Dare To Zlatan? Part I

Dare To Zlatan? Part I

He started his career in Sweden at Malmo FF in the late 1990’s before being signed by Ajax where he made a name for himself under the current manager of Southampton Ronald Koeman. He later signed with Juventus for a fee of 16 million, and gained fame in Serie A by benefiting from his strike partnership with David Trezequet. In 2006, Ibrahimovic signed for rivals Internazionale, where he won individual awards including Oscar del Calcio and the Swedish Guldbollen, and was named in the 2007 and 2009 UEFA Team of the Year, in addition to finishing as the league’s highest goal scorer in 2008-09 while winning three straight Scudetti. In the summer of 2009, he transferred to Barcelona however his time at Camp Nou was short-lived. He decided to move back to the Serie A with A.C. Milan the following season, in a deal which made him one of the highest paid footballers in the world and cost the Italian club 24 million. He signed with Paris Saint-Germain in the July of 2012. His style of play has been compared to the Dutch legend Marco Van Basten, Ibrahimovic is one of the best finishers in the game and is regarded to be one of the best footballers of his generation. His spectacular bicycle kick for Sweden against England won the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award for the goal of the year. In December 2013, Ibrahimovic was ranked by the The Guardian as the third-best player in the world. In December 2014, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter named Ibrahimovic the second-greatest Swedish sports-person of all time.

Zlatan's Facts

Fact No. 1: At the age of 15, Ibrahimović was close to quitting his football career, in favour of working at the docks in Malmö, but his manager convinced him to continue playing.^[17] His idol was Brazilian star Ronaldo when he was growing up. Fact No. 2: Met Friend and Team-Mate Maxwell on First Day in Amsterdam, Ibrahimovic had already agreed to move to Ajax from Malmo, but it was on his very first day in Amsterdam that he would meet 19-year-old Maxwell, and the two have been friends ever since. Both players were born in 1981, both now are in their 30s, they have played together at Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona and now at Paris Saint-Germain.

[Tweet "Do Think There Will Be Anyone Like Zlatan? Ever?"]

 Fact No. 3: The story behind the perfect goal. Just after the players celebrate, the camera cuts to Ajax midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart, sitting in the crowd, and he doesn’t look entirely pleased to see the Swede score the magnificent goal. Four days earlier, the Netherlands took on Sweden and moments before Ibrahimovic assisted a team-mate score for his country, he planted his foot on van der Vaart’s ankle, injuring the Dutchman, and started a feud that has lasted ever since. That is why the former Spurs midfielder doesn’t look entirely pleased when Ibrahimovic scores.

 


 Fact No. 4: After joining Ajax from Malmo, Ibrahimovic didn’t enjoy the best of times in his first season. The then-Ajax coach, Co Adriaanse, didn’t play Ibra very often and the Swede struggled to find his feet in Amsterdam. In a 2013 interview with the BBC, the striker revealed that Southampton tried to take him on loan, and it was something that Ajax were interested in allowing. Fact No. 5: Zlatan Takes Embarrasment on the Chin. Looking a frustrated and isolated figure upfront, Ibrahimovic tried to chase down the Lille defence, looking to force a mistake and create something for his team. Then it happened, the forward came rushing in and Chedjou, with the slightest of touches, nudged the ball in between Zlatan’s legs. What is even more brilliant about that moment is Zlatan’s reaction. A beaming wide smile appears on his face, he knows he has been done, but there is complete respect for what Chedjou has accomplished. He dared to Zlatan, and he won, well sort of.

 

 Fact No. 6: Ibrahimović was born in Sweden to a Bosnian Muslim father and a Croatian Catholic mother, who both immigrated to Sweden. Fact No. 7: Ibrahimović is fluent in Swedish, Bosnian, English, Spanish and Italian. Fact No. 8: Ibrahimović is the only player to have scored for six different clubs in the Champions League. Fact No. 9: Ibrahimović received an honorary black belt in taekwondo; he attended classes at the Malmö Taekwondo club Enighet as a child. Fact No. 10: He won a La Liga championship with F.C. Barcelona in 2009–10 and a Serie A championship with A.C. Milan in 2010–11. Special Fact: He loves kicking his team-mates!

 

Lastly make sure you check out Betfect.com, Betting Revolutionised!

  Image from: lepiquedudimanche.fr

Guardiola & Barca: The End of a Beautiful Relationship

Taken from Born Offside

The dust has begun to settle at Nou Camp as Guardiola stepped off the pitch for one last time as the famed manager of Barcelona.

It was a sight to take in last night as his most popular attraction – the Argentinian playmaker – Lionel Messi managed to score four goals against city rivals Espanyol. A feat that saw him reach 50 goals in domestic football and 72 in all competitions, eventually breaking the record for most goals scored in a single season.

His appreciation for Pep was quite evident, as he ran up to his manager to embrace him after scoring his fourth goal. Almost like he had something to say. Something to express. That surely was his appreciation for what Pep has achieved within and for the club.

Josep “Pep” Guardiola i Sala and Barcelona have ended four seasons of close ties. The damage followed an unsuccessful run of Barcelona to conquer either the coveted La Liga title or the Champions League crown; to both of which, they were the defending champions.

To a certain extent, one could say that it was not a decision that was taken lightly either by himself nor us, the fans. Coming to think of it, we are both a bit heartbroken. However, ultimately for someone believing in the concept of achieving more it was the right decision, but that does not make it a single ounce easier.

Having won 178 games out of 245 played throughout his coaching career as Barcelona’s number one, his contribution to the club will not be undermined. With a solid resume of 3 La Liga, 2 Champions League, 1 Copa Del Rey, 2 FIFA Club World Cup, 2 European Super Cup and 3 Spanish Super Cup titles, he surely won’t have to struggle when it comes to searching for his next employer. 

That is a total of 13 trophies and the list could grow to 14 by the end of the season that is if Barcelona manages to beat Athletico Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final.

A man who has shown his passion like no other coach on the pitch, match and match again. The video of him celebrating in the 2009 Champions League Final after Andres Iniesta had scored in the last minute against Chelsea says it all. And FYI, it was the same year that Barcelona had managed to bag all the trophies (6 of them) that was available.

For sure Guardiola’s way with words will be missed, but most of his entire attempt to simplify football which is visible when Barcelona play will be missed. The unsophisticated, beautiful and absolute notion of  “take the ball, pass the ball” as he says it. 

I would rather like to conclude with a statement made by Guardiola in his own words:


“You don’t know how lucky I am. I will miss you a lot. I lose more than you, you’re in good hands.” 


Gracias, Pep por todo. Thank you Pep for everything.

Barça, Barça, Baaarça!


Written by Shuaib Ahmed
Follow him on Twitter @footynions
Check out his wonderful blog, Footynions


Please like O-Posts on Facebook
Follow the site on Twitter

Gotze's La Liga Dream - The Consequences

Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Mario Gotze has recently stated that his dream is to play for either of the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid or Barcelona. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder has been in scintillating form for Die Borussen over the last year, amassing 12 goals and 19 assists in 51 games. He was fairly influential in Dortmund's victorious Bundesliga campaign last season. Captain and pivotal figure Nuri Sahin left the German club this summer to join Real Madrid, leading many people to doubt Dortmund's ability to threaten for the league in Sahin's absence. But, the diminutive Gotze has only upped his game and been ever so influential in Dortmund's challenge this Hinrunde.

Whether young Mario wants to follow in Sahin's footsteps, or the thought of playing for one of the most successful clubs in the world is his main influence, Gotze's move to Spain seems fairly imminent. He surely won't make the move this January, but talks may start in June. Assuming Gotze does move this summer, here is a look at where he'd probably fit at the two clubs.

Gotze's future discussed 

ElClasico : Saturday Night Sensation for Barcelona

When the final whistle went off at the end of 90' at the Santiago Bernabeu the result 3-1 would have hard to sink in, if sometime had gone off to sleep at halftime. But this is Barcelona, the best team in the world at the moment and they would have left Mourinho gasping as to what is left for him to do to beat this Barcelona side something which he hasn't achieved in 4 league meetings, the first Real Madrid manager to achieve such a feat.

Since moving to a country with a different timezone my football viewing has been made more smoother with EPL at breakfast and LaLiga at lunch or tea time. And with ElClasico at a perfect time in the day I couldn't miss it for any reason. And while I was following it, the tension certainly was rising as each minute passed by even for the neutral in me. The Barca fans must have had a tough time in the first half and the Madrid fans in the 2nd. Add to that if I was told that 3-1 was a fair reflection of the game,I wouldn't  have an option but agree as Real Madrid were made to pay for all the missed chances they ought to have finished.The reason why you can't get off your couch when your watching a football match right from the 1st second till the end of the game was once again displayed today by the universal declaration of beautiful and scintillating football.

The fastest goal in an El Clasico - 23 seconds

Read the complete story about Saturday Night Sensation for Barcelona

Big Match Preview : El Clasico

Ding Ding, Ding Ding! Stop the press! Call up your mothers, fathers and brothers! Stop what you're doing and listen up... this Saturday at 9pm is El Clásico. That's right, Christmas has once again come early for football fans around the world as Barcelona pay bitter rivals Real Madrid a visit at the Bernabeu.

For the uninitiated this is the mother of all matches. A game not only between two of football's institutions but a fixture that represents so much more on a political and historical level. The fierce intensity of the rivalry harks back to the 1930s where Spain was split between the ruling of dictators Rivera and Franco, who associated themselves with the Madrid side so heavily they became a symbol of Spanish nationalism, and the resistance of the Catalan people who fiercely maintained their language and identity. It is this association with Catalan nationalism that led to Barca gaining their world famous motto: més que un club (More than a club).

Continued at http://www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk/

Champions League: Good Times, Bad Times

Good Times
Chelsea: A convincing 3-0 win at home against non other than Valencia to send Abramovich's team through as group winners. The pressure was on Andre Villas-Boas and he delivered in style, and you can't ask for much more than that.

Basel: Not many teams will take Manchester United for 4 points from 2 games this season, and a record like that means they deserve their place in the illustrious knockout stages. Any team with ambitions of winning 'old big ears' should swot the Swiss team aside but with Shaqiri a constant livewire Basel could cause a few problems for someone.

Barcelona Reserves: They may 'only' have been playing lowly BATE but for a team with, at a rough count, 8 reserve/youth team players Barcelona were absolutely amazing to watch. They really did look like the full team which is a testament to the club's La Masia youth academy, oh and keep an eye out for Cuenca and Montoya among others.

Continued at http://www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk/

Soccer in the Deep South

United and Liverpool fans winding each other up in Tennessee; 1,200 mile round trips for an amateur league game; and, 1 professional team spread over 250,000 square miles.

Those lovely people at In Bed With Maradona are hosting my latest work, a look at emerging football culture in the Deep South, USA.

Read more: Soccer in the Deep South.