Reading David’s post over at STO’s sister site intermilanfanclub. com about Brazilian forward Kaka’s potential exit from Real made me sit down and think what happened to one of the decade’s best attacking midfielders.

Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite or Kaka if you like was the toast of the football world just three years ago. How fast things change. The 28 year old is now dimmed surplus to requirements at Madrid and it is safe to say that his international career is over.

The world’s second most expensive player is at a crossroads in his career. New Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has made it clear that he is not a big fan of the Brazilian and was even contemplating selling him to his former club Chelsea.

In only his second season in Spanish top flight football, Kaka is yet to set the scene on fire with his silky smooth skills that we all came to love. His 4 month lay off due to a knee injury only aggravates the situation more.

Apparently reports are now emerging that Kaka could move to Inter Milan in the winter transfer window. I wonder how Milan fans will react to the news. Nothing is quite certain however, a return to Italy could be in his best interests.

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has not confirmed or denied the allegations thereby leaving the matter very open. In his 6 years with Milan Kaka was the darling of the crowd and if there was any truth to the rumours going round, then he never wanted to leave the Rossoneri.

Berlusconi was so intent on making  some money that he forgot to realise the value of Kaka to Milan. The Brazilian will now miss Real’s 2 Champions League games against his former club later this year.

Will Kaka recover from the cruel card that life has dealt him? Yes, but only on three  conditions. Either he stays with Madrid, he returns to Milan or returns to Brazil. The best option will probably be the third. Anything other than this and he might never resurrect his career.

Photo credit: from Madridistaparasiempre

Real Madrid Wednesday announced net profit for the 2009-2010 season jumped 11.5 percent from the previous year on what it said were the highest revenues “of any sports institution in the world.”

It said gross revenues for the season were 442.3 million euros, up 8.6% from the previous year. I believe this is the first time that any sports franchise has posted revenues in excess of 400 million euros in a single year,

Real reported their net profit had risen 11.5% to 24 million euros, and that their net debt had shrunk 25.1% from 326.7 million to 244.6 million euros.

The big-spending Spanish club reported annual profits of 24 million euros (30.6 million dollars), up from 21.5 million a year earlier.

Here are the official figures from the Real Madrid web site.

photo credit: tunguska

Tuesday  provides a mouth watering friendly clash between two of the games biggest football nations- Argentina v Spain.  Spain has dominated world football these past two years. La Furia Roja are not only European champions but also just recently added the biggest title of them all-the FIFA World Champions tag. One man has however been quick to instruct his side not to let their achievements get to their head.

Current coach Vicente Del Bosque has issued a warning to his side as they prepare to face Argentina in a friendly in Buenos Aires today. Del Bosque is undoubtedly one of the best coaches around and is mainly remembered for stint as Real Madrid boss.

The Spaniard was largely responsible for fashioning a dream team during the club’s galacticos era. Los Blancos went on to win a number of titles including two Champions League trophies and the La Liga title.

Now coach of Spain, Del Bosque is taking nothing lightly as he prepares his team to face the South American giants.

“The worst that can happen to this group is to believe that we are the kings of the world. After winning the World Cup, our goal is to prepare for the next tournament,”

“We’re just players and a coach except that we are the world champions. We have a great responsibility to move forward.

“I think our success is due to a solid base rather than a good generation. We have not changed at all since the World Cup. We won the World Cup from technical and human effort.”

Argentina on any day is not a team to be underestimated and even though they may be struggling to find that winning formula that won them two world cups, La Albicelestes go into the match as favourites.

Photo credit: from PanARMENIAN_Photo

Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo injured his ankle in his team’s opening Spanish league match and will be out for three weeks. Madrid said Monday on its web site that the Portugal international was hurt in the 0-0 draw with Mallorca on Sunday.

The injury means that Ronaldo will miss Portugal’s upcoming 2012 European Championship qualifiers against Cyprus and Norway. He will also be out for Madrid’s next league match against Osasuna and will be a major doubt for Madrid’s first Champions League game against Ajax on 15 September.

photo credit: Life of Sport

This weekend the Spanish and Italian leagues commenced with more excitement than has been witnessed in the last few seasons. There were some very big surprises from the respective league giants as well as enthralling matches that inspired hope for numerous fans across the two countries.

In Spain, the most shocking result was Real Madrid‘s barren draw at Mallorca. Jose Mourinho’s first match as coach of Los Blancos will be one he wishes to forget as quickly as possible. Of course its only the first match of the season, however, that result should give Madrid‘s critics something to talk about.

Real was one of the highest spending club’s this summer acquiring a total of 5 top  players who mostly impressed during the summer World Cup. Oezil, Khedira, Cannales, Pedro Leon and Angel di Maria were snapped up by the Spanish giants to be part of their renaissance this season.

Mourinho picked the positives from the match pointing out that defense wise, Los Blancos were solid.

“One positive is that from a defensive point of view we didn’t have any problems,” Mourinho said. “Another positive is the enormous number of chances we created in the second half. The negative is obviously the result. It is important to defend well and score when you are not at your best and we are far from our best. We didn’t play well but we did enough to win. We had five or six chances but didn’t take any of them and I am disappointed about that. We were solid defensively and if we had scored we would have taken the three points.”

Meanwhile fierce rivals Barcelona opened up the La Liga account with a convincing 3-0 demolition of  Racing Santander . Messi, Iniesta and Villa were the goal scorers as the Catalan opened up a two point lead over their fierce rivals after match day 1.

In other fixtures, Valencia were 3-1 winners over Malaga, while Espanyol defeated Getafe by 3 goals to 1. The weekend’s biggest winners were Sevilla who thumped Levante 4-1.

Villarreal suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad adding to the number of results that were not expected. Atletico Madrid play Sporting Gijon later today in a match that dictate their campaign this season.

In Italy, things were not too different as traditional powerhouses Juventus and AS Roma collected negative results from their opening fixtures. Juventus however, came out worse as they slumped to a 1-0 loss away to Bari.

A lot was expected from the Bianconeri especially considering how much they spent to acquire some top class talent. After guiding Juve through to the Europa League despite the tough opposition , Luigi Del Neri expected a much easier task when they faced Bari yesterday.

That was not to be as Bari provided one of the shocks of the day to deny the 28 time Serie A champions victory under their new coach. Meanwhile in Rome, the Giallorosso were on Saturday held to a barren draw by new comers Cesena at the Stadio Olimpico.

Last season’s runners up failed to utilise their home advantage and as a result earned a point from a match that they should have won hands down. However, it was not all gloom as AC Milan recorded the biggest win of the weekend beating Lecce 4-0 at the San Siro.

Brazilian star Pato was on target twice to help the Rossoneri to one of their finest starts to a Serie A season in a long time. Thigo Silva and Inzaghi also scored goals on the night.

Fiorentina and Napoli drew 1-1, while Sampdoria beat Lazio 2-0. Palermo and Cagliari shared the spoils after their barren draw while Chievo were 2-1 winers over Catania.

Tonight champions Inter face Bologna in an opening fixture which they are expected to win.

Photo credit: rom & Golden Boy &

It was billed as the clash of the titans. This weekend provided two of the biggest matches to kick start the Bundesliga season. Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg and Hamburg v Schalke.

The Allianz Arena was the centre of attention on Friday as champions Bayern Munich got off to a rousing start beating Wolfsburg 2-1. Bayern’s goal came courtesy of  World Cup star Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Wolfsburg’s solitary goal was scored by Edin Dzeko.

I now understand why Dzeko is such a prime target for some of Europe’s best clubs. Wolfsburg’s new coach Steve Mclaren was however disappointed to see his side throw away points in the dying minutes of the game.

“That was the worst possible way to lose and of course for us it is a big disappointment,” he explained to the club’s official website after the defeat.

“We came back in the second-half by putting a lot of passion into the game. In the first-half we gave them too much respect. It’s a good lesson for us, but a painful one.”

The trend continued Saturday with Hamburg beating Schalke by the same margin. Ruud Van Nistelrooy was the hero of the day as his brace gave the home side their first win of the season.

Van Nistelrooy was up against former Real Madrid team mate Raul who was making his Bundesliga debut. The game was heading for a draw until Van Nistelrooy struck the winner 7 minutes from time after some neat work from Ze Roberto.

In the day’s other matches, the most shocking result was Weder Bremen’s 4-1 humiliating loss to Hoffenheim. Of course after beating Sampdoria 3-1 in a mid week Europa League first leg tie, many thought that the post Oezil recovery was off to the right start, however, that was not the case.

Hoffenheim were not a full strength squad either as their star player Carlos Eduardo did not feature. The Brazilian international is reported to have reached an agreement with Russian side Rubin Kazan. Kazan have offered Hoffenheim 20 million Euros for the rising star.

Hoffenheim’s goals were scored by Demba Ba, Peniel Mlapa, Vedad Ibisevic and Sejad Salihovic. Tosten Frigns was Bremen’s goal scorer. other scores: Borussia Mochengladbach 1 Nurenberg 1, Hannover 2 Eintracht Franfurt 1, Koeln 1 Kaiserslauten 3 and Frieburg 1 St Pauli 3.

Photo credit: from ScROs

Brazilian forward Robinho’s club career seems to be taking new dimensions as he is reported to have agreed to join Turkish club Besiktas. Robinho has never really looked like the player we all came to love since his move from Real Madrid 2 years ago. In fact, after an amazing debut season, Robinho’s momentum fizzled out as injuries started taking a toll on him.

Robinho was loaned out to Santos by Manchester City in the beginning of the year however his spell came to an end and City expect him back in Eastlands very soon to discuss his future.

Watching Robinho’s club squabbles play out is very hard to take especially if you consider the amount of talent he has. As a one of his fans, i hate to admit it but should he move to Turkey then it would signal the beginning of the end of his career.

Manchester City have always maintained that if any club can meet anything close to the 32 million Pounds they paid to sign him from Real then, they would consider their offer.

Besiktas are reported to be willing to pay the Citizens 16 million Pounds upfront and then 10 million later. That is a very appealing offer considering that no other clubs are willing to pay that much for the star.

Besiktas seem to be building their own version of a spectacular sporting project. The Turkish club have already signed Guti and Quaresma. Moving back to City is not an option either with Balotelli (who scored on his debut), Tevez and Adebayor all fighting for a starting position, Robinho is not guaranteed regular playing time.

What makes this debacle very ironic,  is the fact that Robinho plays brilliantly for his national team. Robinho is at a cross roads. The player who was once hand picked by the legendary Pele as his heir apparent is now just a pale shadow of the teen that took the world by storm as an 18 year old player eight years ago.

Is this the end of Robinho’s career? May be not but it will surely be very hard for him to re-establish himself as a top striker.

Photo credit: from Michael Diego

After weeks of speculation, Real Madrid have finally signed German starlet Mesut Oezil from Weder Bremen. The 21 year old has been on Madrid‘s and Mourinho’s radar ever since his impressive display with the German national team in the World Cup finals.

Oezil’s move comes at a crucial time for Weder Bremen as they are preparing to welcome Italian club Sampdoria for a crucial Champions League first leg play-off tie that will be played today at the Weserstadion.

Oezil was signed for an undisclosed fee, however, reports suggest that the sum could be in the region of 15 million Euros.  Oezil becomes the 6th player to join Los Blancos this summer after Sergio Canales, Pedro Leon, Angel di Maria, Sami Khedira and Ricardo Cavalho.

Speaking to Sky Germany, Oezil said that the main reason he joined Madrid, was because of Mourinho’s appeal.

“It is the next step in my career,” the he told Germany Sky. “I had wonderful years here [at Werder Bremen].

“The coach [Mourinho] wanted me. Real are a strong team but I need not be afraid.”

We have seen that money can the best players but that is not a gauranteee that they will win titles. Looking at Madrid’s squad, makes me wonder how  Mourinho will mix and match his team to create a winning formula.

Mourinho is undoubtedly one of the best tacticians in the game today, nonetheless, it will be a challenge especially in the early stages of the seasons to blend his huge squad.

With traditional rivals Barcelona being Madrid’s main title challengers, i believe we are in for thrilling season. The Blaugrana have also acquired a very impressive player in the form of David Villa. The former Valencia hitman who was named as the world’s most lethal striker by football magazine World Soccer in its October 2009 edition, is keen on transferring his goal scoring abilities to the Catalan side.

Oezil will be presented today at 1400hrs CET as a Madrid player at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Photo credit: from harian olahraga indonesia

Barcelona experienced their first taste of defeat this season yesterday when they were beaten 3-1 by Sevilla in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup. Playing infront of their home crowd at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Sevilla were cruising to victory in the 73rd minute when Freddie Kanoute put the home team in the lead for the first time.

Another Kanoute goal 10 minutes later put the game beyond Barcelona’s reach and provided the red and whites with a good two goal advantage ahead of their return fixture in the Nou camp in a weeks time.

Are these signs that Barcelona could be in for a hard season? I think so, they almost lost the league to Madrid last year with both sides fighting down to the final day of fixtures for a winner to be crowned.

The Blaugrana definitely have a difficult task ahead of them as cutting down the 2 goal deficit will not be an easy task especially against a side like Sevilla. Barcelona went ahead in the 20th minute of the match when Zlatan Ibrahimovic slotted the ball past Andres Palop to put the champions in the lead.

It looked as if Barcelona were going to take over from where they left off last season as they went into the break with their slim but comfortable margin. Luis Fabiano however restored parity on the stroke of the hour after he picked up a perfect cross from new signing Luca Cigarini to fire the ball into the back of the net.

Sevilla’s lanky striker Freddie Kanoute then doubled their lead 13 minutes later after some neat work from Alvaro Negrodo. It was not long before Kanoute grabbed his second of the night and third for Sevilla with only 7 minutes of normal time left to play.

Barcelona rested most of their star players with Guardiola playing only Ibrahimovic and Alves from the senior team with the rest of the players being drawn from the reserves and youth teams as opposed to Sevilla who played a near full strength squad. Messi however replaced the Swede in the early stages of the second half. A substitution that many had waited for.

These two different approaches made all the difference at the end of the night as Sevilla emerged victorious with a convincing win to boot. Barcelona now have a week to change their strategy and win a match that seems almost out of their reach. Does this loss have any major implications for the champions, i want to believe it does however, the Catalans are always full of surprises.

Photo credit: from superleague formula:…

Former Real Madrid great Raul Gonzales has for the first time spoken out about his decision to join Bundesliga outfit Schalke. The 33 year old former captain and all time club top scorer was quoted as saying he was pleased to join Schalke.

Speaking to the press earlier today, Raul revealed that although he had the choice of finishing his career at Real, he and his family opted for a new adventure.

“I made a very good decision in joining this club to finish my career,” he told Bild. “I could have stayed at Real, I had the support of Jose Mourinho. I spent 16 years there – almost an entire career.  But my family and me, we wanted to discover something new and if we did not do it this year, we could never have done it.”

Few strikers can lay claim to a glittering resume like Raul’s.  Raul is yet to play competitively for Schalke however, with Schalke’s opening Bundesliga fixture against Hamburg in a weeks time, the veteran is expected to get his first taste of German football.

Speaking about Schalke’s prospects this season, this is what Raul had to say.

“We can dream of winning the league title,” he noted. “With the coach we have [Felix Magath], everything is possible. He has been a champion with Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg.

“The first thing I was told on arriving is that we absolutely have to beat Dortmund, but if we could not beat them but become champions, everybody would be very happy!”

Whether Raul will experience the same level of success with Schalke as he did with Real Madrid is something that only time will tell, however, as for now, the Spanish international seems to have found a home away from home.

Photo credit: from LizNN7