World Cup Preview: 3 Weeks to South Africa

Twenty-one days until the best sports month in four years: the World Cup in South Africa. A quick guide to how some the region's teams are shaping up, with my amateur handicapping included (Full disclosure of the depth of my knowledge: I won a bag of peanuts on a bus in Panama last week for being the only person on the bus who could name Italy as the 2006 champ).

Honduras: Carlos Costly broke a bone in his foot and will miss the Cup, making it even tougher for the Catrachos to get out of their extremely difficult group that also includes Chile and reigning Euro Cup champs Spain.

Prediction: Eliminated first round

USA: An easy first group and some really fantastic players: Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore are dangerous up front. José Torres, known as "El Gringo" when he plays with Pachucha of the Mexican league, is developing into a strong midfielder and captain Carlos Bocanegra anchors a defense ahead of one of the world's best goalies in Tim Howard. Not making it out of the group with be a big disappointment.

Prediction: Advance to quarterfinals.

Argentina: Would have the most talented attacking front in the world if they only had Lionel Messi. "La Pulga" is simply playing at a different level from everyone else in the world. Add Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain and Man City's Carlos Tevez and Argentina seems like it should be the clear favorite. Unfortunately for Los Pibes, Diego Maradona is their coach, and his team struggled to qualify for the Cup while Maradona was close to crazy.

Prediction: Advance to final.

Brazil: For a change, not the top pick to take home the Cup. Dazzling playmaker Kaka has struggled with injury in his first year with Los Merengues of Real Madrid but insists he'll be in top form come cup time. Can never count them out, but this seems like a somewhat down year for Brazil.

Prediction: Advance to semi-finals.

My winner: England take home their first cup since 1966, beating Maradona's Argentina to avenge his "Hand of God" handball that robbed them in '86.

Thoughts, comments and/or patriotic rants (it's the World Cup, after all!) are welcome.

Online Sources: ESPN Soccernet, El Heraldo, YouTube

Image Source: Football-wallpapers.com

Daily Headlines: June 16, 2009

* Mexico: Rest in peace Carlos Pardo; the NASCAR Mexico Series driver was killed in this horrific accident on Sunday in a race that he posthumously won.

* Latin America: An Argentine baby became the country’s first swine flu fatality yesterday while visitors have been temporarily barred from visiting the Krome immigrant detention center due to three infected detainees.

* Brazil: A ninetieth minute penalty converted by Kaka proved to be decisive as Brazil eked by Egypt 4-3 in its opening Confederations Cup match.

* Dominican Republic: Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm PDVSA will buy a 49% stake in a Dominican Republic refinery days before Hugo Chavez is to visit the country.

Image- examiner.com
Online Sources- BBC Sport, Reuters, UPI, Guardian UK

Kaka to join Real Madrid (updated)

Update (10.00pm):

Real Madrid announced that they signed Kaka to a six-year deal including a record $90 million transfer fee. That is expected to be confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday formally introducing the Brazilian to the historic soccer side. (Link via Guardian UK).

Original Post:

Brazilian international Kaka is about to say “ciao” to Italy in a megabucks deal to be soon announced.

Though he told the Italian press that he would not leave AC Milan, the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year has cleared a physical as part of a rumored transfer to Spain’s Real Madrid. A statement by the Brazilian Football Federation confirmed that a Real Madrid doctor examined the star midfielder in Recife where he’s training for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier versus Paraguay.

The planned transfer fee for Kaka is would be a new record for a soccer player: an unprecedented $100 million. Yet it’s all part of a plan to rebuild Real Madrid into a super-expensive, superstar-filled squad:

Returning Real president Florentino Perez was previously in charge of the Spanish club from 2000 to 2006 - during the famous Galacticos era.

That resulted in the spending of large fees to bring the likes of Ronaldo (£23.2m), David Beckham (£24.5m), Luis Figo (£37m) and Zinedine Zidane (£45.6m) to the club.

Perez's comeback is on the back of a pledge to relaunch another Galacticos era, with Kaka one of his chief targets.

Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said last week that any transfer of Kaka would be done for "solely economic" reasons. Galliani added that the club was losing about $99 million yearly and “we can't afford to miss out on $100 million."

Back in January, Kaka rejected a $100 million transfer to join fellow countryman Robinho to play for Manchester City.

Image- CNN
Online Sources- CNN, The Latin Americanist, goal.com, Guardian UK, BBC Sport, ESPN

Daily Headlines: July 23, 2008

* Latin America: It may be months before the first iPhone gets sold in Brazil, yet over 100,000 subscribers have signed up for the device in the past two weeks according to an exec with Mexico's America Movil.

* Mexico: Five South Koreans kidnapped for ransom in Mexico have been released according to the Korean government.

* Ecuador: President Rafael Correa has a 54% approval rating based on a Cedatos/Gallup poll conducted earlier this month.

* Brazil: Soccer star Kaka may not be leaving AC Milan for English side Chelsea but will he move to Spain’s Real Madrid instead?

Image- New York Times

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, AFP, Angus Reid Global Monitor, CNN, The Sports Network

Daily Headlines: December 17, 2007

* Brazilian Kaka’s goal and two assists were key in leading AC Milan to a 4-2 win in the World Club Cup final over Argentine side Boca Juniors.

* The American Bar Association backtracked from naming former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales “Lawyer of the Year” and will instead deem him “Newsmaker of the Year”.

* Central American gangs have undergone an “extreme makeover” in their recruiting and operations, according to the Associated Press.

* The first joint space launch between Brazil and Argentina was carried out successfully yesterday.

* Follow-up: Last week’s floods and rains caused by Tropical Storm Olga in the Caribbean has raised the official death count to 38 people.

Sources- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, USA TODAY, Wonkette, Associated Press

Image- BBC Sport

News briefs – Soccer

* South American giants Boca Juniors will play European champion A.C. Milan on Sunday for the World Club Cup championship. The Xeneizes won over the Italian squad in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup.

* Brazilian striker Kaka can add another award to his mantel; on Thursday he was named as World Player of the Year by World Soccer magazine. Argentina’s Lionel Messi came in second though he was named as Sports Illustrated Latino’s 2007 Sportsman of the Year.

* For some teams, 2007 has been the year of the underdog:

• Lanus won the latest Argentine championship for the first time in their 93-year history.
• Argentina's Arsenal upset Mexico’s Cub America to win the Copa Sudamericana.
• Provincial side San Jose won the Bolivian league title.
  
• Atlante captured the Mexican championship for the first time since 1993.
  
• La Equidad is in the finals of the Colombian league championship despite playing in their first year in the top division.
  

* Though players like Juan Pablo Angel and Cuauhtémoc Blanco flourished last season in Major League Soccer, one Latin American player brought in under the “Beckham Rule” has been an utter disappointment. FC Dallas dropped the option of resigning Brazil’s Denilson; the former international tallied one goal and eight assists during the 2007 season.

* Speaking of designated players and MLS, Argentina’s Olé reported that Juan Sebastian Veron will stay with domestic side Estudiantes de La Plata instead of accepting a “lucrative offer” from D.C. United. (Hat tip: Soccer by Ives).

Sources- Telgraph.co.uk, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, ESPN Soccernet, Goal.com, The Sports Network, Wikipedia, Soccer by Ives

Image- CNN (“Neri Cardozo celebrates after scoring the winner for Boca Juniors against Etoile Sahel”)

News briefs – Soccer

* Brazilian star Kaka will win the former European Footballer of the Year award, according to the Italian media.

* Meanwhile, FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned of the “real danger” of Brazilian players nationalizing their citizenship to play for national teams worldwide.

* Argentina kept its number one FIFA ranking as the world’s top soccer nation.

* The World Cup qualifying draw for several regions was held this weekend including CONCACAF. Mexico earned a tough draw according to soccer analyst Ives Galarcep, while the U.S. might have to play against Cuba.

* In qualifying action in South America last Wednesday Paraguay tops the table after its 3-0 shutout of Chile, Brazil came back to beat Uruguay 2-1 (image), and Ecuador walloped Peru 5-1.

* Seven fans were killed in Bahia, Brazil after part of a stand collapsed in the middle of a game.

Sources- Xinhua, Soccer by Ives, New York Times, Bloomberg, Sports Network, Guardian UK, BBC News

Image- International Herald Tribune