Ronaldinho Named 'Player Of The Decade' By World Soccer Magazine

World Soccer magazine named Brazil forward Ronaldinho as 'Player of the Decade' on Thursday. The World Player of the Year was awarded to Lionel Messi of Barca.

Ronaldinho emerged as winner after 10 annual votes between 2000 and 2009 by the readers were converted into points. The Brazilian has been already named ‘World Player of the Year’ in 2004 and 2005.He again tops the footballer list followed by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid.

The European club champions Barcelona were named the Team of the Year.The 2009 Ballon D'Or award winner Messi is the first Argentine to win the prestigious World Soccer's World Player award since Diego Maradona in 1986.

Pep Guardiola who has had just a season with Barcelona was voted Manager of the Year. He left behind Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath and Manchester United's Alex Ferguson.

http://www.india-server.com/news/ronaldinho-named-player-of-the-decade-17677.html

Snubbed Brazil Star Pato Grabs Brace For AC Milan In Friendly

The attacking starlet continued his good run of form.

Nov 13, 2009 5:15:55 PM

Photo Gallery

Zoom

Alexandre Pato - Milan (Getty Images)

AC Milan have had a resurgent last month or so, as they have seen themselves climb from mid-table mediocrity all the way to third place, where they sit just two points behind Juventus.

One of their stars this season has undoubtedly been Alexandre Pato, a man who has scored eight times in all competitions, including a stunning brace at the Santiago Bernabeu, to lead his side to a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The youngster was recently snubbed from Dunga’s Brazilian national team for their upcoming friendlies against England and Oman.

Nevertheless, the 20-year-old has made the most of his omission in a friendly match that Milan played against a local club.

The Milanese giants won 2-0, thanks to a brace from Pato, who grabbed a goal within the first minute of play, and then another midway through the first half.

Meanwhile, Alessandro Nesta was rested from the clash, after having nasal surgery, whilst Dida held his place in between the sticks. Pippo Inzaghi was at his best, however despite hitting the post on a couple of occasions, he failed to score.

Milan are unbeaten in their past eight outings in all competitions, and they will be confident of continuing this impressive run when they meet Cagliari at San Siro after the international break.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/86/italy/2009/11/13/1623498/snubbed-brazil-star-pato-grabs-brace-for-ac-milan-in

England to face Brazil on Saturday

Two of the world’s best soccer sides, England and Brazil, will face each other in an international friendly this weekend from Qatar as they continue their individual preparations for next summer’s World Cup.

England coach Fabio Capello has made a point of testing his team against World Cup contenders such as Spain, Germany and The Netherlands over the past year and this latest match will take place at the 50,000-seat Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Saturday evening.

The last time England played Brazil was to celebrate the opening of the new Wembley Stadium in June of 2007 and the teams drew with one goal apiece. However, the bookmakers are slightly favouring Brazil this time out with SportingBet.com offering punters odds of 21/20 on the South Americans emerging triumphant.

Slightly longer, VictorChandler.com, 888Sport.com, Bet365.com, ToteSport.com, BlueSq.com, Ladbrokes.com and ExtraBet.com currently show odds of 11/10 for Brazil while BetFred.com is going with 6/5 alongside Expekt.com, StanJames.com and Coral.co.uk.

As both teams have already qualified for next summer’s action, there could be quite a bit of squad experimentation. Even so, WBX.com is offering Brazil at odds of 21/17 while PaddyPower.com and SkyBet.com show 5/4 followed by Betfair.com with 24/19 and BetDaq.com with 14/11.

England is currently third favourite to win the 2010 World Cup at odds of 6/1 with BetFred.com, SkyBet.com and Ladbrokes.com. This is behind Brazil and Spain at 9/2 and a defeat this weekend for either team could see those odds lengthen considerably.

SkyBet.com and Coral.co.uk are offering England at odds of 7/4 to win against Brazil while BetFred.com is going with 15/8. Punters can get 19/10 from BoyleSports.com while Ladbrokes.com, WilliamHill.com, ToteSport.com and StanJames.com currently list 2/1.

Not entirely bad, PaddyPower.com and Expekt.com show England at odds of 21/10 while Bet365.com, VictorChandler.com, BlueSq.com 888Sport.com and ExtraBet.com have 11/5 followed by SportingBet.com with 9/4.

Considering Brazil’s past pedigree, a draw could almost be seen as a win for England.

http://www.onlinecasinonews.com/ocnv2_1/article/article.asp?id=22390

Brazil Sambas Into Olympian Joys, Challenges

It’s time to develop a taste for caipirinhas, Brazil’s national cocktail, and to learn how to samba. Unless you are an Olympic athlete, that’s most of what you need to know to prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games, which on Friday were awarded to Rio de Janeiro.

For the first time, the International Olympic Committee has chosen a South American city to host the Olympics.

Rio’s victory over richer, more developed places -- Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid -- continues a welcome trend of acknowledging the growing importance of developing countries. The World Cup next year will be hosted by South Africa and in 2014 it will be held in Brazil.

The IOC’s choice sent an emotional jolt through the country. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s charismatic president who enjoys an 81 percent approval rating and who worked hard to support Rio’s bid, cried when the vote was announced. Some 30,000 people celebrated on Copacabana Beach.

The games present a tremendous opportunity for Brazil. The Olympics will give Brazilians a huge shot of self-confidence and boost the country’s tourism industry and Rio’s public transportation system. It’s also an opportunity to counter the violent imagery of drug lords, gang murders and grinding poverty realistically captured in films such as “City of God” (2002). Those scenes have replaced postcard images of beaches and mountains that used to seduce people around the world.

Military Maneuvers

It would be a mistake to skip a trip to the 2016 Games due to concerns about safety. Rio has hosted large international gatherings such as the 1992 Earth Summit and the 2007 Pan American Games. When the world’s attention is on them, Brazilians don’t take chances. During these types of events, law enforcement is shifted from the local police, who don’t exactly enjoy a reputation for moral rectitude.

Instead, Brazil’s military runs security, sporting assault weapons and tanks. If you think Rio’s drug kingpins are crazy enough to conduct business as usual under those conditions, think again.

It’s worth noting also that Rio hasn’t been subject to terrorist attacks like those that sadly hit Madrid and London, where the 2012 Olympics will be held.

Challenges Abound

The greatest challenge for Rio and Brazil probably isn’t the Olympics itself, but its aftermath. Is the country capable of doing anything to improve the life of millions of slum kids living in Rio’s favelas, which climb the mountainsides just blocks away from fashionable neighborhoods like Ipanema? Besides making a few extra bucks by juggling tennis balls at busy intersections, will their lives change dramatically because of this event? Probably not.

Regardless of which city hosts the Olympics, some things are certain.

The event will cost three times more than originally budgeted. The estimated cost of the 2016 games is 25.9 billion reais ($14.5 billion). Still, lack of money won’t be an issue. Brazil’s monetary authority can simply print more money if necessary. That’s no different from what the world’s developed nations are doing.

Architectural white elephants will dot the landscape. Stadiums, gymnasiums, cycling centers, athlete dorms and so much more infrastructure will be little-used eyesores as soon as the closing ceremony concludes.

Athletes may take home medals, but politicians and politically connected business people are the ones who really achieve success at any Olympics.

Collective Society

Finally, don’t expect Brazil to experience a home court advantage and win buckets of gold medals.

Brazilians aren’t a greedy bunch and they are always happy to please foreigners.

Medal counts tend to favor individual performances, like the ones U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps gave on his way to winning a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

Brazil is too much of a collective society to cultivate stars who excel as lone performers in events like swimming and gymnastics. Brazil’s strengths are team sports like soccer, volleyball and basketball.

It is rare to see a Brazilian athlete turn to the camera, pound his chest and say he’s competing to win gold, such as swimmer Cesar Cielo Filho did before breaking the world record in the 100-meter freestyle last July in Rome. Perhaps Cielo will teach other Brazilian athletes, especially those who don’t have the opportunity to practice in the U.S. as he does, to do the same.

That might be the most important legacy of Rio’s 2016 party.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aa0KLdK_V0Xg

To contact the writer of this column: Alexandre Marinis in Sao Paulo at amarinis1@bloomberg.net

Sport spectaculars could also draw investors to Brazil

Emerging markets are not everyone's cup of tea. There's something to be said for staying at home and investing in companies that matter in our everyday lives. It's a safe and steady approach and investment managers have a hard time advising their clients otherwise.

That's understandable. It takes a certain type to place their money abroad, someone a little adventurous, I suspect, who is looking for the big score, and is prepared to accept the risk that comes with an overseas market in a different time zone, on another continent, with an unfamiliar currency, where anything from an overnight military coup (think Honduras), political instability (think Romania), or a scam (think Bre-X) can wipe out their investment while they're asleep. Definitely not something you want to wake up to.

Most Canadian investors prefer to seek out multinational corporations closer to home in Manhattan. Over the long term, America's corporates have delivered the goods with the nastiest surprise occasionally coming from a surging Canadian dollar that bites into dividends.

When overseas interest has beckoned, it generally focuses on a diversified mutual fund, heavy with European or Japanese names. South America seldom gets a look.

That changed last week when Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Coming on the heels of Brazil being awarded the 2014 FIFA World Cup of soccer, investment managers were left furiously speculating how beneficial the world's two biggest sporting events two years apart could be for the country's economy.

For the longest time, Brazil, resource-rich, and a major exporter of metals, minerals and commodities, with vast offshore oil reserves in which it is investing $150 billion, has been viewed as the country of the future. With a population of 190 million, it is now a centrist-based consumer society that is being driven by higher income levels and easier access to credit.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch chief economist Virgilio Castro Cunha offers a rosy outlook. He estimates corporate earnings growth will jump 26 per cent next year, driven by robust domestic activity and a soft recovery on commodity and volume prices. He has raised his 2010 growth forecast to 5.3 per cent from 4.5 per cent.

The Bovespa stock index, based in Sao Paulo, the Brazilian equivalent of the S&P/TSX composite index, has about 60 listed companies and is the largest capitalized stock market in Latin America.

The index is trading at a 15-month high and is the best performing index in the world this year with a return of 67 per cent.

Factor in the strength of the currency, the real, and the return for a Canadian investor is closer to 100 per cent, so investing in Brazil may not be such a nutty idea, after all.

Brazil is the "B" in the BRIC group with Russia, India and China, considered to be the fastest growing developing economies, and there are mutual funds, such as the Templeton BRIC Corporate Class Fund, that serve this market.

"When it comes to growth and investment value, Brazil has become the BRIC's ignored fourth wheel," says Danny Furman on the investment site SeekingAlpha. com.

"Russia has ridden the oil roller coaster and most studious emerging market investors have focused on China's huge stimulus package and increased consumption as well as India's political shift. Brazil is assumed to have garnered equal attention, given the country's acronym leading position, but volume and price simply don't agree.

"Brazil's economy, from all indications, might be the best poised in the world. Bank balance sheets are relatively clean and consumption is at an all- time high in what has traditionally been an export-reliant economy. Power and water usage are up and favourable trade terms with China are apparent."

In fact, China has supplanted the U.S. as Brazil's biggest trading partner.

For Canadians, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) that trade on the New York Stock Exchange offer the most immediate hands-on investment. There are about 35 ADRs and most of them are internationally recognized names. They include steelmaker Gerdau S.A. (GGB), mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (VALE), state-controlled oil and gas company Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., better known as Petrobras (PBR), giant soft drink distributor Companhia de Bebidas das Americas, known as Ambev (ABV), Cosan, an independent ethanol producer (CZZ), Brasil Telecom (BTM) and Bombardier rival Embraer (ERJ).

The iShares Brazil Index ETF (EWZ) that tracks the Bovespa offers diversification. Units that last November dropped to a 52-week low of $26.64 US have surged to $69 US, an increase of 159 per cent.

That doesn't surprise Castro Cunha.

"Brazil is trading at a 14-per-cent discount to global equities on consensus industry-adjusted 12-month forward, price-earnings (P/E) multiples," he points out. "Higher perceived sustainable growth should encourage investors - it is trading at six-per-cent and three-per-cent discount to China and India, respectively, based on consensus-forward price-earnings (P/E) ratios."

What portion of one's portfolio should be placed outside Canada? Clearly this depends on an individual's risk tolerance, but investment firm Edward Jones recommends between 25 per cent and 35 per cent.

"In our view, global mutual funds with broad exposure to developed and emerging equity markets are a good choice since they have the flexibility to select investments that remain undervalued and to shift their holdings in response to changing opportunities," it says.

http://www.canada.com/Sport+spectaculars+could+also+draw+investors+Brazil/2086801/story.html

Brazil’s 2016 Olympic Bid Gets Presidential Push

The easiest job in the world belongs to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as he supports Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics.

All da Silva has to do is say “Rio has the most beautiful beaches in the world,” and he has an instant audience.

He made this simple statement Tuesday in throaty Portuguese, with English translation, and right away I was picturing the long foamy waves and Corcovado in the background and, well, all right, I was also picturing “The Girl From Ipanema.”

In a week or so, da Silva will fly to Copenhagen for the Oct. 2 vote by the International Olympic Committee that will decide from among Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio. He will undoubtedly mention beaches. But he will also push his other talking points: Brazil is an emerging economic giant and it deserves to represent South America, which has never hosted the Olympics.

A union man, a former lathe worker, da Silva talks with passion about poor kids from Brazil or Argentina or Colombia who could “hop on a bus or a truck” to see the Games. It is not clear that any of the 106 voting members of the I.O.C. will care about this populist sentiment.

In New York to visit the United Nations on his way to Pittsburgh for the G-20 economic summit on Thursday and Friday, da Silva will then go to Copenhagen. He is following in the path of Prime Minister Tony Blair, who flew to Singapore in 2005 and chatted up I.O.C. members, apparently so successfully that London was chosen for 2012.

And then there was Vladimir V. Putin, who as Russia’s president traveled to Guatemala City in 2007 and turned on his K.G.B. charm until the city of Sochi was chosen to hold the 2014 Winter Games.

After those two missions, the folk wisdom is that it does not hurt to have a head of state work the room before the members take their secret vote.

“I have information on how London won,” da Silva said. “And yes, Blair talked to a lot of people.” Sebastian Coe, the head of the London organizing committee and a gold-medal runner, is also said to have turned a few delegates as London stunned Paris to win the vote for 2012. But the point was made: schmoozing just might work.

With that in mind, Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, is considering traveling to Copenhagen and King Juan Carlos of Spain is expected to attend. But President Obama has said he is not going.

“I would make a case in Copenhagen personally if I was not so firmly committed into making real the promise of quality affordable health care for every American,” Obama said recently, adding, “But the good news is I am sending a more compelling superstar to represent the city and country we love and that is our first lady.”

Asked if it was helpful for a head of state to attend the meeting, da Silva volunteered that he has been talking to I.O.C. members for two years. When somebody noted that Michelle Obama would represent the United States in Copenhagen, da Silva said he was bringing his wife with him, “so it will be two against one.”

More damaging than the absence of President Obama is the reality that the acting chief executive officer of the United States Olympic Committee, Stephanie A. Streeter, and the president, Larry Probst, have relatively little standing in the I.O.C., which is known for clubbiness and contacts.

The I.O.C. president, Jacques Rogge, has said, rather ominously, that disputes with the U.S.O.C. about revenue sharing and a proposed Olympic network in the United States will have “no negative effects whatsoever” on Chicago’s chances. The generally attractive plan by the great city of Chicago could be offset because some I.O.C. members are still unhappy over losing their perks in bid cities after revelations that favors helped bring the 1996 Summer Games to Atlanta and the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City.

All four finalist cities for 2016 received good reports by the bid committee earlier this month. The strongest criticism of Rio mentioned violence, but da Silva said Brazil had not suffered an overt terrorist attack, and he told how poor youth from Brazil’s slums had helped quell robberies during recent sports events.

Speaking to invited representatives of about a dozen news outlets, da Silva made the point that Brazil has the largest economy of any nation that has not yet held the Summer Games. He stressed the development of oil fields off the Brazil coast and the nation’s aircraft industry.

“We’re not this tiny country people thought,” he said.

He noted that Brazil will be the host for the World Cup of soccer in 2014, and said infrastructure would be created for the tournament that would be useful in 2016. But the best infrastructure of all might be the sand and the waves.

Wait a minute: the 2016 Summer Games will be in August, which just happens to be late winter south of the Equator. However, a check of the weather for Rio in August revealed an average high of 76 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low 64 (24 to 18 centigrade). Very nice for walking on the beach, somebody from the bid committee reassured me. No doubt da Silva will mention this to the I.O.C. members.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/sports/23vecsey.html?_r=1

Global Soccer: Academy for Brazilians on the Fields of Italy

Before a ball was kicked in the Serie A season, the national coach, Marcello Lippi, expressed the wish that the Italian league would make the world sit up and notice its quality before the World Cup in 2010.

Maybe it will. But it might not be the Italians doing it.

The eye-catching performances in AC Milan’s 2-1 victory in Siena on Saturday night were Alexandre Pato and Ronaldinho in the attack and Alessandro Nesta and Thiago Silva in defense. Three of the four are Brazilians who are hoping the Italian league makes their national coach, Carlos Dunga, sit up and notice them.

The other, certainly, is pure Italian, Roman in fact. But Nesta, classy defender though he could once claim to be, is 33 and coming back gingerly from a back injury that many feared might finish his career.

In the hot and humid late summer Tuscan night, the dovetailing of Nesta and Thiago was exactly what Milan needed after the retirement of the club captain, Paolo Maldini.

“Thiago helps him, Nesta guides him,” Leonardo, the new Milan coach, said on television after the game. “They complete each other.

“Sandro had the possibility of not playing anymore. This gave him an incredible motivation to return the same player as before.”

Thiago, almost a decade younger, tall and strong but also quick because he started his career as a winger with Fluminense, is, of course, a Brazilian, like his new coach.

Before Saturday, Leonardo had never coached in competitive sports. Now he is entrusted by Silvio Berlusconi, Milan’s president and Italy’s prime minister, to take care of his team. A player at the highest level, a World Cup winner with Brazil, but, before this summer, more of an aide, a talent scout to the president, Leonardo has replaced Carlo Ancelotti who had five years as a Milan player and eight as its coach.

The first player Ancelotti tried to take with him when he decamped to Chelsea in June was Milan’s “baby,” another Brazilian, Pato. Ancelotti had called Pato a phenomenon of youth — swift, with a powerful shot, superb balance and, something that nobody can coach, that extra sense of where the goals are.

Berlusconi said yes to selling Kaká, his Brazilian playmaker, to Real Madrid soon after Ancelotti left. He said no, at any price, to letting Pato go.

Those who have followed this remarkable youngster can sense why. But he looks a youth no longer. His birth certificate says he was born in Pato Branco, in the south of Brazil, 19 years ago, but the growth of beard, the possibly still-growing stature, the sometimes almost calloused expression, makes him a man before his time.

Pato, whose real name is Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva, slipped back to Brazil to marry the actress Sthefany Brito last month. Their honeymoon was short; Milan, like many a top European club, had scheduled a summer tour to make dollars in the United States.

It had lost eight out of 10 matches leading up to the Serie A start on Saturday. Leonardo claimed he was little troubled by that because he had seen the form and the pride being primed by his players for the real thing.

“I’m in the role now of thinking about others’ emotions, not mine,” said the coach. “My rapport with Berlusconi is very good. Berlusconi is in love with Ronaldinho. He thinks he has a pearl at home that needs to be used at its best.

“I have known Ronaldinho forever. I know his story, I played for years with his brother, I’m Brazilian. With Ronaldinho, it’s now or never with Milan and with the national team. Pato is an incredible talent who must affirm himself in the national team. I think they and Thiago will soon return to Brazil’s lineup.”

They are not on the squad named for the Sept. 5 crunch qualifying match in Rosario, Argentina. But five Serie A players are on the squad, as are Kaká and Adriano, who recently left AC Milan and Inter. As Lippi wished, the Italian league is being noticed, if only as a major part of a Brazilian renaissance.

What illuminated the tough opening fixture in Siena on Saturday was hugely Brazilian. Ronaldinho, pulling the strings of imagination behind the running of Pato and Marco Borriello, has some way to go to recapture the magical Ronaldinho of three or four seasons ago with Barcelona.

But little by little, the passes of Ronaldinho, the timing, the spontaneity split Siena’s rugged, he-man back line. There were men there who tried to kick Pato from the thighs down, but Ronaldinho knew where to put the ball, in places where those pack dogs would not snap at the younger Brazilian.

Each goal that Pato scored and at least four other chances emanated from Ronaldinho’s exact passes and Pato’s intuitive running. Add to that Borriello’s willingness to be the selfless foil and the pace of Marek Jankulovski down the left, and the two goals might well have been five.

Milan, despite six players missing through injury and its new striker, Klass-Jan Huntelaar, suspended, did just enough to win. Siena leveled after Pato’s first goal, but never looked likely to do so twice.

Pato turns 20 next month. He was sadly, almost comically, pursued by a pack of Siena players angry with him for teasing and wasting time at the end — but Pato has been upsetting older players since he was 3.

That is when he was spotted, and he then played futsal, indoor soccer. By 11 he had moved in with 83 boys and youths in the training academy of Internacional in Porto Alegre. After 10 games for that club, Pato, then 17, was sold to Milan.

Italy has been preparing him for Brazil ever since.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/sports/soccer/24iht-SOCCER.html