European Cup Qualifiers

Portugal announced its squad for the games against Cyprus and Norway. You can check the squad here.

I like the squad, but was surprised by a few things.

Silvio getting his first call up to the squad. The Braga right back is in fine form this season, and the fact that he can play in the left as well is a plus.

I was surprised however that Evaldo was not called up, he could be a good alternative to Fabio Coentrao.

With Simao announcing his retirement from International soccer, I figured that Ricardo Quaresma would walk right into the team, considering his fine form with his new club. However he was called up as an alternative choice if someone gets injured. With Ronaldo and Varela getting injured, Quaresma and former teammate Yanick were called up.

Some were left wondering why Vieirinha did not get called up, as he is playing really well and deserves a call up. Some people in Greece consider him to be the best player in the Greek League.

Paulo Machado gets his first call as well, the Toulouse player is in fine form in the French League, and he can play several positions in midfield, he is a terrific player who deserves a move to a bigger club, I think he would have been perfect to replace Ramires at Benfica, but that is an entirely different matter.

Good luck to my countrymen, play well and win..............

Monday Night Raw

Its amazing to believe that Monday Night Raw just aired its 900th show last night.

Congratulations are in order for the WWE.

Idiots?

So, it seems that Johnny Damon does not want to return to Boston.

Sadly, you can not blame him, look how he was treated when he left the Red Sox.

While I may agree that you don't directly leave the Sox to sign with the evil empire, the Yankees were the only team that seemed to really want Damon.

Damon wanted to stay here, but Sox management had different ideas.

Personally, I would have liked Damon to return to Boston, he would have helped this team a lot.

He decided to stay in Detroit, we have to respect his decision.

Damon's former teammate Manny Ramirez just signed with the White Sox, who claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers. It will be interesting to say the least, to see how Manny and Ozzie will get along. I can only imagine the headlines in Chicago.

a week away!

The College Football season is only a week away. I have been waiting for months, and its finally here. I am looking forward to Boston College football, SEC and Big 10 defenses, Big 12 offense, and I want to see how USC does in its first year under Lane Kiffin.
Will USC lose four games? Will Oregon win the Pac 10? Is Pryor ready to lead Ohio State? Will this be Paterno's last season with Penn State?
Alabama is the team to beat, and I believe that they will repeat as National champions. How will Florida look without Tebow? How good will LSU be this year?
A lot of questions this year. This will be another exciting College football season.

Braga

Congratulations to Braga as they defeated Sevilla to get in the UEFA Champions League.

I am amazed by how well Braga is playing, quick short passes, lethal counter attacks, great defense. They are a well coached team. Domingos will be coaching somewhere else soon.

Good luck to Benfica, and to Braga in the Champions League.

Roberto Gago - O Frangueiro da Luz !!!

Roberto......

Oh, Roberto, Roberto............
This is the worst goalkeeper I have ever seen play in Portugal, much less for Benfica.
I cant believe that a player like Roberto is allowed to wear the Benfca jersey.
Bento and Preud'Homme would both be ashamed.
The amazing thing is that in Spain, they believe that this guy is "a world class goalkeeper".

Earlier this week, Jorge Jesus claimed that Benfica will repeat as champions, something that Benfica have not done in over 20 years. We are off to a bad start.
Benfica has now lost their last four games in a row! More importantly they have lost their first two Liga games, and have lost a Super Cup to Porto as well. Porto is already 6 points clear of us.
We need to replace this guy right away. We do have Moreira after all. Why not give Moreira a chance? Or look around the Portuguese Super Liga for a gk.

The CD National goalkeeper didn't look that bad against Benfica...........
Or you could look for a goalkeeper here in the US. The MLS is loaded with good goalies.
Look around coach, its is not hard to find a better goalie than Roberto.

Carlos Queiroz

OK, the situation with Carlos Queiroz is getting a bit ridiculous. The Federation wants to fire him, fine, go ahead and just do it. Portugal has two games coming up, and they are both European Cup qualifiers against Cyprus and Norway.
Why would you suspend the National Team manager for these two very important games?
The federation obviously wants him to quit, but Queiroz has said that he is not going to do so.
Fire him if that's what you want, and lets get this over with. This should have been done right after the World Cup.
Suspending him because he was "rude" with some doping testers is just ridiculous, and it makes Portugal look bad.

Rio de Janeiro, a war zone?

I read today that between January and July of this year, there were 2,556 homicides in Rio de Janeiro.
These numbers are quite alarming, considering that in Afghanistan, which is a country in war had 1,271 homicides in the same time frame.

Great game.

I had a wonderful time at Fenway yesterday. The Red Sox won 7-5, with Lackey picking up the win, and Papelbon with the save.

Looking forward to another Sox game.

Red Sox-Angels

I am going to my first Red Sox game of the season. Should be a good game, let us hope that Lackey pitches well enough, and that Papelbon does not blow it.

Nothing beats a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.

Maybe a Benfica game at Estadio da Luz.

do they know something we dont?

Rui Costa and Luis Filipe Vieira looked really happy today. Could it be that they are excited about signing Traore from Arsenal? I know they are not happy about the way the team is playing right now.....

Braga vs Sevilla

Portuguese club Braga have an important game today, as they face Spanish giants Sevilla.
Good luck, Braga.

Jarah Mariano

Congratulations to Jarah Mariano who was voted #1 in a list of 50 Hottest Hawaiian women by Sports Illustrated.

Tiago signs with Atletico Madrid.

How nice would it be if these two players returned to Benfica? We certainly could use these guys right now.

New signings for Benfica!?

Every day there are a dozen new names linked with Benfica, but today Sky Sports, who happens to be pretty accurate with their news, claim that Benfica is close to signing Armand Traore, the French left back who plays for Arsenal.
I think that it will be good for all parties involved, as the player is a very good, young talent who doesn't play as much as he should, due to the fact that Arsenal have two other left backs who are just as good or better than him, in Gael Glichy and Kieran Gibbs.
If he does sign with Benfica, then it means that Fabio Coentrao will move up to left winger, which is good for Benfica, but bad news for Portugal, as Fabio is the Selecao starting left back.
In Spain, Marca says that Benfica is interested in Savio, the Argentine winger from Atletico Madrid, and in Denthre, The Dutch left back.
One of these guys is needed in the Estadio da Luz as soon as possible.

In Brazil, there are news that Benfica are interested in Wesley from Santos, and in Elias from Corinthians. Both players are similar to Ramires who just left Benfica for Chelsea.

Liverpool-Arsenal

I was watching the Liverpool-Arsenal game earlier today, and I was a little dissapointed with Arsenal's performance, maybe Liverpool deserves some credit, but I feel for Arsenal. I really want to see them win something this year, because I like the way they run the club.

In my opinion Arsene Wenger is the second best coach in the world, behind only to Jose Mourinho.

I like that Arsenal dont go in these ridiculous spending sprees like Chelsea, Manchester City, and other clubs do. They promote from within, like Ajax and Auxerre do. They really are an example to the other clubs.

On an unrelated story, Peter Crouch, the former Liverpool striker has been caught cheating on his fiancee, Abby Clancy with a hooker. What is going with these soccer players in Europe with hookers?

I mean, have you seen Crouch's fiancee? Who would cheat on this woman?

The Eagles did not fly!

Rough start for the Lisbon clubs this weekend, as both Benfica and Sporting lost their opening games. Their north rivals Porto and Braga both won their games.

Benfica is a mess right now, Roberto is a flop, and the defense is just playing awful right now.

It has to be said that Benfica did control the game, but the result is all that matters.

Benfica needs enforcements right now, maybe Manuel Jose and Bruno Gama, though I have doubts that Benfica scouts watch Portuguese players.

Sporting lost to Passos, it is very difficult to play there, and the big three usually drop points there, but I was impressed with this team, some good players and a good coach.

David Simao, Caetano, and Manuel Jose deserve to play for bigger clubs.

Porto won their game against Naval with a Hulk goal at the 80th minute.

Not including the Benfica loss, it was a good weekend for Portuguese soccer, as there were some good games played. Braga, Rio Ave, Nacional, and Passos de Ferreira all played great this weekend. I am hoping they keep this up.

good start to the season.

The Braga-Portimonense game was a great start to the Portuguese League. It had lots of goals, good attacking football, two teams looking for the win, and no controversy with referees. Not bad at all, hope the other games this weekend are as good.

Portuguese Liga 2010-11

Its finally here after months of waiting. The Portuguese Liga Sagres begins today with the Braga-Portimonense game.
Lots of people believe that this year there will be four teams competing for the championship.
No disrespect to Braga, I just don't believe that they have a deep enough bench to compete the whole year, especially after losing so many players; Evaldo, Meyong, Joao Pereira, Hugo Viana, and Eduardo all left the team, it will be hard to replace these guys.
The battle will go down between the three big ones, Benfica, Sporting, and Porto.
Benfica are the favorites, but Sporting has improved tremendously, and they had a fine preseason. Even after losing Veloso and Moutinho, the arrivals of Maniche and Andre Santos will make Sporting's midfield better.
Porto will be Porto, Pinto da Costa will make sure that his team continue to get all the calls.

I am just hoping that this season we have good soccer, lots of fans in the stands, and little controversy outside the games, but we all know better........

Madden 11

Madden 11 is a great game, I like the fast pace to the game, and the fun has been kicked up. I am also enjoying the 'Gameflow', it is a nice addition to the series. Well, let me get back to the game. Running the Wildcat with Tebow.......... on the Patriots...........

Some guy named Bebe.

Manchester United has signed Bebe today. They paid 9 million dollars for him. Who exactly is he? Good question, as I dont know much about him myself.

Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, better known as Bebe is a 20 year old Portuguese striker who was playing for Vitoria de Guimaraes. Last season he was playing in the Portuguese Third Division with Estrela de Amadora, the club that produced Abel Xavier, Miguel Monteiro and Jorge Andrade.

The amazing thing about this transfer is that he has yet to play international soccer with Portugal. He has however played for Portugal in the Homeless World Cup!!

From the little that I have read about him, it seems that he is a forward with good pace and a good shot, he is good in the air, and can play either as a lone striker or as a left forward.

In the preseason with Vitoria, he scored five goals in as many games.

The future will tell us good this kid will be. Could he be the striker that Portugal needs? Time will tell us.

Danilo Pereira

Newspapers in Portugal, Italy and England have reported that young Benfica starlet Danilo Pereira is headed to Italy as Milan, Udinese, and Fiorentina are interested. Danilo has ended his contract with the club which means that he will be able to leave on a free transfer. Benfica will still receive some compensation as he is a product of Benfica's youth academies. Per FIFA rules, any time a player leaves, the club that produced him receives a small fee, usually about

150,000$. I am not concerned about the money, the problem is that why is Benfica allowing a player with so much potential to leave the club without giving him a run with the first team.

Danilo has already played with the Portugal under 17, and under 19 teams. He was even named in the list of 11 best players in the European under 19 championships this summer.

He is being compared to a young Claude Makelele, this should give you an idea of how high he is rated. I bet if he had gone to Sporting or even Arsenal as a kid, he would be playing for them already. Its sad that Benfica wastes these players. There are others such as Ruben, Nelson Oliveira, and Abel Pereira. I think its about time we give some of these kids a chance.

Brazil 2 USA 0

How good did Brazil look yesterday?! Wow, I was very impressed with what I saw from the Brazilians. It was a young team loaded with players who will start for Brazil four years from now in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Neymar, Pato, Robinho, Ganzo, David Luiz, man, what a team.

I was also impressed with new Brazil coach Mano Menezes who used an attacking 4-3-3 formation with Ganzo the play maker, behind an attacking trio with Robinho, Neymar and Pato.

I know its only a meaningless friendly game, but still, it was nice to see Brazil return to the 'jogo bonito'.

David Luiz

Congrats to David Luiz on his first cap for Brazil. He looked good on the Brazilian defense, he really reminds of a young Puyol, the Barcelona defender.

David is the talk of Europe and Brazil today, as many European clubs have been calling Benfica to sell. Chelsea is the most interested as they now have to replace Ricardo Carvalho who left for Real Madrid. However considering that the start to the Portuguese Liga is a couple days away, I find it unlikely that Benfica will sell him.

FSU Cowgirl Friend Of Jenn Sterger's Corroborates Favre Voicemail, Cock Photo

FSU Cowgirl Friend Of Jenn Sterger's Corroborates Favre Voicemail, Cock Photo

'Brett Favre Once Sent Me Cock Shots': Not A Love Story

'Brett Favre Once Sent Me Cock Shots': Not A Love Story

Portuguese Super Cup!

As I sat at the Faialense, and watched Benfica lose to Porto 2-0 for the Portuguese Super Cup, I could not believe that I was watching the same team that just a few months ago was playing some of the best football in Europe.

Jorge Jesus must be wondering what the hell happened, coming into the game Benfica were the heavy favorites, and Porto were suppose to be adapting to new coach Andre Vilas Boas. Benfica had a very good preseason, and Porto not so much.

Some people will say that Benfica are missing DiMaria and Ramires, but Porto just sold Bruno Alves, and Raul Meireles who may be sold as well, did not play.

A couple of things that are obvious however are that Benfica need to find replacements for DiMaria and Ramires. Nico Gaitan is doing well, but he is not a true winger like DiMaria is.
Another is that Roberto is proving that he is going to be an 8 million euro flop, for 4 million$ we could have had Eduardo.
Cesar Peixoto should not be allowed to ever wear a Benfica shirt again; This guy spent the entire game getting beat by Silvestre Varela, when he wasn't getting beat it was because he kept fouling him. Benfica needs an alternative to this guy. Ruben Lima surely could do better.

The season started with a loss, we begin the Portuguese Liga next week vs Academica, hopefully we will improve. I am sure Jorge Jesus will have plenty to say in practice.

Nigeria: Veiled female Sharia police smash 80,000 bottles of beer while shouting "Allahu akbar" - Jihad Watch

Nigeria: Veiled female Sharia police smash 80,000 bottles of beer while shouting "Allahu akbar" - Jihad Watch

Blame it on racism!

So it appears that Omar Thornton, the douchebag that shot and killed 8 people in Connecticut, accused his bosses of racism after getting caught on tape stealing beer. Of course.............