Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho is born into a family of five, which was dominated by football. His actual name is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira. Roberto, his older brother was already a rising star at their local club, Gremio, only to have his career ended by a severe knee injury. His mother, Dona Miguelina de Assis, was a former salesperson who was studying to become a nurse. His father, Joao Moreira, was a shipyard worker and footballer for a local club. He suffered a fatal heart attack in the family swimming pool when Ronaldinho was only eight. People began to notice Ronaldinho’s natural skill at an early age. He was given the name Ronaldinho because he was always the youngest on whichever team he played on (being so skillful that he played on teams with players much older than he was) He also developed a keen interest in futsal and beach football. He was first noticed by the media at age thirteen in a 23-0 thrashing of a local team in which he scored…yeah, every single freaking goal

Ronaldinho makes his debut for Gremio, aged eighteen. Three years later Arsenal attempts to sign him, but the move falls through after he is unable to obtain a work permit (Arsenal must still be cursing Britain’s damn red tape). He moves to Paris St.Germain in 2001 and becomes a fan favorite with his flare and thrilling style of football, but his employers look to unload him after only two years because of constant partying, bad behavior, drinking, late nights, laziness, and unpunctuality. He ends up transferring to Barcelona in 2003 after a tense fight over his signature between Barcelona and Manchester United. Playing for Barcelona, Ronaldinho collects countless accolades and titles, excelling to his best.

He continues to be able to balance his partying with his profession. But it is the 07/08 season that starts his downward spiral, constant niggles hinder the beginning of his season (a sign of being unfit). On April 3rd he suffers a muscle tear that ends his season, while injured Ronaldinho continues to drink and party until he has become overweight and in poor shape. Seeing his career starting to disintegrate, Barcelona decided to sell him while he is still worth a pretty penny. Manchester City and Milan scrap it out and in the end he moves to the San Siro (Milan) for 14.5 million. Ronaldinho plays three seasons for Milan and though he is still a formidable opponent, to this day, he continues to struggle with his fitness and weight, finding himself on the bench simply for loss of form and vigor. Ronaldinho currently plays for Milan.

Read Above for Part Three...

Copyright@2010 by Salem Brooks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher

Diego Maradona (The Slumdog Millionaire/Footballer Part One)
Maradona is born in Lanús, but raised in Villa Fiorito, a shantytown on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires. He is raised in an extremly poor family of eight that has moved from Corrientes. At age 10, Maradona is spotted by a talent scout while playing for his neighborhood club. When he is fifteen Maradona makes his professional debut with Argentinos Juniors. He plays there for five years, and English club Sheffield United put in a bid of £180,000 for his services but he rejects it (because cocaine is more exspensive in the U.K).

He transfers to Boca Juniors for a year before moving to Barcelona but has a rough ride there, catching hepatitus, and suffering a broken leg. However with determination he gets back on the pitch despite some saying he would never play again. See, this is where the determination of a street kid is invaluble. He is used to fighting for what he wants and he knows without football he would be back on the street…definitely an incentive.

He moves to Napoli after an argument with the club and excels there, winning trophies and the love of fans . But this is where the money and fame gets to his head. He continues to use cocaine and starts overdosing, causing him to miss games and training sessions, also leading to continuous fines from the government and his club. He also faces scandal over a illegitamite son, and gets involved with the Camorra (Italian Mafia). This is where he is starting to slip mentally. He has achieved the love and adoration of his club and fans, toping that off with winning the World Cup and achieving legendary status with two renowned goals against England (Hand Of God) and (Goal Of The Century). What more can he want? He is starting to run out of things to do with his money and since he has natural talent and hasn’t ever had to discipline himself, it wasn’t that hard for him to start to go off track.

Maradona left Napoli in disgrace after having failed a cocaine test and being banned for fifteen months. From there his career slowly dwindles and declines till he retires at thirty seven only to continue his cocaine use, and, also happening to become overweight...like a lot. Now the(kind of)happy ending to this story is that he gets an operation to help him lose weight and he is able to stop his cocaine use and become the Argentina manager for eighteen months, which is more than anyone ever expected from him. This quote sums him up pretty wll in my opinion.

He is someone many people want to emulate, a controversial figure, loved, hated, who stirs great upheaval, especially in Argentina... Stressing his personal life is a mistake. Maradona has no peers inside the pitch, but he has turned his life into a show, and is now living a personal ordeal that should not be imitated.

-Jorge Valdano former teammate-

Read Above for Part Two...

Copyright@2010 by Salem Brooks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher

The Slumdog Millionaire/Footballer

In this post I am going to share with you my opinion on the unhappy ending to football’s most romantic story. The young mistreated slumdog with incredible skill who rises to the top with success, becoming ‘the best footballer ever’. Now while this is the perfect material for a sports movie or article, and though it actually does happen a lot, the thing I found worthy of writing about is the end of the story. What ensues after the credits of the movie have rolled out? What really happens after they have achieved fame? How do they handle the new pressure? To tell you the truth they don’t. At least not most of the time. They are often from a poor bunch, fighting to stay alive and not knowing when their next meal will come around. And then suddenly, Bang! They are the centre of attention and they have millions thrown at them. They play football for a couple of years, thrilling the globe with their exceptional skill and expertise and send fortunes back to their now rich families, but what then? What next? They have so much money that they don’t know what to do with it and it is then, that they discover the world of woman, alcohol, and drugs (ya stop playing dumb you Argentineans we still remember Maradona)(sniff sniff). Not like these things are career threatening or even “BAD”... in moderation. A word that some people don’t know. In these next posts I will go over the exciting but ultimately sad stories of three notorious footballers that rose to fame but fell to controversy and shame, pulled down by their weight of their vices.

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Copyright@2010 by Salem Brooks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher

The Little Pea

Hey there readers, I was just pondering the buzz that has been created over our new Mexican(maybe?) star, Javier Hernandez, known as Chicharito (the little pea)…no it’s not what you’re thinking…it’s because of his green eyes:). Some people have suggested that he should play ahead of Berbatov and Owen, while others say he has just had a lucky start, of course time will only tell. But in this post I am going to explain why I think that he is going to make it big on the Old Traford stage.
Hernandez was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, on 1 June, 1988. He played football in some recreational leagues from an early age but his father, a retired Mexican player, said that he never expected his son to make it as pro. He played for C.D Guadalajara for four years scoring some goals but still remaining a complete unknown. He transferred to Manchester United before the 2010 World Cup. I read two interesting interviews, one with him and another with his father and grandfather. (you can read them here)

http://www.manutdbuzz.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=475&p=3909&sid=12c8f141f8001ead076740ccc22b9163

http://www.javierhernandezonline.com/news/30-interview-with-chicharitos-father-and-grandfather.html

…and, this was where my hunch about his future success was confirmed in my mind. Two interesting points came up when they asked his Grandfather what his personality was like. This is what he said

What’s his personality like? Tomas Balcazar: He’s a very quiet boy. He’s 100 per cent professional. He doesn’t drink or smoke or stay up to all hours. When he goes over to Manchester, there might be people who try and change him but if they leave him to live like he knows how, he’ll be fine. He won’t even go out to the cinema sometimes. He prefers to come home after training, eat and then sleep. Hernandez in action for Mexico at the 2010 World Cup

Interesting, huh? His attitude could really define him in future days and also the fact that his father never thought he would be a pro means that, ok, maybe he was talented but not amazing, like, ‘hey, he’s the next Pele’ sort of person. So he had to work at it, it didn’t come naturally and in my opinion that is what makes a great athlete, those people who had to really strive for greatness. If you look at all these naturally talented players such as Ronaldo (the fat one), Ronaldinho, Diego Mardonna and many others who had natural talent, they ended up losing it and becoming druggies or getting over weight and losing touch because, they never had the discipline in the first place. Also the way Chicharito himself answered this question:

What sort of player are you? I just like to enjoy myself. I want to win every day and I hope I can do great things.
To me that is important. His main objective is to go out there, enjoy himself, and win. Period. Nothing else concerns him. Will he make it as a star and avoid the distractions of fame? Or is he just an over hyped Mexican who was just dying to get across the border? Only time will tell.

Copyright@2010 by Salem Brooks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher

The Fergie Faith

Over the years that I have supported United (ok all you long timers, I know it’s not that long) I have always been, how should I put it...fascinated by the strange and undying faith that we United fans put into, yes, you guessed it -- Sir Alex Ferguson, the infamous and slightly controversial manager who has guided us to two Champions League titles, eleven Premier League titles, five F.A cup titles and four Carling Cup victories. Together with other smaller awards, a staggering thirty-two trophies. Now while that may be an overwhelming result for one manager, he also has things that lead people to question his tactics or even sanity at times.
But I myself was interested to find out what a man can do to take the sceptical crowd of United fans and turn them into worshipers that will rarely question his judgment or opinion. I mean, sure, you get the odd fan saying ‘hey I don’t really know why he didn’t do this or did do that’ but it is always followed by a ‘but I’m sure he knows best. I mean he’s Sir Alex Ferguson’. So what spell has he cast over us? Why do we respect and trust the red nosed Scott.
If you look at Ferguson’s playing career you will notice that he is a very ordinary, very normal person...who had/has problems with authority  and was constantly either getting kicked off his club or leaving because of his temper. He was restless and always on the move. Definitely not the material that most great men are cut from, it seems. He retires at thirty two and takes on managing the same year with a club named East Stirlingshire. He quickly forms the reputation of a disciplinarian but gains the respect of his players and achieves a measure of success. He then moves on to St.Mirren but is sacked for breaches in his contract and unlawful payments to players, using intimidating behaviour with staff, badgering them and confiscating their keys from them. He was described as petty and immature and without the qualities of a great manager (petty and immature...hmmm, that sounds like something my parents would say)...(not to me of course)...(cough cough).
Not growing out of his notorious anger problems, he inspired a sort of fear/respect from his players (he once fined a player for overtaking him on a public road). Luckily for us, he turns down job offers from Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolves to join Manchester United after the sacking of Ron Atkinson (no it’s not Mr.Bean. Imagine him giving a halftime team talk).
From there I’m sure you all know Fergie’s story, his unforgettable game against Nottingham Forest where he was one game away from being sacked...or his memorable season where he discovered the talents of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, and the Neville Brothers. In all, Fergie built a couple of world class teams, winning countless trophies on the way. Though there have been major errors throughout his career he has covered them with wins.
But as has been apparent, he never wanted to share the limelight. It is funny to see how he reacts to a fellow manager becoming successful and endangering his title. When Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitiz were enjoying success, Ferguson was constantly picking fights with him, but as soon as his team was no longer a threat, he praises and compliments him. None to say, my personal opinion is that it takes someone with a controversial and maybe slightly crazy personality to really become a success at Old Trafford, and almost any big club, and while some may question his impulsive decision habits, who can question him? I mean he’s Sir Alex

Copyright@2010 by Salem Brooks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher