Friday, February 26, 2010

World Cup Shirts to Be Made Out of Recycled Plastic Bottles

The best way to highlight your company's environmental commitments is to bring them into the spotlight. We're guessing that's the motive behind Nike's move to make this summer's World Cup shirts out of recycled plastic bottles. The shirts will be worn by all nine Nike-sponsored teams, including England, Brazil, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

Nike's bottles-to-T-shirts operation is fairly straightforward. Recycled polyester comes from a Taiwanese supplier that cuts up, melts, and spins plastic bottles into a yarn for the shirts. Each shirt will consist of 100% recycled polyester and approximately eight plastic bottles. The shirts are slightly more expensive to produce than standard jerseys, but Nike claims that the costs ultimately even out because less material is needed for production. And on the outside, players and fans won't be able to tell the difference between the bottle-filled jerseys and the regular polyester shirts worn by non-Nike teams.

Environmentally savvy soccer lovers will also have the chance to check out Nike's shirts--the brand is using 13 million plastic bottles to produce jerseys for fans. All in all, Nike's initiative will stop 254,000 kg of polyester waste from being dumped in landfills.

Nike isn't the only company to manufacture shirts out of plastic bottles. Coca-Cola's Drink2Wear shirts are also made out of recycled bottles, and Patagonia started manufacturing fleece out of post-consumer bottles in 1993 with little fanfare. But by featuring the technology at sporting events watched by millions, Nike is letting the world know that the technology is worth our attention.

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Brazil's Alexandre Pato Banking on Milan Performances to Alert Dunga

Only time will tell if his performance against Manchester United will have persuaded Dunga he is ripe for a comeback but Ronaldinho wasn't the only Brazilian in the Milan side hoping for a World Cup lifeline.

Alexandre Pato, another third of Milan's three-man attack in the first leg of their Champions League meeting in the San Siro, is also hoping for a plane ticket to South Africa.

The 20-year-old is enduring an injury-prone season and at one stage his club ordered dental treatment in a bid to solve the muscle problems that had kept him on the sidelines for two months.

"'Dinho and myself are here to play for Milan but a possible call-up to the national side depends on how we play in the red and black shirts," he admitted.

"If I play well with Milan, especially in the big games, then I can hope for a call up to the national team. I want to do my best for Milan and win things with this team but I also want to get back into the national team. It has always been my aim."

Pato's fitness problems meant he did not feature in the 22-man squad called up for next month's London friendly with the Republic of Ireland.

And that will be especially poignant for him as Arsenal's Emirates Stadium was where he made his senior debut, against Sweden in March 2008. He did so in some style too, needing just a few seconds to mark it with a goal, just as Pele had more than 50 years previously.

Another Italian-based player who was also left disappointed by Dunga's selection policy was Diego, the Juventus midfielder, but he too is reluctant to give up on the dream.

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

World Cup Kaká and Brazil

Five-time winners will face a tough start to their 2010 World Cup campaign against Portugal and Ivory Coast

Is this an omen of sorts? Brazil, the five-times winners of the World Cup, will start their 2010 finals campaign at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, where the historic climax of the Rugby World Cup took place in 1995. Back then, it was South Africa's most imposing stadium. Next summer it will probably be overshadowed by a new generation of spectacular purpose-built or reconditioned arenas, but it seems an appropriate location for the heirs of Pelé, Jairzinho, Romario, Ronaldo and the rest to begin their challenge.

Brazil may need all the omens they can get, since they occupy the closest thing in the 2010 draw to a group of death, but they may count themselves fortunate to be kicking off with a match against North Korea, whose only previous appearance in the finals came in 1966, when they achieved a stunning elimination of Italy in their final group game before making a quarter-final exit after losing 5-3 to Eusébio's Portugal.

Next for Brazil in Group G come Ivory Coast, complete with Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and YaYa and Kolo Touré, on paper the strongest of the African contenders, full of experience at the highest level of European club football and certain to be highly motivated by the thought of carrying the flag for the host continent. And finally Brazil will meet Portugal, who only scraped into the finals by way of the play-offs but, barring further injuries, will have Cristiano Ronaldo back in the team and, despite the question marks over Carlos Queiroz's qualities as a head coach, will be pushing hard for a place in the last 16.

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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Madrid offer €63 million for Pato

Real Madrid are reportedly ready to put in a €63 Million bid for AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato.

According to reports in La Repubblica, Madrid have singled out Pato as a top transfer target with Manuel Pellegrini keen to boost his attacking options to challenge for honours on all fronts.

Milan have already indicated that they are not interested in selling their young star, but this represents a similar scenario to Kaka's situation when Madrid came calling.

Pato moved to Milan in 2007 and is widely regarded as one of the upcoming superstars of the sport.

Nicknamed ‘The Duck', Pato was instrumental in helping Leonardo's side to a stunning 3-2 Champions League victory against his suitors at the Bernabeu earlier in the season.

Madrid currently have Raul, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain in attack but Pellegrini seems adamant that he needs an additional option.

Read it here

Friday, December 11, 2009

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

Sunday, November 15, 2009

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

Alexandre Pato - Milan (Getty Images)
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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


Thursday, November 12, 2009

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