The Pick: Oliver Kahn is not the same guy who wronged Captain Kirk on Star Trek (I believe that was “Khan”), but he was a dominating goalkeeper who exposed many opponents to his wrath over a long successful career. He appeared in over 550 pro games (more than 400 with Bayern Munich) and 86 international matches, and his legacy will live on due to his play for Germany @ the 2002 World Cup when he became the first (and only) GK to win the Golden Ball.
Top 100 Players
The Pick: Just Fontaine? Just one of the best French soccer players ever! Mr. Fontaine was born in Morocco, but he did his most damage in a blue jersey for France. His career was cut short by injury, but he managed to make enough of an impression in his 200 pro games and 21 international matches that he deserves inclusion here. After all, he did still score 166 pro goals and 30 for les Bleus. You read that correctly, that’s 30 goals in 21 matches.
photo credit: Peter Fuchs
The Pick: I think you can learn more about a player by looking at their legacy rather than their league stats. Johnny Unitas may have stats that pale in comparison to Dan Marino’s, but when the Norton’s Anthology of American Football is written, it will have a longer section on Unitas because he revolutionized the game. I feel the same way about Rivelino. Sure, he had the stats, but it was his fluid style that set him apart from many of his peers.
This stadium could tilt more than once this season…
Barcelona is in a good position to take their Champion’s League momentum and put it in into high gear in “La Liga” when they return to league action on Sunday.
They have upcoming: Zaragoza, Osasuna, Mallorca, and Bilbao before they play Real Madrid on April 11th. What kind of a tear can they go on between now and then? How much momentum can they build up before they clash with Real?
photo credit: gordonflood.com
Doesn’t this man have enough to deal with?
Ronaldo has another man-crush. This time he’s REALLY crushing on Wayne Rooney. You know, Wayne Rooney…Manchester United. Yeah, totally different league. Totally different team. In fact, the team Ronaldo USED to play for. Here we go again. There’s something afoot when you have a superstar that you mortgaged your future to get talking about reuniting with a guy on another team who you know WILL NOT leave that team.
The Pick: Jose Luis Chilavert, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: (1) I love that you – the greatest Paraguayan player ever and one of the best GKs the game has ever seen – valiantly tried to keep your squad’s sheets clean in over 500 pro matches; (2) I love that you were never afraid to unleash your eccentric (and sometimes extremely volatile) personality on the pitch; and (3) I love you most of all because you were a great goal scorer.
When you commit the “handball heard round the world” in World Cup Qualifiers that usually means that the media will be following you around for the next 12 months. Well, Thierry Henry has returned to action for Barcelona by scoring a goal in a 4-0 beatdown of Racing.
Henry is one those “big name” players that gets endorsement deals for razor companies and the like, but lately he’s been pretty quiet. Like I said, he committed the “handball heard around the world”, but after he apologized for it that was pretty much it. I would have thought that he would stay in the news all the way into the World Cup, but a stint on the bench put him on the “back page” as it were.
At least Barca doesn’t see this man as a piece of meat…
While Real Madrid runs around trying to sign every Soccer player on Earth and create their own league that features only them and their “million man roster” Barcelona has proven why I believe they are a better overall organization than Real.
Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal is a HOT commodity for this summer when teams go running after free talent. Plus, everyone starts talking LONG in advance about who they want to sign. Well, Barca could easily have thrown their name in the hat…I mean, who doesn’t want to play the European Champion and WITH the best player in the world (Leo Messi)?
The Pick: If you are wondering why Mr. Frank “The Tank” de Boer is the only man to get his initial before his last name in the heading of a post in this illustrious and legendary series (and who isn’t), it is not because he is better than the other honorees. It’s just that he’s the only one with a twin brother (Ronald “The McDonald” de Boer). Now, both were great, but Frank was better. He has the second most caps ever for Clockwork Orange, and he’s an Ajax legend.
He likes fame more than he likes Soccer apparently.
So now Cristiano Ronaldo says something that secures my beliefs about him. He says he sees his career taking him back to Manchester United eventually. Huh?
If I’m Real Madrid I want two things:
1. An explanation
2. All my money back
Jim Mora got fired from the Atlanta Falcons for doing basically the same thing as what Ronaldo just did. He romanticized another job in a radio interview and then the Falcons had a couple bad games and he got fired. He got fired because he wanted to be somewhere else.
