In a huge Clasico, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid defeated Barcelona at the Nou Camp 2-1 to all but lock up the La Liga title. The was Madrid’s first at the Nou Camp since 2007, and manager Jose Mourinho’s first career win in 10 visits to the legendary stadium. The scoring opened when Sami Khedira scored a goal off a corner in the 17th minute. The Catalans would pull one back when Alexis Sanchez would tally one in the 70th but a mere three minutes later, Cristiano ran onto a beautiful Mesut Ozil pass and smacked it passed Victor Valdes at an angle from the right.
With the win, it increased Madrid’s lead in the table to seven points with four games remaining. If everything stands pat, it would end Barcelona’s three year run as La Liga champions. It’s been a great run of form from Madrid this season, and with Cristiano breaking his own record for scoring, seemingly everything has gone right in the league this year for Madrid.
After tallying another brace yesterday vs Villareal, Cristiano Ronaldo tied La Liga’s all time season scoring record of 38 goals held by Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra in 1950-51 and Real Madrid’s own Hugo Sanchez back in 1989-90. It has been amazing season for Cristiano, and now that he has locked up the Pichichi award, (Given to the top goal scorer in league play), CR7 will be looking to tally one more in Madrid’s final game next week against Almeria to hold the record alone. Arguably the best player in the world, the isn’t much on the pitch Ronaldo can’t do and after this magnificent seaosn, Ronaldo will have La Liga title and Champions League titles on his agenda for 2011-12. Congrats Cristiano Ronaldo you are an amazing footballer and I wish you luck next week against Almeria.
Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima has officially retired from professional football after a tremendous that lasted 18 years. Ronaldo started his senior career with Cruzeiro in 1993 and would play for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, AC Milan and would finish his career in his native Brasil, playing for Corinthians. Ronaldo did everything in his career any player would dream about. Winning two FIFA World Cups with Brasil, three FIFA Player of the Year awards, numerous league titles, scoring titles and countless individual awards, Ronaldo is on everyones list of all-time greats and is arguably the greatest striker to play the game. Ronaldo not only did wonderful things for his club teams, (352 goals in 515 appearances), but he also was a masterful with Brasil. Along with his two World Cup titles, Ronaldo has the record for most all-time World Cup goals with 15 to his tally and has scored 62 goals in 97 caps for the squad.
Ultimately Ronaldo will be remembered for multiple reasons. Not only will he be rememebered for all the great goals he scored, the water like fluidness of his “silks”, but also he’ll be rememebered with the “What if?” factor. Hard to believe with a guy with so much on his resume. Ronaldo suffered three severe knee injuries during the course of his career and still came back every time and competed at a high level. Ronaldo’s mental toughness along with his physically was seemingly unmatched by anyone before, during, or after his prime. Ronaldo was always one of the biggest and fastest players in the world which resulted in countless mismatches. Teams would often send multiple defenders after him and many times he either shook em off and kept going, or he found a teammate in open space to get another goal for his team. It will be strange not seeing El Fenomeno no longer on the pitch, but the memories he’s left us are amazing.
To Ronaldo, Thank you for everything you’ve done for the sport, and personally I thank you for being a great person to look up to. I’m glad I have a hero like you who played the game with passion, respect, honor and integrity.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has been asking for reinforcements, and is finally getting one. Emmanuel Adebayor, a striker for Manchester City, is coming aboard on loan til the seasons end. Having come over from Arsenal to City just 18 months ago, Adebayor started off scorching hot, but after a switch in managers and the acquisition of Mario Balotelli, Adebayor had became an afterthought. Hopefully the Togo international can come in and learn the Spanish game, and produce as well as force Karim Benzema to kick his game into high gear and have Los Blancos firing shots into the back of the net.
Ronaldo is,was,and always will be my favorite football (Soccer for my fellow Americans) player of all-time. An idol of mine for more than a decade, I admire “R9″ like no other and respect him to the fullest. I’ve worn his #9 and even mimicked some of his “silks” on the pitch. So as I found this video of all of his World Cup record 15 goals, I decided to share it with everyone. Enjoy!
After a long rehab process, Brazilian midfielder Ricardo Kaka is making his long awaited return to Real Madrid. Kaka was placed on the squad list for tomorrows match against Getafe, after a whopping 238 days out due to a kneee injury. When healthy, Kaka is arguably the best player in the world (He was endorsed as the best by the great Pele), and pairing him up with Cristiano Ronaldo only makes a deadly Madrid side even more lethal and dangerous. We shall see #8 take to the pitch tomorrow and work his craft and hopefully enjoy a Real Madrid victory in the process. Welcome back Kaka and Hala Madrid!
Some intriguing matchups were made yesterday when the Champions League draw was announced. After Robin Van Persie stated he’d like to take on one of the Spanish League giants Real Madrid or Barcelona, Arsenal’s fate was put into question and sure enough they were drawn Barcelona in the round of 16. Barcelona is a heavy favorite to win that game and I believe they do so. Real Madrid, group plays top points getter, drew Lyon for the second straight year. This round has always been a thorn in the Spanish clubs’ side but Madrid should be able to pick up the win, especially since they’ll have one of the world’s best players in Kaka back in form by then. Reigning champ Inter Milan will face Bayern Munich in a rematch of last years final. Inter won the FIFA Club World Cup today but have looked lackluster at times this season and our 7th in Serie A. Munich has been playin very well and will look to take down the Italian club this go around. Another matchup that catches my eye is Marseille vs Manchester United. As Man U center back Rio Ferdinand tweeted ( www.twitter.com/rioferdy5 ), “So we got Marseille in the CL, decent draw. Will be a tough game out there, never many goals between us + french teams.” He is right but I believe they ave enough firepower and are in form and should make it past a game Marseille. The remaining matchups are as follows: AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur, AS Roma vs Shaktar Donetsk, FC Schalke vs Valencia, and Copenhagen vs Chelsea. The first leg of games will be played on February 15/16 and 22/23 while the second legs will be played March 8/9 and 15/16. Get ready for some great games and we’ll see who’s still standing into the round of 8.
Manchester City star Carlos Tevez wants out after a little over a year with the club. Up to date, Tevez has scored 33 goals in 50 games with the club, including 10 in 15 games this season. Tevez is one of the world’s best strikers, but controversy is nothing foreign to the Argentinian. First was his bitter ending with Corinthians when he refused to play and forced a transfer (Tevez ended up with West Ham). Then there was a transfer issure when leaving West Ham to Manchester United as FIFA was needed to be brought in to make a ruling. Now Tevez has handed the club a hand written transfer request, citing family reasons and a breakdown in “relationship with certain executives and individuals at the club.” Some speculation is Tevez is eyeing Real Madrid, Barcelona and a couple top teams from Serie A in Italy.
Barcelona and Real Madrid would both be good fits for Tevez. Real Madrid is in need of another striker as Gonzalo Higuain is out with a back injury, Karim Benzema has been very inconsistent, and Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo were once teammates at Manchester United. Barcelona would be a good fit as they have fellow Argentinians Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Gabriel Milito for Tevez to play with. Whoever lands Tevez (If anyone), will receive a heck of a player, who can burn defenses and reign terror on opposing goalkeepers. I think Tevez gets transferred, but in my opinion it will only be between maybe 5 or 6 teams as he will carry a hefty price tag that many squads won’t be willing to pay.
With Gonzalo Higuain out for tomorrows Champions League game, Karim Benzema should be starting for Real Madrid. Heres a little video of the Frenchman. Enjoy
Posted by DABsportstalk 
