RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Kaka will not play in Brazil's World Cup qualifier against Ecuador on Sunday because his injured left foot has not recovered in time.
"I spoke with coach Dunga and we agreed that since Kaka is not in his best shape and he still feels some pain, we will leave him in Brazil," team doctor Jose Luiz Runco said on Friday before the team left for Quito.
Kaka's spot on Sunday will be filled by Ronaldinho Gaucho, an AC Milan teammate.
Ronaldinho's presence "is an additional motivation because he hasn't been playing in Milan and he will have the opportunity to show his progress," Dunga said.
Kaka injured his foot while playing for the Italian club this month.
Runco said Kaka will go to the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre for physical therapy and treatment.
Runco was noncommittal when asked whether Kaka would play next Wednesday in Brazil's qualifier against Peru, saying only that he would not allow a situation that threatens an athlete's health.
"When we are using a player for the Brazilian selection, we are using a high-level player borrowed from another institution, which we need to respect, so that the athlete has recovered when he returns to that institution," Runco said.
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Monday, March 30, 2009
Kaka will miss Brazil qualifier against Ecuador
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly
Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly
The Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly firm ground football shoes come in orange, abyss and silver color. This shoe will be manufactured using the latest technology in sports research. This new technology allows the shoes to have speed, flexibility and provide added support to the foot. The technology is called the Nike Flywire Technology.
Nike Flywire technology is derived from the suspension bridge. Just like high-strength cables on a suspension bridge, the Vapor Superfly has a threads delivering engineered support just where it’s needed. This technology helps the footwear manufacturers to reduce the amount of material for the upper of a boot to the bare minimum without compromising on the durability and support.
According to Nike, The Mercurial Vapor Superfly is the lightest and the fastest boot to be made yet. This boot will fit in to the modern gameplay as managers are looking for players who are quick on their feet.
Here, take a close look at the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly:
Get your own Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly now and Lets kick some balls!
SOURCE
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Barcelona FC Jersey
Product Review- 2008/09 Barcelona Jersey
by Juan Arango
La Gent Blaugrana are once again following their “Unconditional Love” this season as they try to come back from two consecutive down years and obtain possible historic Spanish treble. The Nike Barcelona Long Sleeve Home Jersey for 2008-2009 is one of the most aesthetically pleasing jerseys in recent years and is most reminiscent of the jersey they wore during the Centenary Season.
Barcelona Centenary Jersey
Consider it as Sunday’s best for the football fan. Many might consider a long sleeved jersey as stuffy or cumbersome; it is further from the truth. The jersey does not only feel comfortable, it “feels like Barca”. Wearing this jersey in the brisk fall Saturday or Sunday en route to the Nou Camp, to any other pitch the Blaugrana play at, or simply your favorite pub or friend’s house completes the football experience that you are looking for. In the back of the jersey, instead of a generic tag, Nike placed the lyrics to the El Cant del Barca. It is the same one that plays all throughout the Nou Camp whenever the Blaugrana play in front of the 100,000-plus fans that will them on to victory.
It is part of the immersion that many fans, both hardcore and novice, are looking for. The jersey brings home the history of the club and it does so in style. I personally like the long sleeves over the short. Whenever I can get a jersey that is long sleeved, I go for it. Maybe that is the old-school goalkeeper in me. There is an elegance that the long sleeves give any uniform sans stuffiness that jerseys of the past might have offered, especially in warmer weather.
What are you waiting for? Get your own FC Barcelona Jersey today!
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Football's Global Face
David Beckham: The Man, the Myth, the Marketeer
by Matthew Maloney
Let's face it, David Beckham is the most well-known footballer on the planet, and if anyone can claim to be 'The' ambassador for lo Joga Bonito—believe it or not, he's the one.
Having appeared on the famous covers of numerous and especially, diverse magazines like Men's Health, Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair, and yes, even the odd football magazine, he is undoubtedly the face many will associate with football worldwide, from Japan to America to England and back. If ever there was one man who could surely make that envious claim, sadly, it is he.
How could it of come to this?! How did David Beckham become football's global face? Well first let's examine the man.
Having played for the three biggest clubs in the three biggest football leagues in world football (Man Utd, Real Madrid, and now AC Milan) and having, on paper, a career many would die for (6 PLs, 1 CL, 2 FA Cups, La Liga, English Football Hall of Fame), Beckham has also received a ludicrous amount of public and civilian awards and honours (among them an OBE, Time 100 - 2008, 'Britain's Greatest Ambassador', UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador).
International football community recognition however has been lukewarm, especially in comparison to his status in the game as its most famous son. An appearance in Pele's FIFA 100 (something a contemptuous retard like El Hadji Diouf made it into, now of Blackburn, formerly of Sunderland and Bolton) and an American ESPY award or two aside, his notable achievements in this area have been two runners-up spots in the FIFA world player (1999, 2001) and a UEFA European competition club footballer of the year award in 1999 (Was he really that singularly indispensable to United's European Cup victory that season? Roy Keane might disagree, but thats another debate.)
I know football is a team game and someone could well counter that it is only team achievements that matter (and on that regard Beckham does well) but if an individual footballer is worth $250m over five years, you would think he would have the badges and individual accolades to prove it.
Besides, the idea that individuals don't matter is passe and the theory one man cannot create a team is more than arguable (for example see: Maradonna winning Argentina the 1986 WC, or a list of Steven Gerrard led miracle Liverpool victories). God knows many other lesser lights have won many team awards as 'passengers' for all intents and purposes (we're looking at you Phil Neville, Winston Bogarde, Dida, Geremi etc)—whether Beckham has been what I like to call a passenger or an instigator through his career is yet another debate.
Perhaps the most explicit point to be made here about the man is that at no point in Beckham's admittedly glittering career would I or, I suspect, most people, have classified David as the best player in the world, nevermind of his generation.
This is where the myth of Beckham comes into play in understanding his overwhelming fame.
David and Victoria Beckham have been Britain's golden tabloid couple for at least a decade now. As former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson once commented, he kept David Beckham as captain from Peter Taylor's caretaker reign because 'he was the most famous and well known' (Well gee, I guess England internationals shouldn't have to put up with a captain nobody really knows about).
The myth, which I will later call the brand, centres around phrases and watchwords like 'metrosexuality', 'the modern man', 'the golden boy of his generation' (or goldenballs, if you prefer), 'international superstar' and of course 'Posh & Becks'.
Towards the end of Beckham's Manchester United career, even Sir Alex Ferguson had begun to think the David Beckham on his books was a doppelganger pop star as opposed to the typical elite footballer he had become adept at dealing with.
David Beckham has been mentioned in the same breath as the words 'pioneer' and 'saviour' when it comes to 'soccer' in America. However, even the most optimistic prognosis has deemed Beckham's long term impact on promoting the American game over his two-year sojourn as minimal. In fact if anything I would (and will) argue that Beckham has done more to promote himself during his stay there.
Likewise visions of screaming teenage Asian girls at airports and sultry black and white photos of him in my sister's bedroom (and lets admit it, most of our sister's bedrooms) highlight his sex appeal. (If only Beckham was really a drug dealer, my sister would profess an undying love for the man.) No doubt Beckham's looks have added to the caricature of the 'perfect man' and allowed many female fans more opportunity to buy into the myth.
It is at international level however where the myth of David Beckham really comes into play. David Beckham is set to break the great Bobby Moore's outfield England record—but unlike Moore, Beckham as captain or squad member has never come close to emulating his achievements on the pitch, and most certainly not a World Cup.
Free kick against Greece aside, many of Beckham's most memorable events in a Three Lions shirt have been infamous or disappointing.
As of now, I think, David Beckham is Hotter than me already. sigh
