footballspectator

Is Carlitos Tevez on his way out of Corinthians? Following Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Botafogo in the Brasileirao, Tevez failed to turn up to training on Monday without providing Corinthians’ management with any indication of his whereabouts. In the wake of Sunday’s match, Tevez hinted that that may have been his farewell match for Timao.

Undoubtedly Corinthians’ best player of the past two seasons, Tevez has enjoyed an unhappy spell this term and has been targeted by the Sao Paulo clubs notoriously fickle fans for the team’s poor form so far which finds them in the relegation zone. After being booed throughout a recent match, he irked fans yet further by putting his finger to his lips in a “silence” gesture after scoring. This prompted some fans to threaten to beat him up unless he apologised. More recently he was involved in a training ground bust-up with team-mate Carlos Alberto. Despite the troubles, Tevez has still managed to improve on his goals to games ratio from last year with 15 goals in 23 games.
If Tevez leaves where will he go? The latest rumours say Milan who are in need of a forward following the sale of Sheva to Chelsea. But don’t rule out Bayern or Manchester United

A few years ago, Diego was hailed as the next big thing in Brazil. Forget Robinho, the original Santos starlet was playmaker Diego. He first burst onto the scene as a 17 year old and duly lead Emerson Leao’s young Santos side to their first championship in 18 years and all the wasy to the Libertadores final. The classic Brazilian number 10, Diego had it all. He dribbled, he had an excellent passing range and an eye for goal. In 2003, Tottenham’s bid to bring him to the premiership failed. Instead Diego extended his contract with Santos. The following summer after strong performances during Brazil’s Copa America triumph, he finally moved to Europe and to Porto, the then newly crowned European champions as a replacement for Barcelona bound Deco. During his first season, under Victor Fernandez, he managed 30 games for the Portuguese giants, but when Fernandez was fired and eventually replaced by Co Adriaanse, Diego was deemed surplus to requirements. He played only 19 times last season and missed out on Brazil’s World Cup squad.

It was time for a fresh start and this summer Diego moved to Werder Bremen. Now you would not think that Germany and Brazilian footballers would go well together. Spain, yes. Italy yes but Germany? Well many of Brazil’s finest have thrived here and Diego seems no different. There has been a magical transformation of his form. He has been the star in each of Werder’s first two games, scoring and setting up goals.So great has been his impact that Kicker has even compared him to the other Diego. Still only 21, the €6 million that Werder paid for him is looking like the bargain of the summer. Dunga are you watching?

Zinedine Zidane may not have finished his career as he would have liked - by lifting the World Cup - but its not all bad news. Zizou is currently topping the French music charts through a song dedicated to his headbutt! Amazingly the song was being broadcast over the internet less than an hour after the now infamous incident, attracting thousands of fans. As a result its creators decided to make a more polished recording and also produced an accompanying video. The words (in French) go, “Zidane hit him, the ref saw it on TV, we lost the cup but at least we laughed..“…I guess you can’t expect too much from something made in an hour..maybe it loses something in translation. See what you think:

Through his skills and trickery, Ronaldinho has become a hero to millions. Many of his youngest admirers practise daily to try and emulate their idol. Few will succeed but here are a couple who look like they have a better chance than most: 13 year old Nikon Jevtic from Serbia and 10 year old Mohammed Demirci from Turkey.

Nikon left war-torn Serbia with his parents and moved to England to escape. His footballing talent was quickly spotted and he was approached by clubs such as Austria Vienna and Valencia before ending up at Schalke where he is contracted until 2009. With skills like these it is likely he will be there for longer unless Abramovich and his millions find him:

Meanwhile 10 year old Mohammed is Turkey’s big hope. He currently plays for Besiktas’ junior team with the nickname “the eagle” (don’t ask me why). The Turks are already banking on him for the 2014 World Cup. Like Nikon his finishing needs work but it’s hard to be critical when you see this and then realise his age..