos Cuellar has warned Cristiano Ronaldo that he will struggle to make an impact on Spanish football if his mooted transfer to Real Madrid goes ahead.



Speaking in AS, the Aston Villa defender stated his belief that Ronaldo’s power is perfectly suited to the Premier League, but a move to the Bernabéu and La Liga would not be beneficial to the Portuguese star.

"I am not sure that our league would be the...

NEWCASTLE UNITED love to do things the hard way. After a lacklustre display at Bolton, many had already written off the Manchester United game and made Hull City away a week on Saturday the main priority.




Yet, Newcastle United, captained by Steve Harper, dared to win last night and proved more than a match for the reigning World, European and Premier League champions. If such desire and diligence had been shown from the start at the Reebok Stadium last...