The Future in Brazil

So we are BACK...Lethario's Take was away on the International Break ... now people know how I feel without my Barclay's Premier League weekends. But for once, the break has brought to light some exciting young rich arrogant prospects of the future as well as bored us with the painful Euro 2012 qualifiers. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, but I somehow always feel the games are a bit unfair and lack much battling ......almost as if the players can not wait to get back to their clubs!!!

For last weeks unavailable post and a brief run of the news we missed...click on the The Lost Post...22 March 2011

Since we are on a look down memory lane, how about some classic Thierry Henry to brighten up you week

Thierry Henry with his ghetto blaster back in the day...REAL LIFE photo, not spoof


Euro 2012 qualifiers were bland as expected and reminded me why I do not watch American idol or any
other reality show, UNLESS it has LOTS of gorgeous women and I am BORED!! This is because for all the pre-match hype, such as Bale's injury( Wales), Evra and Ribery's comeback (France), John Terry vs Rio Ferdinand Captaincy (England), Torres GOAL DROUGHT (Spain) and many more, the actual matches and results were boring and predictable with some of the match-ups pretty unfair!!

                        Rio, "I'll show you WHO IS CAPTAIN!!!"

So England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Holland won, some more convincingly than others (credit where its due)....BUT didn't we all expect that just like we all now expect Torres not to score??? 50 MILLION to waste anyone!! Russia was disappointing with a lackluster draw but they still top their group tables just as do all the above mentioned teams

The game of the break so far was Brazil vs Scotland. Credit must be given to Mano Menezes for bringing us back a beautiful  football playing Brazil. The Scotland game was more than a friendly as a win was NEEDED to appease the fans after 2 defeats and also provided a good warm up for the up coming Copa America in July. The new look team, filled with plenty of talented youth, is being weaned off what had become an excessive dependence on the counter-attacking football as seen at the 2010 World Cup. Teams had begun to counter this by sitting back and defending deeply hence the poor finish and extreme disappointment of the many Brazilian fans.

 Menezes'  compact 4-2-3-1 has begun to reap rewards with Scotland unable to contain them throughout the match due to fluid ball movement, flair and charisma that has started to appear. To add to that Menzes has a squad bursting with a mix of experience and youth. The youth is promising a return to the mesmerizing football we all know Brazil for with Neymar,Lucas Rodriguez, Leandro Damiao, David" Side Show Bob" Luiz and Sandro coming into their potential at a faster rate than initially anticipated .

  WINNING tastes great...the sweet taste of Victory, Neymar and Rodriguez

Neymar, dubbed as the next Pele, is a penalty-box assassin ( as his record of 59 goals in just 119 Santos games suggests) with sublime touch, skills and a great eye for goal whilst Lucas Rodriguez  commands the midfield with tireless runs as well as being blessed with balance and physique that reminds one of Maradona. Side Show Bob I already spoke of whilst Leandro Damiao is an old school number 9 who shows glimpses of a mix between an unpolished Ronaldo and Romario as he is good with his head, great with his feet and not shy of the goal. Neymar and Rodriguez were part of the  U20 Brazil that won the U-20 South American Championship this year and will also feature in the 2012 London Olympics.

            
It would be bias not to mention that the future of Football looks bright worldwide...you only have to look at the Germany team with their stunning display at the world cup with a youthful team . Jack Wilshire, Andy Carroll (who has been warned by Capello about the his drinking ), Aaron Ramsey,Pedro,Micah Richards, Chicharito, Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling, Theo Walcott and many others are proof positive.

Around the world in Sport:

The NBA has seen my beloved Boston Celtics develops the form of a yo-yo with losses and victories coming whenever, losing 3 out of their last 5 matches. It is pretty disappointing as the Chicago Bulls have taken over top spot in the East with their record now at 53-20 compared to the Celtics' 51-22 which is par with everyones' most hated team, the Miami Heat. The New York Knicks have had a bad run causing people to question their Big 3 although their hard earned victory against the Magic leaves them in contention for a playoff place at 36-38. Out West San Antonio Spurs domination continues as they lead the pack followed by the L.A. Lakers and Mavericks respectively at 57-17, 53-20 and 52-21. This is despite the Spurs current run of four straight losses with their next game against the Boston Celtics

          Justin Beiber took up racing after puberty!!

 The Melbourne Gran Prix saw the start of the Formula 1 season after the Bahrain GP had been postponed due to you know what! Justin Beiber Sebastian Vettel literally took off from where he left off last season as the reigning champ took pole position in the qualifiers before storming to the win. Hamilton and Petrov were second and third respectively and it looks like Red Bull is once again the team to beat. Ferrari will have to improve if hopes of past glories are to be achieved. Michael Schumacher offered his sympathy to all at Mercedes after an Australian Grand Prix weekend to forget. Take it from me, the guy should have NEVER come back because it is just embarrassing now!!!

                               
The Cricket World Cup got a bit exciting whilst I was away with "Big dogs", Australia, England and South Africa knocked out. Ricky Ponting paid the price by resigning as Australian captain ( EVERYONE had been waiting for this since the Ashes...why did he take so long??)  and only time will tell if the England captain retires or not. I would like say the only team I gave a chance among them was South Africa who pulled an "All Blacks" and stumbled when it really matters after an excellent season pre-tournament! The semi-finals are now Sri Lanka vs New Zealand which is on now with New Zealand batting first and India vs Pakistan. Good luck to all teams and may the best man win.

The AFL (Aussie rules) season also began this past weekend with reigning premiers Colingwood disposing Port Adelaide CONVINCINGLY showing they are still a force to be reckoned with as well as strong title contenders . St Kilda lost last minute in a slug fest against a post-Gary Ablett Geelong FC to award revenge on Geelong for last seasons Finals loss. Other teams who hit the ground running with wins were Carlton, Adelaide, West Coast Eagles ( have a good season this time lads), Fremantle, Brisbane Lions, Essendon with the highly anticipated or much hated ( depending on you are) Gold Coast Suns  yet to play.

Super long post....lesson learnt...NO MORE INTERNATIONAL BREAKS.....
and that people is Lethario's Take for ya