Posts Tagged ‘ronaldo’

12 Apr

Champion’s League Live: Spurs vs. Madrd

Posted by matthewsf in Champions League. Tagged: , .

Update:

Tottenham Hotspur: Gomes; Corluka Gallas Dawson Assou-Ekotto; Lennon Huddlestone Modric Bale; Van der Vaart; Pavlyuchenko

Real Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Carvalho, Albiol; Alonso, Khedira; Ozil, Ronaldo, Marcelo; Adebayor.

Inter: Julio Cesar – Maicon, Lucio, Ranocchia, Nagatomo – Stankovic, Thiago Motta, Zanetti – Sneijder – Eto’o, Milito

Shalke 04: Neuer – Uchida, Höwedes, Metzelder, Sarpei – Papadopoulos, Matip – Baumjohann, Jurado – Raul, Edu

Update: Line-ups shortly

The near-angelic strains of the UEFA’s Champion’s League choir are an appropriate cacophony for today’s Champion’s League bouts.

Modric: The little man will need to be BIG today for any shot

Tottenham Hotspur with a galactic task to surmount against Real Madrid at home.

Likewise, surprising Schalke 04–under the stewardship of a new manager–looking pretty comfy in their home confines against Inter Milan.

Expect both Real Madrid and Schalke 04 to advance here. If you’re keen on an upset and fixated that one might occur, you’ll need to look to Germany. Inter Milan, under new management themselves this season, are the champions. There last stand came against Bundesliga heavyweights Munich. If any team has the moxie and firepower to surmount the task today, it would be King Wesley and his men.

Their task? Make a 5-2 home loss disappear against a team that has scored nine times in their last three home games. Yikes!

Real Madrid vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs’ fans hold on to a glimmer of hope that their side can produce today on the strength of a Champion’s League campaign that was going swell until they traveled to the Bernabeu.

Supreme defensive strategist Jose Mourinho won’t give the home side an easy go of it and with Real Madrid likely missing out on hardware in La Liga this year, Mourinho, Ronaldo and the clan need something to hang their hat on.

If your Spurs today, just attack. Be relentless. They flashed the ability in Madrid, but if they respect Madrid too much today and sit back it will be back to the league for them quickly…and a ho-hum of a match to watch.

14 Feb

Devastating…….Ronaldo

Posted by matthewsf in Uncategorized. Tagged: .

Nothing, nothing said “striker” growing up like Ronaldo. And, for this writer, no one claimed the identity of the canary Brazil jersey like the great #9.

And there was one curt word that described his play, “devastating.”

Teams would work so hard just to prevent him from getting the ball knowing what was coming next.

Reports say the great Brazilian Ronaldo is set to hang up the studs today.

For me, I’ll best remember Ronaldo’s international career as Brazil’s monumental place in World Cup and global football afforded more watching opportunities growing up.

The catastrophic 1998 seizure news, followed up by arguably his best World Cup performance–though not at his physical peak–in 2002 when he willed Brazil all the way.

29 Dec

The Battle For El Pichichi: Messi v. Ronaldo

Posted by cosmosredux in La Liga. Tagged: , .

This is a guest post by La Liga expert Donald Wine II. He is the author of the blog “Life In 1-1-8,” which can be found here.

For the ages....

Better than Bird vs. Magic?

If you haven’t been watching La Liga football this season, you are missing probably the greatest battle soccer has seen in years.

I’m not talking about the disastrous El Clásico from the eyes of my beloved Real Madrid against Barcelona.  No, I’m talking about the battle for El Pichichi (top goal scorer).  The race between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the top goal scorer in La Liga has reached absurd levels, with both on pace to shatter every single season goal scoring league record that exists.

While players like David Villa, Gonzalo Higuaín, Roberto Soldado, Fernando Llorente, Sergio Agüero, and Luis Fabiano have scored plenty of goals for their squads the past couple seasons, Messi and Ronaldo have found themselves once again in a two-horse race for El Pichich.

Last year, Higuaín actually squeaked by Ronaldo for the #2 spot with 27 goals to Ronaldo’s 26, but Messi overtook all by tying the record for most goals scored in a La Liga season, 34, set by the original Ronaldo  for Barca back in 1996-1997.

This year, Higuaín was keeping pace with CR7 and Messi until he suffered a back injury that will keep him out of the lineup until February at the earliest.  The rest of the pack just hasn’t been able to keep up with the pizzazz, the panache of Ronaldo and Messi.

This season’s El Clásico is just three weeks away on October 10th 2011. It will be televised in the States on ESPN Deportes with coverage beginning at 10:30 AM PT.

In the past 2 years, while Messi has steadily risen from great player to otherworldly status, he arguably saved his best season performance for last season, when CR7 entered La Liga.

Tough choice, but I give myself the edge....

Ronaldo, already viewed as an otherworldly player that is on everyone’s short list of best in the world, looked to stake his claim as La Liga’s top player, and despite an ankle injury that kept him out several matches last season and limited him in several others, has really adapted well to the Spanish game.

Anyone can tell that the competition suits both of them, as each goal they score seems to have an “anything you can do, I can do better” air about it.  When Messi gets 2 goals in one game, Ronaldo seems to come up with 2 goals.  When Ronaldo gets a hat trick, Messi answers with one of his own.  With 17 goals apiece through only 16 matches, they are greatly outpacing Messi’s run last year to 34 goals.  As every week goes by and the goal totals of the two grow, you can’t help but realize that at this point, it’s not a matter of if, but when the single-season record will fall…and by which player’s lethal strike.

Continue reading »

6 Aug

Real Madrid versus Club America pictures

Posted by sfshwebb in Friendlys. Tagged: , , , , .

Some pictures from Wednesday’s game in San Francisco. I shot at too high an ISO, forgot my flash, and basically brought a knife, nay a spoon to a gun fight.

Still Real Madrid looked good (as did Club America in the second half), and if it wasn’t for Ochoa, would have won by 3 or 4 goals!

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11 Mar

I Am No Manchester United Fan, But…

Posted by matthewsf in Uncategorized. Tagged: .

Rhymes with "trybaby"

I’ve now given it 24 hours…and I’ve probably missed it somewhere, BUT with Real Madrid dismissed from the UEFA Champion’s League field by Lyon, not a peep out of Cristiano Ronaldo or the press that covers him.

The same Ronaldo who uttered these words last year after his Red Devils squad was bounced in the Champ’s final by Barca:

“We had 10 [good] minutes and then we never found ourselves again,” he said. “The tactics were not good and everything went wrong.”

Man United lives to fight another day. Real Madrid, what say you Ronaldo? Since this is what you said beforehand:

“At the Bernabéu, Madrid are the boss. It would be a huge disappointment to go out but I’m sure we will progress.”

Sir Alex 1, Ronaldo, squat.

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