Ronaldinho to hang up his cleats

Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has announced that after this season of football, he will be hanging up his cleats, and calling it a career.  Ronaldinho, who was in New York this Wednesday to help with the opening of Barcelona's new offices in the United States was in great spirits as he took some time to mingle with fans' and snap pictures with them as well.  Eventually sitting down and talking to the media, Ronaldinho told reporters during a press conference, "I am an old man now, I am 36.  I am no longer 26 like I once was, and I am looking at what I can do to mark an end to my career.  The plan is to play one more year." 

Ronaldinho who is currently not signed to a team has hinted in the past at playing in China, India and even the MLS.  Where he ends up playing is still in question as he hasn't announced anything yet, when asked about his future after football, the Brazilian legend said, "I am immersed in new projects, related to music and football which are, as you know, my two passions.  I am looking at new things that I have always liked and we will see what we will do this year."

Ronaldinho, who's full name is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira started his career in Gremio in the youth squad back in 1998.  Working his way up to first team and scoring 21 goals in 52 appearances.  From their he got the attention of French team Paris Saint-Germain, and signed with them in 2001.  It was for PSG that his star began to shine much, as well as winning a World Cup with Brazil in 2002, he got the attention of Barcelona in Spain.  So in 2003 after not winning much silverware (except for the Intertoto Cup) with PSG and not qualifying for a Champion's League, he signed with the Catalan club.  The beginning of his first season with the Catalan team was filled with injury woes.  Barcelona dropped all the way down to 12th place midway into the season, but when he returned, he managed to score a total of 15 goals and helped the team climb back to second place.

2004 was different, he won his first La Liga title and was named FIFA World Player of the Year.  In 2005 he signed an extension with Barcelona for two years.  By the start of the 2005 season, Ronaldinho was winning all kinds of individual awards, he won a consecutive second FIFA World Player of the award.  Only two other players had won that award more than once, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.  This same year he also won the Ballon d'Or, the only time in his career.  To many, this is Ronaldinho's greatest season in any team, who can forget the famous Clasico match that occurred on November 19th, where Ronaldinho scored two goals in a 3-0 defeat of Real Madrid after the game was pretty much decided after his second goal, the Madrid fans in the Santiago Bernabeu paid Ronaldinho homage for his amazing performance by applauding and giving the Brazilian legend a standing ovation.  A feat that only one other person was able to do, a certain Argentine by the name of Diego Maradona.  Ronaldinho finished that season with another Liga title and winning the Champion League trophy for the first time in 14 years for the Catalans.

After his great many seasons at Barcelona, he became somewhat nomadic joining A.C. Milan for 2 seasons and then having stints back home with Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro, winning the first ever Copa Libertadores with the later team.  Then giving Mexican football a try, signed for Queretaro where he only played a season until he went back home to Brazil to Fluminense where he only made 9 appearances before he and club came to a mutual agreement that he wasn't performing as best as he could therefore terminating his contract.  Currently Ronaldinho is a free agent, where his last season will be played has yet to be announced.

 

Ibrahimovic offered to play at Manchester City and Coach Ibra

Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic revealed in an interview that before sigining with Manchester United, he had an opportunity on two separate occasions to play for Manchester City and also Arsenal.  He never specified weather or not the Manchester City offer was made before or after Pep Guardiola took reign of the team.  Ultimately, what made his decision easier for him was the possibility of working with Jose Mourinho again.  He told the Sun Paper from England, "Mourinho is the mastermind, the masterbrain.  He knows what he needs to do to win.  I learned a lot from him at Inter.  Who wouldn't want to have Mourinho as manager?"  Having only spent one year with the Portuguese at the San Siro, Ibrahimovic has stated in the past how much he regrets not spending more time with the Portuguese manager.

Zlatan also stated his desire to coach, he said that he would start taking his coaching badges to become a manager in January of 2017.  The Swedish legend has already spoken to Jose Mourinho about what to do after his playing days are over.  Even though he said he still has atleast two or three years of playing left, he plans on starting his coaching exams early next year and finishing them up next summer.  When asked where he would like to land a manager job, Zlatan looks to be leaning towards the Italian Serie A League.

From the looks of it, Zlatan has been getting his feet wet already in the coaching departments with reports coming last week from the training grounds of Manchester United saying how the Swede has been coaching the younger strikers including Marcus Rashford.  The ex-PSG star has also been staying behind after practice is over at United's Carrington training complex to teach the youngsters his shooting techniques.  Currently Ibra has been enjoying a great start to Manchester United's season scoring four goals in four appearances.  Because of this great start he's enjoying a four day extended break granted by Mourinho during the international break to recover.

 

 

Ronaldo In, Messi Out

Cristiano Ronaldo has reported back to training with the Real Madrid first team this Monday, after being out of action for almost 2 months.  The Portuguese captain was injured in the Euro 2016 final, where Portugal defeated favorites France with a score of 1-0 to win the tournament. 

Now, even though he's been out of training with the first team, Ronaldo has been staying busy by working out in the gym to keep his fitness level up.  But now that hes reported back to the first team squad, he is fired up and raring to go.  No date is set for his return, but all signs are pointing to a very close date as photos on his Instagram account show him in training unleashing a ferocious volley during training.

In Barcelona news, Lionel Messi has aggravated an ongoing hamstring injury that might see him miss this Saturday's game against Alaves.  Messi, who led Argentina to a 1-0 victory against Uruguay during a World Cup qualifying match will also miss Wednesday's match against Venezuela.  Messi has been recommended by Barcelona team doctors to, "lighten his training load over the next few days and his availability will depend on how the issue progresses" as stated on  the Barcelona website.  

Retirement for Clint Dempsey?

U.S. and Seattle Sounder's soccer superstar Clint Dempsey is going to be out of action for an indefinite amount of time due to a "irregular heartbeat".  The now 33 year old striker has played in 17 MLS games, scoring 8 goals, and 2 assists this season.  The Sounders who just lost to rivals Portland Timbers 4-2 clearly miss the superstar forward as well as his leadership.  Last encounter against Portland, in which Dempsey played, the Sounders won 3-1 with two goals from the striker.  Meanwhile the U.S. National team had a great game against St. Vincent, winning 6-0 with a stand out performance from Bobby Wood and Christian Pulisic. 

With only 8 games left in the regular season for the Sounders, and still in the hunt for a playoff berth, no doubt that Dempsey is missed for the club.  Especially with some tough fixtures coming up against the L.A. Galaxy on the 25th of September and Western Conference leaders FC Dallas on the 16th of October the goal scorer is very much needed.  Seattle Sounders have said that Dempsey will be undergoing further medical evaluations and as the medical process unfolds and information is gathered internally, no other details are being made publicly available at this time.

The main question is if Clint will comeback.  Being 33 years old in a sport of constant running, and throw in a irregular heart beat, the real question is if he will even return to the fields or possibly retire.  Earlier in July when interviewed by Taylor Twellman, Dempsey said that he would love to retire as a Sounder, possibly hinting at a retirement this year.  No doubt that Dempsey has had a great career both for club and international team.  Most recent was his stellar performance in this summer's Copa America Centenario where he led the U.S. team with three goals and three assist in 460 minutes, also with 20 shots on goal that added up to be 64 percent of the American total.  The U.S. made it all the way to the 3rd place game where they fell to Colombia 1-0.

Here's hoping that he makes a speedy recovery, and that we see him back on the fields in now time.  I would love to see Clint retire on his own terms and not forced because of something like this.  But, if this is the end, he's had a hell of a career and has accomplished so much.  Feel better 'Big Deuce". 

Wounded Tiger at Old Trafford

Concerns keep growing as Radamel Falcao known as "El Tigre" or "The Tiger", forward for the Red Devils as re injured himself, and will now be sidelined for 2 more weeks.  Falcao, who hasn't been active since the 2-2 draw against West Bromwich Albion on October 20th, injured is calf, and his now at least 2 weeks away from being healthy again.  Reports say that the injury occurred while training.  The injury also means that Falcao won't be available for the Arsenal clash which will be on Saturday, and the 2 back to back home games against Hull on November 29th and Stoke City on December 2nd. 

Falcao, who was a deadline day loan transfer from French club Monaco, has appeared for 5 games and scored 1 goal this season for the Red Devils, and has yet to complete a full 90 minutes.  When asked about this new set back by MUTV, Van Gaal was quoted as replying, "It takes time", he replied, "next week he shall train, probably with our selection and then he needs two weeks and maybe a game."

Falcao remains very optimistic though, and he even showed frustration on the media reporting stories on how he is still battling the injury that he attained at Monaco, which made him miss the World Cup.  Falcao told MUTV, "I am getting better,  I feel well and I hope to come back to the pitch soon.  It is disappointing that I can't play but I have to be calm and recover because that is important to help the team when I return to the games." He then mentioned his frustration with the media about his past injury, and cleared the air on it a bit.  "It is a bit frustrating. Well, it is more than frustrating actually and it detracts from the credibility of the media that there is so much speculation and that so many falsehoods have been written about it.  I think with an audience of so many millions of people, it is not right. I did take a small injury to my calf, which is something that I need to be careful with, but there are a lot of stories circulating that are pure speculation."

Let's hope the man known to his fan's as "El Tigre" or "The Tiger" has a quick and speedy recovery.  I'm sure I'm speaking for most football fan's when I say that the football world misses him and his amazing aerial goals.  On top of that, I'm sure Manchester United are missing him, especially with the other injury woes that they are going through.  Like Daley Blind who is going to be out of action for some time and a possible worry for the status of Angel Di Maria as he took a knock in Argentina's friendly against Portugal.  I would love to hear your opinion or any feedback, and if you enjoyed this article please follow and share my blog, and follow me on Twitter by following @RobertoVindell . Thanks guys.

King of Europe

Cristiano Ronaldo's record breaking continues, as on November's 14th match for the European Championship against Armenia, he slotted home from close range the game winning goal, as well as goal number 23.  That's 23 goals in all of the tournaments he's been in for the European championship's, making him the all-time goalscorer in the tournament, surpassing Denmark's Jon Dahl.  Scoring 23 goals, in 37 games for Portugal in Euro tournaments, Ronaldo has been in amazing form and doesn't look like he will be stopping anytime soon.  With the win against Armenia, Portugal is looking pretty capable of moving into the next round, with just one point behind Denmark, and in doing so Cristiano Ronaldo is sure to add to his goal tally. 

The Portuguese star is having an amazing season so far for both club and international duties, in the Champion's League, and the Copa del Rey, while also hitting the back of the net 20 times in just 10 games for Madrid.   At the rate he's going, Ronaldo is set to possibly go on and win the coveted Balon d'Or award in January.  He currently made the short list for the award, including players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, and of course Messi, among others.  But, at the form that he is in, he's a good choice, if not the choice to win it again.  Paul Pogba from France was quoted as saying that Cristiano is the, "logical choice", "For me, it will be him,"  the Juventus midfielder said when talking to France Football Magazine. "It's logical, but it's logical for everyone, right?"  In case you need more convincing, here's just a little list of SOME of his accomplishments in 2014.  Enjoy!  If you think Ronaldo should win the Balon d'Or please leave a comment below, or if not, I would love to hear from you guys who you do think should win.  Also follow me on Twitter  at @RobertoVindell and follow my friends at @Pepper_Football for great football blogs.

Chicharito linked to Real Madrid

Javier Hernandez, better known as "Chicharito" to soccer fans, is being heavily linked to Spanish soccer club Real Madrid.  If true, this transfer would be a direct result from the Falcao deal not falling through for Real Madrid, who were trying to lure him away from A.S. Monaco on a one year loan deal as well.

From what we know, Chicharito has only played a total of 45 minutes this season so far in the Premier League for Manchester United.  Also, being that Benzema just signed an extension to hus contract, Chicharito will play the role of a back-up striker to the Frenchmen.  Not a bad back-up I think.  Chicharito is a decent player and his work ethic on the pitch is great.  His mobility inside the penalty box is great and his awareness on the pitch is pretty good. I'm sure he's going to make a few waves given the chance.

If rumours are true and "Los Blancos" sign Chicharito, will this conclude Madrid's shopping spree or will there be one more signing perhaps to fill the void of Xabi Alonso leaving?  Who would you like Madrid to sign? Let me know in the comments below, and also let me know about Chicharito's possible move to Madrid.