“A fascinating game of two vastly different styles – with one clear winner. Brazil were without both Felipe Melo and Elano through injury, and so Dunga chose Dani Alves on the right of midfield, with Ramires in a deeper, left-sided role. The rest of the team was as expected.” Zonal Marking
“His CV is that of a relatively successful, if transient, Brazilian striker. An impressive collection of domestic clubs – Vasco da Gama, Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo – is complimented by more exotic names; Ajaccio in Corsica, and Mexican side Puebla. Yet Carlos Henrique Kaiser is nigh-on unknown in the football community, and for good reason; he only managed around 30 full games (and no goals) during a career that spanned over two decades.” In Bed With Maradona
Pablo Dorado of Uruguay, World Cup 1930
“Measuring 309m by 46m, the flag unfurled on 12 April by fans of Uruguayan club Penarol is apparently the biggest in the world. Draped across much of Montevideo’s Centenario stadium, it hung in celebration of the fact that the club had made it through to the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores for the first time since 2002. Two months later, there is much more to celebrate. Penarol have gone all the way to the final, for the first since they won the last of their five titles in 1987.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Towards the end of the group phase Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s Brazil, with Ronaldinho and Alex shining, had booked their place in the second round. Colombia seemed sure to join them. They had played well, and only needed to avoid a five goal defeat against the Brazilians to make sure of their slot. I interviewed the Colombian coach, Javier Alvarez, the day before the game.” Sambafoot
“Brazil is in a peculiar situation at the moment. With the impending pressure placed on the national team, or Selecao, growing greater in light of the recent fall from grace in the eyes of the samba nation. Last week’s 0-0 result against Holland hardly delighted the home fans in Goiania. The European based players were thrown out of their comfort zone and given the job to impress their own fans. If Brazil fail to live up to the expectations of people around the world in time to win the world cup on home soil in 2014, it would simply be a disaster.” gib football show
“In what was beforehand regarded as a potential ‘unfriendly-like friendly’, Holland kept Brazil at 0-0 in a rather disappointing match, more so from the host’s perspective than from the guest’s. From a Dutch perspective, several interesting lessons were to be learned. For one, goal keeper Tim Krul made an impressive debut, keeping a clean sheet in the process.” 11 tegen 11
“In the spirit of helping to make the Football Scholars Forum a space for exchanging and enriching scholarly perspectives related to the beautiful game, I suggested the possibility of periodically posting a collection of links to and notes about work or events that might be of interest or use to the group. After that initial suggestion, however, I’ve realized that I’m not exactly sure what could be of most interest or use. But as a starting point I’m thinking of something like Arts & Letter Daily, morphed into something like Football & Letters Quarterly (or perhaps Football & Letters Very Periodically).” Football Scholar Miscellany
“The Brazilian national team will play two friendlies in Brazil over the next week. First, on Saturday in Goiânia, a rematch of the quarter-final game with Holland that ended Brazil’s campaign in last year’s World Cup. And then on the following Tuessday, Ronaldo’s farewell game, against Romania, held at the Pacaembu stadium in São Paulo.” Cult Football
“It is too soon to know where he is going to end up in the pantheon, but Lionel Messi’s performance on Saturday ensures beyond all doubt that he belongs among the all time greats. Watching him scale the heights has given me particular pleasure because I had the good fortune to be there at the start of the journey, the moment when he first appeared before a mass public.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“The stocky shadow of Carlos Tevez is likely to be cast all over the Copa America in Argentina this July. The Manchester City striker will almost certainly not be picked for the tournament as Argentina coach Sergio Batista is apparently building a side without him. He is attempting to create an imitation Barcelona, with Lionel Messi in the ‘false number nine’ role that Pep Guardiola invented for him with the Catalan club. The back-up is to use Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid as a target man striker.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“We lamented a bit last week over the close of the (European) club season, with most of the big leagues decided (and after the weekend, France (Lille) and the Netherlands (Ajax) also crowning champions). So what else is a CultFootball fan to look to, aside from the upcoming Champions League final (10 days away!)? Well, just today there are three tasty matches to watch.” Cult Football
“The fascinating 51-year history of the Copa Libertadores has now been further enriched by the emergence of a goalscorer born in England. Antonio Pedroza’s journey has taken him from Chester to Chiapas, the town of his birth to the region in the south of Mexico where he now plays as a striker for Jaguares. The son of a Mexican father and an English mother, Pedroza ensured that the club’s debut campaign in the Libertadores got off to a good start when, just before his 20th birthday, he scored in both legs of their qualifying match against Alianza Lima of Peru.” BBC – Tim Vickery
Diego Amaya
“Asuncion is currently the capital of South American football – and not just because the offices of the continent’s governing federation are situated on the outskirts of the Paraguayan capital. Eight teams are left standing in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s Champions League, and two of them are based in the Paraguayan capital; Cerro Porteno, who have blown hot, cold and lukewarm during the competition, and Libertad, who have been consistently excellent. No other country can boast more than one club in the last eight.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“IBWM’s man in Buenos Aires on why South America’s leading club competition is so much more than a Champions League equivalent.” In Bed with Maradona
“Supporters of Vasco da Gama filed away sadly — some of them angrily — on Sunday after their team suffered a defeat on penalties in a Rio championship final against great local rivals Flamengo. But along with the sorrow, the last few days also brought the fans a reason to be cheerful. One of their favorite players is returning to the club, and the story has an uplifting twist.” SI – Tim Vickery
“The memories came flooding back last week when the draw was held for the Under-20 World Cup, which kicks off in Colombia at the end of July. Ten years ago I travelled up there for the Copa America. It was the first time that Colombia had staged a major tournament, and some doubted that they could do it. The political moment in the country was tense, with guerrilla forces offering a threat. In the build-up to the tournament there were car-bomb attacks in some of the major cities, and then the vice-president of the Colombian FA was kidnapped.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“On the pitch, last week was a splendid one for Brazilian football. Fluminense’s dramatic qualification for the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores meant that Brazil did not have a single team eliminated in the group phase – while Argentina lost three. The Brazilian sides also managed to avoid each other in the second round, creating the possibility of the competition’s last eight featuring five teams from the same country.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“The Copa Libertadores can seem like a slow burner, but it is about to catch fire. The final group games are taking place in South America’s equivalent of the Champions League. Next week, the 16 remaining teams kick off the knockout stage. Come June 1, just two are left standing — and it is a fair bet that one of them will be from Brazil. In the last 20 years, only three times has the final not featured a Brazilian club.” SI Tim Vickery
“The time has arrived in South America when fans all over the continent will need a calculator in one hand and the phone number of a cardiologist in the other. This is the last week of the group phase of the Copa Libertadores, the continent’s equivalent of the Champions League. Of the eight groups, four have been completed, while the rest have their last round coming up on either Tuesday or Wednesday.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Have Chelsea done a good deal acquiring Sao Paulo striker Lucas Piazon, who joins the club next year when he turns 18? Sao Paulo are certainly happy. The deal enables them to sell a player who has yet to appear in their first team, bring top-class centre forward Luis Fabiano back to the club – he scored 118 goals in 160 appearances for Sao Paulo between 2001 and 2004 – and still have some money left over.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Giuliano is one of the brightest prospects produced by Brazilian football in recent years. A midfielder of talent, versatility and intelligence, he captained Brazil’s Under-20s with distinction in the 2009 World Youth Cup. Last year he was chosen as the star player in the Copa Libertadores — his goals, many of them after coming on as a substitute, helped Internacional of Pôrto Alegre claim South America’s premier club title. And a few months ago he made his debut for the senior Brazil team.” SI – Tim Vickery
“The countdown is on towards the Copa America, this year’s top senior international competition. Over the next couple of months, though, the focus will be firmly on club football, with the closing stages of domestic championships, the Champions League and the Libertadores. In the wake of the two recent Fifa dates, this would seem to be the appropriate moment to look back at the recent international friendlies and reflect on how South America’s teams are preparing for the Copa.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Originally, they weren’t even known as the Leones Negros (Black Lions). Debuting in the third division of Mexico’s footballing abyss in 1970, the University of Guadalajara’s football club originally led a mundane existence as the Venados (Deers). Rambling through isolated locales unable to house teams in the higher levels of Mexican football, the Venados won some, lost some, and presumably, drew some. But really, could anyone but the most self- damaging be bothered to check third-division results?” In Bed With Maradona
“Whereas his predecessor Dunga had a very consistent, specific shape in his latter days as Brazil manager, Mano Menezes has switched between systems. He started off with a 4-2-1-3 against the USA, then moved to a 4-4-2 against France recently. In this game, he was hampered by various withdrawals through injury (particularly attacking players) and therefore sent out a side in a strange 4-3-3ish system, which dominated possession but lacked fluency in the final third of the pitch.” Zonal Marking
“Taking on Scotland at the Emirates was more than just another friendly for Brazil, more than the chance to return to winning ways after two defeats, and even more than a warm up for July’s Copa America. The game got to grips with one of the fundamental issues facing the five-time world champions as they prepare for triumph number six in front of their own fans in 2014.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“When Roma signed Brazilian striker Adriano last year, the club directors may as well have lit their cigars with high denomination banknotes or poured their money down a rathole. They were quite happy to tear up his contract earlier this month and received no money in return. This, though, is not the story of a player unable to adapt to life in a foreign country.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“If true strength can come from real adversity, can ideals of beauty be pulled from an ugly defeat? Welcome to IBWM Brian McDonnell” In Bed With Maradona
Once Caldas celebrate victory in the 2004 Copa Libertadores
“With Tottenham into the last eight and Chelsea likely to join them, London is in with another chance of ending its wait for the Champions League success. But London is not the only capital city to have missed out on Europe’s biggest club prize. Rome, Paris and Berlin have never won it either. It is a different story in South America, where the continent’s capital cities have had a stranglehold on the Copa Libertadores, their equivalent of the Champions League. The explanation is straightforward enough.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“I took a wander from my apartment here on Monday and one of the first people I saw was Ronaldinho, sitting enjoying a leisurely beer in a temporary break from the revelries of Carnaval. Seated to his right was another Ronaldinho, doing the same thing. On his left, yet another … In truth, they were all just people wearing Ronaldinho masks, one of the big hits of this year’s festivities. But the real thing has been just as omnipresent, making up in 2011 for all those carnivals he missed while he was freezing on the other side of the Atlantic.” SI
“Is David Luiz destined to be a pillar of the defence and a leader of men for club and country? With their latest Brazilian acquisition, have Chelsea signed the new Lucio? There are clear similarities, not all of them complementary. Luiz, already in Portugal with Benfica, first appeared on the radar screen of the average Brazilian fan during a disastrous World Youth Cup campaign in Canada in 2007, mixing up some slipshod defending with disciplinary problems.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“There is no doubt about my favourite performance so far in this year’s Copa Libertadores. It is that of veteran Colombian playmaker Giovanni ‘The Prince’ Hernandez for Junior Barranquilla against Gremio of Brazil. The 34-year-old may have run out of puff in the second half, while Gremio tightened up their marking, but Hernandez took control, giving an exhibition of old style number 10 play after the Colombian side had gone behind to an early goal.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“As the gregarious Ronaldinho, one of the world’s best soccer players, emerged this month from the locker room in his black-and-red Flamengo club jersey and pulling at his trademark ponytail, fans erupted in applause. But a group of shirtless men in the seats below had their sights on someone else, turning toward a private box above and chanting.” NYT
“Of the field of 32 teams in South America’s Copa Libertadores, only two have not yet been in action in the group phase – and the pair are among the most famous names in the competition’s history. Independiente of Argentina have a record seven titles to their name. Uruguay’s Penarol are five times champions and were winners of the first version back in 1960. Neither club have lifted the trophy since 1987 but they have won nearly a quarter of all the Libertadores titles between them. And they meet on Thursday.” BBC Tim Vickery
“As you have probably heard, unless you frequent one of the 40% of all newspaper websites that buried the story under an ongoing Gary Neville live blog, Ronaldo retired yesterday. I wrote a small tribute for Slate, which started as a Run of Play post and which I hope you’ll read. It’s about, I guess, how he fits in with the other great players of his generation (in terms of meaning, not in terms of top 10 lists) and how the accepted narrative of his career misses the point (because it’s told in terms of top 10 lists). But mainly it’s about this.” Run of Play
The Superstar at Play
“When you look back on it, 1994 was a transformative year for soccer, one of those moments when the game’s history briefly shows its seams. It was the year Maradona was sent home from the World Cup, fuming and wretched after a positive doping test, and began his long slide into freakish post-relevance. David Beckham played his first important match for Manchester United, giving the world a hint of the paparazzi hurricanes to come. Zinedine Zidane, in his first match for France, scored twice off the bench and glowered like something out of Michelangelo. And in the Netherlands, PSV welcomed a 17-year-old Brazilian striker named Ronaldo, who’d played all of 14 matches the previous year for Cruzeiro—he scored 12 goals—and who had spent the entirety of the just-completed World Cup sitting on the seleção bench.” Slate
Farewell to a Phenomenon
“‘The farewell of a great,’ the headline read. Above it, a photograph of Ronaldo – the original, Brazilian one – shedding a tear. It’s a reaction one would expect of the press in Brazil, given all that O Fenômeno has done for the country’s national team and the joy he’s given to fans there and across Europe. It’s a sign of the magnitude of greatness under consideration, though, that this headline isn’t taken from a Brazilian website. Nor from a site in one of the three European countries whose leagues he graced – the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. It was the main headline on the website of Argentina’s Olé on Monday morning.” ESPN
“Last July, in his first press conference as Brazil coach, Mano Menezes said that he was aiming to include a sports psychologist in his back-up staff. In South Africa, of course, Brazil had just lost their heads as they lost to Holland in the quarter-finals. And Menezes was aware that in 2014, on home soil, the pressure would be much greater. The events of the last few days have shown just how important the mental aspect is likely to be for the next World Cup hosts.” BBC – Tim Vickery
Luis Suarez
“Before Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez and company fired Uruguay into the semifinals of last year’s World Cup, many people had forgotten (or never knew) that this little South American country with a population of under 3.5 million has an extraordinary soccer tradition.” SI
“Today would have been a USMNT match day but as I noted yesterday, the Federation made the safe and correct call in cancelling the Yanks’ fixture against Egypt in Cairo. There were plenty of FIFA internationals on the menu however, and at least a few storylines worth visiting on this busy day on the pitch. Here are three thoughts and observations.” The Yanks Are Coming
“Here’s a date for your diary. On Sunday Feb. 6 I can’t believe there’s anything more fascinating taking place in the world of soccer than the clash between Argentina and Brazil in the South American U-20 Championships. Whatever might be happening in England, Spain or anywhere else, this is the date when the city of Arequipa in the south of Peru can claim to be, for 90 minutes at least, the capital of the global game.” SI – Tim Vickery
“From BBC/football/blogs, Tim Vickery’s Blog, from 24 Jan., ‘Crunch time for Ronaldo and Corinthians‘. The map page shows the 38 clubs’ locations on the map. Flanking the map, grouped by their countries, are the clubs’ profile boxes. Each club’s profile box includes…home kit; crest; city location; stadium(s), and capacity; how the club qualified; national professional titles (with year of last title); total Copa Libertadores appearances (and how the club fared in their last Copa Liberrtadores appearance); and Copa Libertadores titles (with year of last title).” bill sports maps
“More than eight years after combining to such good effect in South Korea and Japan, the 3 Rs of Brazil’s last World Cup win are now all back at home playing for major clubs. As discussed in this space last week, Ronaldinho has joined Flamengo. On Saturday, Rivaldo was snapped up by Sao Paulo. And, of course, there is Ronaldo at Corinthians.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Out for two weeks with a calf injury and locked in contract negotiations with Barcelona, now seems like a good time to assess the value of Daniel Alves. It’s long been a standard joke – or cliche, if you like – to say that an attacking full-back is “more of a winger than a full-back.” That’s particularly been true of Brazilian full-backs down the years – in recent times, most notably the combination of Cafu and Roberto Carlos, who started the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups in the full-back positions for Brazil.” Zonal Marking
“Manuel Francisco dos Santos (October 28, 1933 – January 20, 1983), known by the nickname ‘Garrincha’ … was a Brazilian football right winger and forward who helped the Brazil national team win the World Cups of 1958 and 1962. He played the majority of his professional career for Brazilian club Botafogo.” Wikipedia, “Goal by Garrincha:” Eduardo Galeano Reads from Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Part Three, YouTube
Ronaldinho
“On a Brazilian TV show on Saturday I was asked to explain the success of the English Premier League. The answer that instantly came into my mind was the mixture between the old and the new. Modern ideas – the money and the business practices – have been planted in fertile soil because the tradition of the game – its roots in the world’s first industrial society – is so strong.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“In Rio Flamengo fans came out in their thousands to give a euphoric welcome to new signing Ronaldinho. Some pundits have tried to pour water into their beer — such as former top class referee Jose Roberto Wright, who argued in the sports daily Lance! that Flamengo had done a bad deal.” SI – Tim Vickery
“The season kicks off on my side of the Atlantic this weekend with one of the great hidden gems of the footballing calendar – the South American under-20 Championship.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Internacional de Porto Alegre may have been party to a piece of unwanted history in December, when they became the first team from one of the ‘traditional’ powers of South America and Europe to fail to reach the final of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, but their fans were given something to celebrate, albeit as a small consolation prize, later in the month. On December 29, Inter’s Argentine playmaker, Andres D’Alessandro – formerly of Wolfsburg, Portsmouth and Real Zaragoza – was named the South American Footballer of the Year for 2010.” ESPN
“One of the many wonderful things about covering South American football is the opportunity to watch young talent bloom. Yet too often that process is interrupted prematurely, the player sold off to Europe at a dangerously early stage in his career. That is what has happened to Marcos Rojo, who made such an impact in the second half of 2010 as Estudiantes won the Argentine championship. Could this be the attacking left-back that his country have been looking for?” BBC – Tim Vickery
“When he was first making his name with Santos, former Manchester City striker Robinho often spoke of his big ambition to be elected Fifa World Player of the Year. True, he was seeking to place himself in a tradition of some of his illustrious compatriots, but even so I always found it a depressing declaration. For what it is worth, my view is that far too much attention is given to these individual awards.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“There’s an old saying in Brazilian soccer that organizing a team is like having a short blanket on a cold night — pull it over your neck and your feet get cold, cover your feet and your neck freezes. While Internacional of Porto Alegre is using the blanket to dry its tears, it might also reflect on the wisdom of the phrase.” SI – Tim Vickery
Diego Forlán
“Hello and welcome to the Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol awards for 2010. The awards focus on events in South American football, however there is room for an expatriate player of the year section to pay tribute to the best of the thousands of South American footballers plying their trade on other continents. You may find some of the awards surprising or idiosyncratic, however if you are offended by any of these selections you can either find another website to tell you exactly what you want to read or failing that you could leave your opinion on why we are wrong in the comments section below. Enjoy.” Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol
The IBWM Torneo Apertura Review
“Last weekend Estudiantes clinched the Torneo Apertura title, and as Sam Kelly reports, they were undoubtedly worthy winners.” In Bed With Maradona
“No, this is not some concocted spin on in-fighting among the nerazzuri. Internazionale’s problems have been well documented of late, the only contention being whether this is due to Rafael Benitez’s tactical obduracy and fitness regime, sheer bad luck with injuries or a perfect storm of all of the above. But what about their Brazilian namesake, SC Internacional of Porto Alegre?” santapelota
“In Central and South America the legacy of Andres Escobar’s death in 1994 appears to have left lessons unlearnt. Here’s Chris Ledger.” In Bed With Maradona
“For much of Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, televisions in bars and restaurants were all showing the massive operation of security forces and their invasion of the Alemao group of favelas. By late afternoon, though, they had switched to coverage of the penultimate round of the Brazilian Championship. Viewers were transfixed by both.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Chelsea might be in ‘crisis’, but don’t let it fool you- the Premiership title race is as inferior as ever, when compared with its South American contemporary. Welcome to IBWM, Matthew Horton.” (In Bed With Maradona)
“A tragic, real-life soap opera unravelling in Brazilian football over recent months has been the story of Bruno, goalkeeper of Rio giants Flamengo, who is in prison accused of ordering the brutal murder of an ex-lover. Flamengo fans have found a way to extract some black humour from such horrific developments. Last year, Bruno captained the team to the Brazilian title. This season, they have struggled. And as they have slipped dangerously close to the relegation zone, the confidence of Bruno’s replacement, Marcelo Lomba, has seemed to suffer.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
Leonidas
“The game is too far back to stand out in the memory of many football fans, but the 1938 World Cup clash between Poland and Brazil was a classic. What went before and after for Poland puts football in a little more context. Here’s Juliet Jacques.” (In Bed With Maradona)
“Lionel Messi can chalk off another objective achieved in his young but already extraordinary career. His glorious goal in stoppage time Wednesday gave Argentina a 1-0 victory over Brazil in Doha, Qatar, his first win against the Seleção at the senior level.” (SI – Tim Vickery)
“This game started well, faded in the second half, before being won with a brilliant Lionel Messi goal. International friendlies are, as much as anything, an opportunity to experiment – to try a new shape or new players in a pressure-free environment. That is the main concern for managers (rather than necessarily trying to win the game with a tactical shift to exploit the opposition’s weaknesses) so rather than the usual analysis of how the two sides faced each other, here we’ll take the sides individually.” (Zonal Marking)
Leo Messi scores like Leo Messi, beats Brazil
“Picking up where he left off with Barcelona against Villarreal over the weekend, Lionel Messi did what he didn’t do at the World Cup and scored a fabulous late winner for Argentina against Brazil on Wednesday. The unfriendly friendly in Qatar wasn’t exactly at a World Cup level, but Messi’s goal should at least temporarily shut up his critics who say he doesn’t score for Argentina the way he does for Barcelona. A one man show in injury time to beat Brazil, of all opponents, usually does that.” (Yahoo)
Argentina 1-0 Brazil – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Friendly
(The 90th Minute)
“Trying to make sense of all these international friendlies going on during the heart of the club season? Here are five key questions that will help provide some context.” (ESPN)
Godoy Cruz
“Buenos Aires is calling to the faraway towns this week. In Argentina and all over South America, plenty of attention will be given to the modestly entitled ‘superclassico’ – the Buenos Aires derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Both clubs grew up in the working class docklands area of the Argentine capital. River have long since fulfilled the immigrant dream and moved out to the leafy suburbs. Boca have defiantly stayed put. The strength of the rival identities helps give the game its flavour. Over the years, the game has acquired a weight of tradition that makes it important even when it isn’t – like this Tuesday.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
Scissors Kick 