Ronaldinho says smile is back on his face

MILAN, Italy — Ronaldinho said on Tuesday that he is finally happy again playing for Brazilian compatriot Leonardo at AC Milan.

The Italians tackle Real Madrid in the Champions League at the San Siro on Wednesday as the two most successful clubs in European competition go head to head for the second time in two weeks.

The 29-year-old has endured a difficult last two seasons, proving to be a shadow of the player he once was when he inspired Barcelona to Champions League glory and won successive world player of the year awards.

But he has been improving lately, and proving decisive for Milan by creating many crucial goals recently.

"With Leonardo (the coach) I'm happy. Football is like this, right now I feel good and I'm happy," Ronaldinho said.

"And when I feel like this, things work better. What's the secret? I've worked hard and I've had the time to do so.

"The coach and the physio are helping me, I'm going onto the pitch at 100 percent and my body is responding, things are coming easier to me.

"Last season I didn't play much, now I'm playing more and the coach has confidence in me."

Ronaldinho actually made a pretty good start to his Milan career last season, scoring the winner in the Milan derby with a rare header.

But injury and some ill-discipline during the winter break affected the second half of his season, in which he struggled to earn a place in the starting line up and rarely bristled even when he did play.

All he wants now is to start adding goals to his repertoire.

"I'm delighted to help my team-mates, I'm providing assists but I want to do better by scoring goals," he added.

"I'm expecting a great night for the whole team and I want to give my all."

Leonardo has been trying to boost his player's confidence by claiming he would go down in history as one of the greatest of all time.

"Surely we have to insert Ronaldinho in the list of the top 10 players of all time," he said before turning attentions to Wednesday's game.

"These matches between Milan and Real have a history all of their own. Our results have been good, we've got a good atmosphere and it's always the right time for a game like this."

Milan are sweating over the fitness of centre-back Alessandro Nesta while Leonardo will have to decide who out of Filippo Inzaghi and Marco Borriello will partner Ronaldinho and Pato in his three-man attack.

While the game is probably the biggest in Europe this week, it is not a winner takes all clash for these two.

Whatever the result in this Group C match they will both come out of it still in a good position to qualify for the Champions League knock-out stages.

They both have six points with Marseille and FC Zurich three points back and Real's Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini is thinking more about top spot than qualifying.

"Both teams are aiming for first place in the group and will be trying to win," he said.

"We'll have a go from the first minute and we'll see what happens but I'm sure we'll play a great match."

Pellegrini also insisted his team had not taken Milan lightly in their first match in the Bernabeu, where the Italians scored a shock 3-2 win.

"We weren't over-confident, until they equalised (at 1-1) we had controlled the game," he said.

"Then we lost our shape and with the great players they have, Milan made the most of that."

Despite not scoring in six matches, France forward Karim Benzema looks likely to start alongside Argentine Gonzalo Higuain in attack with Raul dropping to the bench.

Kaka and the Backstreet Boys

MANCHESTER CITY’S Brazilian star striker Robinho has tried to embarrass his international teammate Kaka upon the former AC Milan attacker’s transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid by making public knowledge the €67.2 million (RM319.6m)-rated player’s love for popular 1990’s boyband, the Backstreet Boys.

When asked about the musical preferences of the 27-year-old Kaka, Robinho, himself a former player of Real, is reported to have said to the press, “Kaka? Music? He will only listen to the Backstreet Boys!”

The Backstreet Boys, a boy band, are best known for their smash-hits such as: Quit Playing Games With My Heart, As Long As You Love Me and Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely.

Kaka could car-pool’ with Manchester United’s £80 million (RM465.4m) star Cristiano Ronaldo, should they both live in the same vicinity of Real’s Santiago Bernabeu home, as the Portugal international is also partial to the odd cheesy single and is said to have Phil Collins in his CD-rack.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s attacking teammate of five years, Wayne Rooney, is said to be friends with rap mogul P Diddy (formerly known as Puff Daddy) after the England international, together with his wife, Colleen McLoughlin, won a weekend with the Come With Me star during a fund-raising bash hosted by David Beckham.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Stuart Taylor has become the third signing of the summer for City from from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee.

Taylor who followed the same path of midfielder Gareth Barry, and also traded Villa Park for the City of Manchester Stadium, and manager Mark Hughes were delighted to have sealed the deal. The other player signed is Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn Rovers.

“We are delighted to be able to add a goalkeeper of Taylor’s undoubted calibre to the squad,” Hughes told the club’s website. “He is still a fairly young goalkeeper at 28 but he provides a wealth of experience and reliability.”

Taylor will provide cover and competition for firstchoice Shay Given, and will also pave the way for Joe Hart to leave the club on a loan deal in order to secure first-team football in the build-up to the World Cup in South Africa next year.

Hart is keen to play regular football so that he can play his way into contention for England boss Fabio Capello’s 2010 squad.


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Kaka ready to assume more responsibility

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AFP) — Superstar Kaka, buoyed by his recent high-profile move from AC Milan to Real Madrid, is ready to accept more responsibility as a senior player with Brazil.
The 27-year-old, who signed a six-year contract with the Spanish giants for a reported fee of 65 million euros earlier this month, recognises his growing stature as a senior player in Dunga's national team.
His willingness to step up was evident in Brazil's 4-3 victory over Egypt in the Confederations Cup here.
When the referee blew for a penalty in injury time with the scores tied 3-3, the Brazil No.10 showed no hesitation, immediately making his way to the spot before placing his strike past goalkeeper Essam El Hadary.
"Yes, I'm now a leader within the squad. Definitely not the only one, but one of several," he told Fifa.com.
"It is to be expected that more senior players such as myself, Gilberto Silva, Lucio or even Robinho should take on more responsibilities.
"It's a role that I take in my stride as it's a natural progression, it's not something that was forced upon me."
His decision to step forward for the penalty kick in a pressure situation was seen by many as a defining moment and one that he said he had learned to handle during his time at AC Milan.
"I think that my attitude is what people expect from me in the national team," said the midfielder, who will link up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Real next season after the Portuguese forward's move from Manchester United.
"As for the crucial penalty against Egypt, for example, I'm used to those situations from my last few seasons at AC Milan, so it's only natural that I should perform a similar role for the national team."
Kaka was at AC Milan since arriving from Sao Paolo in 2003, scoring 70 goals in Serie A and 23 in the Champions League.
He won the 2007 Champions League with them, the 2004 league title, two European Super Cups and the world club championship in 2007.
His experience also stretches to World Cups.
He was part of the winning squad at Korea/Japan in 2002, though in a peripheral role, and was a starter at Germany 2006 in a team packed with household names like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Ronaldinho.
Despite his high-profile summer transfer the Brasilia-born attacking midfielder, crowned FIFA World Player of the Year in 2007, was not at his best last season, spending time on the sidelines with injuries.
But he is now fit and gnashing at the bit, keen to see Brazil win the Confederations Cup and do well at the World Cup in South Africa next year.
"Playing in the Confederations Cup is a great opportunity ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and as long as we remain strong in adversity like against Egypt, I think we'll be on the right track," he said.


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United States 0 - 3 Brazil PreviewReportMatchLive CommentaryGameCast Robinho wants Brazil to find their composure

Striker Robinho would like to see a more focused display from Brazil when they take on the United States in their second group game of the Confederations Cup in Pretoria on Thursday.
The Manchester City star and his team-mates were given an almighty scare in their first game against Egypt, which looked to be heading for a 3-3 draw before Kaka netted a late winner from the penalty spot.The three points against the African champions spared Selecao's blushes as they moved top of Group B, a position they currently share with Italy."It could have been a lot easier for us but Egypt deserve a lot of credit for fighting back in the second half," Robinho said. "We maybe lost our composure for a few minutes there but the most important thing was that we won."In the next game against USA we'll be working hard to make sure we don't make those errors again, because we'll be coming up against another quality team."Dunga's team came into the tournament after back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins against Uruguay and Paraguay, games the coach said added to his players' fatigue. But the defending champions will be keen to seal their place in the semi-final with another victory at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.New Real Madrid signing Kaka added: "We expected it to be a very tough opening match and we're very happy to leave here having got the job done in what is a very tight group."Playing in the Confederations Cup is a great opportunity ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and as long as we remain strong during the difficult periods, like against Egypt, I think we'll be on the right track. In a short tournament with decisive matches, that's all that matters. We've got the three points we wanted and now we're in a position to reach the semi-finals."On the other hand, the Americans were left without a point after their opening game against the Italians, despite turning in an encouraging display.The CONCACAF winners lost 3-1, but were 1-0 up at half-time, despite having a man sent off.But they were stretched in the second half before eventually going down, and captain Landon Donovan knows they need a big performance tomorrow."After losing our opener, this game against Brazil is now a must-win for us," he said. "We know we can give a hard game to any team we meet and Brazil will be no different."We need to put the first game with Italy behind us and bounce back by getting it right at Brazil."Coach Bob Bradley is also hoping for a turnaround.He said: "To play against a team like Italy and be down a man takes extra strong efforts on a lot of parts, and I thought that part was good from my team. Unfortunately playing with a man less took its toll. But it's only the first game of the group, and now we move on."


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Robinho wants Brazil to find their composure

Striker Robinho would like to see a more focused display from Brazil when they take on the United States in their second group game of the Confederations Cup in Pretoria on Thursday.The Manchester City star and his team-mates were given an almighty scare in their first game against Egypt, which looked to be heading for a 3-3 draw before Kaka netted a late winner from the penalty spot.The three points against the African champions spared Selecao's blushes as they moved top of Group B, a position they currently share with Italy."It could have been a lot easier for us but Egypt deserve a lot of credit for fighting back in the second half," Robinho said. "We maybe lost our composure for a few minutes there but the most important thing was that we won."In the next game against USA we'll be working hard to make sure we don't make those errors again, because we'll be coming up against another quality team."Dunga's team came into the tournament after back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins against Uruguay and Paraguay, games the coach said added to his players' fatigue. But the defending champions will be keen to seal their place in the semi-final with another victory at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.New Real Madrid signing Kaka added: "We expected it to be a very tough opening match and we're very happy to leave here having got the job done in what is a very tight group."Playing in the Confederations Cup is a great opportunity ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and as long as we remain strong during the difficult periods, like against Egypt, I think we'll be on the right track. In a short tournament with decisive matches, that's all that matters. We've got the three points we wanted and now we're in a position to reach the semi-finals."On the other hand, the Americans were left without a point after their opening game against the Italians, despite turning in an encouraging display.The CONCACAF winners lost 3-1, but were 1-0 up at half-time, despite having a man sent off.But they were stretched in the second half before eventually going down, and captain Landon Donovan knows they need a big performance tomorrow."After losing our opener, this game against Brazil is now a must-win for us," he said. "We know we can give a hard game to any team we meet and Brazil will be no different."We need to put the first game with Italy behind us and bounce back by getting it right at Brazil."Coach Bob Bradley is also hoping for a turnaround.He said: "To play against a team like Italy and be down a man takes extra strong efforts on a lot of parts, and I thought that part was good from my team. Unfortunately playing with a man less took its toll. But it's only the first game of the group, and now we move on."


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Brazil coach Dunga takes big gamble

It’s weird. Brazil arrive in Johannesburg this week and nobody’s making a fuss.

The last time Brazil dropped by, for that wonderful 3-2 friendly victory over Bafana Bafana in 1997, South Africa was practically speaking in tongues.

Since then, we’ve grown up a bit, while Brazil have slipped a floor in the elevator of world football. Spain have usurped their position as the most stylish team in world football and coach Carlos Dunga’s talent pool is strangely patchy.

Dunga isn’t even thinking about the Confederations Cup — first, he must negotiate a treacherous World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Wednesday.

And the squad that will cross the Atlantic a day later is a brave, experimental one.

For us lowly mortals, picking a national football team is a simple culinary task. Pick the two best players in each position — using cold statistics as your measure — then season lightly with one chilli-hot youngster. Stir vigorously for two weeks and serve hot. Voila!

But Dunga is no lowly mortal. Like every other guardian of the Seleçao (Brazilian team), he is mandated to make football history. That requires a visionary, not just a humdrum chef kow- towing to an easy recipe.

So Dunga craves a vindication rush: that sweet moment when a risky selection triumphs, thus proving everybody wrong but the much-maligned genius in the dugout.

Carlos Alberto Parreira also chased the vindication rush when he was in charge. He got it in 1994, when the most defensive Brazilian team in history won the World Cup, with Dunga as captain.

No cigar in 2006, though, when Parreira stubbornly persisted with Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Ronaldo — and that trio’s geriatric efforts vindicated millions of nay sayers.

Maybe it’s a Brazilian thing, this urge to gamble. Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana recently took a wild flier by snubbing an 18-goal striker in favour of a three-goal striker. Either that, or he was just taking the piss.

In his Confederations Cup selection, Dunga has done something similar by ignoring Wolfsburg goal fiend Grafite — the Bundesliga’s top scorer this season with 28 strikes — and persisting with the off-form Luis Fabiano, who has netted just eight times for Sevilla.

Dunga also gambled on the fast-fading Gilberto Silva and the ring-rusty Elano, and dumped Ronaldinho.

But the reaction in Brazil has not been hostile, mainly because Dunga called up five Brazil- based stars in Nilmar, Ramires, Victor, Kleber and Andre Santos. The homeboys have been an endangered species in the Seleçao lately, so the new blood has been applauded.

Group rivals Italy should be wary of Internacional striker Nilmar and attacking midfielder Ramires, who has just transferred to Benfica from Cruzeiro.

Nilmar had an average season with Olympique Lyon in 2005, but since returning to Brazil with Corinthians and now Internacional, he has matured into a scintillating forward.

For evidence, visit YouTube and savour Nilmar’s Maradonesque solo goal against Corinthians last month, in which he made six defenders look like donkeys in shorts.

Ramires, a dynamic, goal- scoring midfielder, is nicknamed “Queniano Azul” — the Blue Kenyan — on account of his Cruzeiro shirt, his dark complexion and his exceptional speed and stamina. He’s not a Ronaldinho or a Rivaldo, but there are no emerging talents of that calibre available.

Brazilian football is at a low ebb at present, especially in attacking positions. Ronaldinho has declined, Adriano is an emotional wreck and while Robinho has been picked, he has stagnated at Manchester City.

Much is now expected of Alexandre Pato, the AC Milan wunderkind who’s excelling in Serie A but has yet to look the business in a yellow jersey.

It would be a sad state of affairs if Dunga cannot assemble a world-class strike force from the ocean of players at his disposal.

So history beckons for Nilmar, Ramires and Pato. And for Brazilian footballers, history is a harsh judge.


Brazil squad

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur), Victor (Gremio).

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Alex (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Luisao (Benfica), Kleber (Internacional), Andre Santos (Corinthians).

Midfielders: Anderson (Manchester United), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires (Cruzeiro), Elano (Manchester City), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (AC Milan).

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


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Brazil: Pele, Ronaldinho, Samba

"So how is your Spanish?" ask my friends in India when I talk to them from my current location

"Why Spanish?"

"Aren't you now in Latin America, in Brazil, the land of football, Samba, and beauty queens?"

"Indeed, I am. But it is Portuguese here and not Spanish and to answer your question my language is still pretty bad," I answer.

Their ignorance is understandable. This land is so far, so remote in one's imagination, that to believe that all of Latin America speaks Spanish; that to Samba is the same as to tango is natural though not true.

At my Brazilian end too, I get questions. "What is common and what is starkly different between Brazil and India?" ask some Brazilian journalists to me, a new Indian ambassador. Our two countries today are in several common groupings with fancy acronyms which bring emerging countries together -- IBSA, BRIC, G-20 and so on and hence curiosity about India has been rising.

"Well, the commonalities are several," I start and enumerate the obvious: "We are both big countries: Brazil is actually two-and-a-half terms the size of India, but India is a big country too; both have large populations -- Brazil is one fifth of India, but two hundred million is not a small population; both are vibrant democracies; possess great diversity -- Brazil has large numbers of people of Japanese and Lebanese origin apart from millions with European, African and native Indian descent making it a happily assimilative melting pot for the last 300 years; have capabilities in industry and in S&T..."

Even as I go on listing all this, my questioners from the media become impatient. "What are the differences then?"

Again I start with the obvious. "We speak English, Hindi and many other languages; but you are nearly mono-lingual in Portuguese; you excel at football and we are passionate about cricket; your cuisine is varied no doubt but tends to be bland at least to me and ours is also diverse and exotic, but spicy to most Brazilians."

When I am saying all this, my mind is wandering and wondering about how our different pasts, specialty the colonial past have influenced our present.

The story of European colonisation starts with Portugal, a small country compared to England [ Images ], France [ Images ] or Spain, but which had many adventurous seafarers. Their first voyages occurred at the same time with landings in both India and Brazil. If Vasco de Gama landed at Calicut in 1498, Cabral the sailor who 'discovered' Brazil landed in the northeast coast of Brazil in 1500, again in a search for a route to India.

As we know, Columbus was trying to reach India and in the process 'discovered' America; Cabral with a similar intention landed at the coast of another country in another continent to the South that came to be named Brazil.

What lay at the other end of these voyages was however very different. India already had hundreds of millions of people, an ancient civilisation and a long history of political organisation and administration. The Portuguese and later the British were in a long line of foreigners landing on our shores.
In contrast, the huge area of Brazil was much less inhabited, some estimates put the figure of indigenous people at one million, had nearly empty vast interior spaces and the Tupis -- the native inhabitants were readily welcoming the European 'guests' according to accounts of that period, a bit different from the Zamorin of Kozhikode.

Each colonial history is different: The British, the French, the Spanish or the Portuguese brought their own distinctive traits to bear on the land that they colonised, but equally the character of the land and the people too shaped the outcome of the encounter. In Brazil this took a distinctive form like nowhere else.

Portuguese may have been the first Europeans in Brazil and today, five hundred years later, Portuguese may still be the lingua franca of Brazil, but its identity, culture, customs or cuisine have been shaped by many other influences apart from the European. The reasons for this are the sheer vastness of Brazil, its abundant riches and resources, and as a result the influx of people from different parts of the world starting from as early as 1550.
As we noted, first there were the indigenous natives and then the new settlers from Portugal. But soon it became evident that to farm the land, to grow sugar and later coffee, labour was needed in plenty.

In the first few hundred years after 1500, slaves were brought from Africa, on a scale much larger than the United States. Their large numbers and the cohabitation and to use that terrible word that we see in colonial studies the so-called 'miscegenation' has imprinted Brazil with a distinctive African heritage.

The manifestations today are in the world famous Carnival, the sensuous appeal of the Samba and in the pulsating magic of figures like Pele or Ronaldinho [ Images ]. They are integrally Brazilian but with some African ancestors casting a benevolent eye on their graceful exploits on the football field.

But this, the influence of Europe and Africa is not all. In 1908, a century ago, there was a famine in Japan [ Images ] and the search for work led to a large migration from Japan to initially work in the coffee plantations of Brazil, the world's richest coffee grower. Today next to Japan, the largest Japanese community is in Brazil, all speaking Portuguese and many following the Catholic faith.

There are also very large Brazilian communities tracing their roots to Lebanon, Germany [ Images ] and Italy [ Images ] adding to the colours of the kaleidoscope.

I find it fascinating that this is one country without many Indians, our kind of Indians. The reasons are natural, once you think of it. The huge numbers of Indian labour that were taken or sent to work in plantations went to where the British ruled -- Sri Lanka [ Images ], Fiji, Mauritius and farther apart to the Caribbean -- Guyana or Trinidad. No British domination over Brazil and hence no Indian migration.

That India would get ruled by the British and not by Portuguese except in some parts was a historic destiny. Why, even Mumbai [ Images ] was given away as a dowry gift by the Portuguese, when their princess, Catherine de Braganza married Prince Charles of England in 1661.

Apart from all this, there is another interesting and perhaps unique twist in the Brazilian past that has made Brazilians not think of themselves as having been 'colonised'. Though the huge landmass of Brazil had come under tiny Portugal, in 1807 Napoleon threatened the Portuguese monarchy in Lisbon.

In a flotilla of four hundred boats the royal family fled to Brazil and established their capital in Rio de Janeiro.

Subsequently, the Portuguese empire declared that its capital and seat would be Rio rather than Lisbon. Comparable to Calcutta being declared the seat of all of the British Empire!

One result of this history is that there are few seminars on 'colonial inheritance' or 'post-colonial deconstruction' of the kind that we see in Indian academic circles. Portuguese is not a foreign language for the Brazilians: in fact it is their language, often their only one.

'How come, you don't speak Portuguese?' ask some friendly Brazilians.

I don't know what to say. "Well, I am learning," I answer tamely. "Not all Indians are Goans," I try as a joke. They look mystified, understandably clueless at a shared bit of historical connection from the remote past.


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Ronaldo, Ronaldinho left off Brazil's roster

Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were not named to Brazil's roster Thursday by manager Dunga for two upcoming World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup,

Brazil plays Uruguay on June 6 and Paraguay June 10 in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. The Confederations Cup is June 14-28 in South Africa.

Brazil is second in South American qualifying, three points behind Paraguay. The top four finishers automatically advance to the World Cup in South Africa.

The Brazilians are in Group B with Egypt, Italy and the United States in the Confederations Cup. Spain highlights Group A, which includes Iraq, New Zealand and South Africa.

Following is Brazil's full roster:

Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Inter Milan), Robinho (Manchester City).

Midfielders: Anderson (Manchester United), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (Wolfsburg), Ramires (Cruzeiro), Elano (Manchester City), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Julio Baptista (Roma), Kaka (AC Milan).

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Alex (Chelsea), Juan (Roma), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Luisao (Benfica), Kleber (Inter Milan), Andre Santos (Corinthians).

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Gomes (Tottenham), Victor (Gremio).

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AC Milan denies Real Madrid to sign Brazilian playmaker Kaka

MILAN — Italian giant AC Milan denied Saturday that any deal had been agreed between Kaka and Real Madrid presidential hopeful Florentino Perez that would see the Brazil playmaker move to the Spanish powerhouse.

The club's website carried a statement from Bosco Leite, Kaka's father and legal representative, that any information about a possible deal was unreliable.

"There is no agreement with Real Madrid, and the statement, according to which the player has already signed a contract with the Spanish club, isn't true," Leite said.

Spanish sports newspaper Marca reported Saturday that Perez had negotiated a fee of 63 million euros (C$100 million) for Kaka, who had agreed to sign a five-year contract with an annual salary of eight million euros (C$12.7 million) should Perez regain control of the Spanish club.

"Kaka is still concentrated on the final games of the season and still very tied to Milan. Any information about the career of the athlete is to be considered credible and official only if it comes from his legal representative or from Milan. Any other source of information should be considered unreliable," the Milan website said

According to Marca, all that remained to be agreed between Perez - who oversaw Madrid's 'galactico' policy when he was formerly club president - and Milan was the commission which would be paid to Leite.

Kaka, the 2007 World Player of the Year, said last month he intended to stay with Milan and had not been in contact with Madrid. Earlier this season, Manchester City failed in an attempt to sign the Brazil midfielder after bidding around 110 million euros (C$175 million).

Kaka is said to be just one of many transfer targets for Perez, who announced Thursday that he would stand in next month's poll of club members in a bid to return to the presidency he quit in 2006.

It is standard in Spanish club elections for candidates to organize new signings to encourage members to vote for them.

Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Valencia's David Villa are others who Perez reportedly hopes to sign for next season as he attempts to reactivate the galactico policy which brought the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Ronaldo to Madrid during his first tenure.

Marca said Perez's interest in signing Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has waned due to his high value on the transfer market and supposed temperamental character.

Perez, the head of Spanish construction giant ACS, aims to revamp a Madrid team which has been eclipsed by rivals Barcelona this season.

The Catalan club, which won the Copa del Rey last Wednesday, would win the Spanish league title later Saturday if Madrid failed to win at Villarreal. Barcelona has also reached the Champions League final, in which it faces United on May 27.

At present, Perez is the only candidate to announce his intention to stand in Madrid's election and there remains the chance he will be unopposed. If so, Perez would begin his second tenure on June 1.

Perez's spell as Madrid president from 2000 to 2006 saw the club winning two league titles and one Champions League. Madrid then suffered its worst trophy drought for over 50 years when it went three seasons without silverware, shuffling through five coaches over that time.

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Brazil meets Peru in World Cup qualifier

BRASILIA, Brazil — Kaka says he's match fit and ready to play for Brazil in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Peru, but doesn't know whether coach Dunga will put him in the lineup.

The AC Milan player has recovered from a left foot injury that kept him out of Brazil's lackluster 1-1 draw against Ecuador in Quito on Sunday.

"Dunga has not yet told me if I will play or not, but I want to be available for the game," Kaka said on Tuesday. "I am in condition to play, I just don't know for how long."

Kaka and the rest of the players participated in a light practice session before 25,000 fans at Beira-Rio Stadium and Dunga gave no hints about who would play alongside Kaka in attack -- Elano, Ronaldinho or Julio Baptista.

Kaka apparently prefers Ronaldinho, his AC Milan teammate.

"We have played great games together and I think we could play together again," Kaka said.

He predicted a tough game against Peru.

"Brazil always has the obligation to win at home," Kaka told the Globo Esporte Web site. "We know the game against Peru will be a difficult one. It is in last place and will do everything it can to make it hard for us."

Inter Milan defender Maicon will miss the match after injuring his right thigh in the first half against Ecuador. He will likely be replaced by Barcelona's Daniel Alves. Manchester United midfielder Anderson also will be absent after a left thigh injury sustained during practice on Monday.

Brazil was in fourth place in the 10-team South American qualifying group with 18 points, five behind leader Paraguay and one behind both Argentina and Chile.

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