More Overpriced: Adebayor or Arshavin?

… Who Can At Least Get Prostitutes’ Genders Correct, Krispy Kreme’s new spokesman Ronaldinho, and another guy who is no stranger to tasty snacks, Frank Lampard. All giant names in football, percolating the news down to enthusiasts and casual fans alike.
Then there are the cases of Andrei Arshavin and Emmanuel Adebayor. Two very good players who have suddenly become the bee’s knees, one on the back of a meteoric rise at Euro 2008 and the other after breaking through as …

Excerpt: … new spokesman Ronaldinho, and another guy who is no …

Vote on the Barcelona Vote

… wildly successful season for Barcelona. After the hype to end all hype with an attack featuring Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry, Eto’o, etc. etc., they managed a haul of zero trophies and only nabbed 3rd place, while bitter rival Real Madrid won their second straight trophy. Finishing without trophies for two straight years is bad enough, but when it’s coupled with Real titles, fans start to get a little pissed.

And that’s what they did. One fan, a lawyer named Oriol Giralt, …

Excerpt: … attack featuring Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry, Eto’o, …

Photo of the Day: Waiting for Ronaldinho

These are South Korean middle school students, waiting for Ronaldinho to show up and give an exhibition at their school.
Ronaldinho is currently on a tour of Asia for a Japanese clothing manufacturer, probably to escape all the “Ronaldinho to every team in the universe, with the possible exceptino of Barcelona” transfer rumors in the news right now.
Or maybe he’s trying to get in shape for the Olympics?
( AP Photo/Ahn …

Excerpt: … waiting for Ronaldinho to show up and give an …

Tranfer Talk: Ben Arfa, Dani Alves, Jo… It’s Not Just All Rumours You Know

… up shirts and smiling. Sorry.
- Jo could possibly be joined at Man City by chunky genius Ronaldinho next season.
- And what’s the opposite of a transfer rumour? This is: AC Milan have given up on adding Emmanuel Adebayor to their ranks because Arsenal want too much money for the striker. “The request for £35.8m by Arsenal is an impossible request” said AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani.

Excerpt: … chunky genius Ronaldinho next season. - And …

Does Ronaldinho Look Like an Olympic Athlete to You in This Picture?

Word recently was that the great once great Ronaldinho was keen to go to Beijing as one of the all-important over-age players in Brazil’s Olympic soccer squad.
Apparently Ronaldinho’s recovered from the thigh problem that kept him out of the Barcelona team for the latter part of 2007/8. Unfortunately Ronaldinho seems to have forgotten that “thigh problem” was a euphemism for “overweight”.

The …

Excerpt: … great once great Ronaldinho was keen to go to Beijing …

Top 20 Highest Paid non-American Athletes, or: Why it Pays to Play Soccer

… …

1. David Beckham (LA Galaxy) $48.2m
2. Kimi Räikkönen (Formula One) $46m
3. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) $37.5m
4. Leo Messi (Barcelona) $35.8m
5. Roger Federer (Tennis) $35.1m
6. Fernando Alonso (Formula One) $35m
7. Valentino Rossi (MotoCross) $34m
8. Yao Ming (Basketball) $31.8m
9. Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) $30.3m
10. Ichiro Suzuki (Baseball) $27.6m
11. Lewis Hamilton (Formula One) $27.6m
12. Thierry Henry (Barcelona) $26.1m
13. Maria Sharapova (Tennis) …

Excerpt: … One) $46m 3. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) $37.5m 4. Leo …

Meet The FIFA 08 Offside Cup Champion, Anders Skov Klausen!

… team?
Brazil - mostly because its a 100 % technically good team with star players as Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho.
Who is your favorite player?
Ronaldinho or C. Ronaldo. Both fantastic players as they have a technical way of playing football that very few players worldwide has.
Why did you pick Barcelona for this tourney?
2 reasons. 1) Generally the best team in the game 2) My favourite team (worldwide).
What was the first FIFA game you ever purchased?
FIFA …

Excerpt: … star players as Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho. Who is …

Town of 3200 Sends a Team to the Bundesliga

… Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo, €8 million, pictured. (Does this kid look like a young Ronaldinho or what?)
But not everybody is happy about the team’s elevation, and it’s highlighting one of the issues for German teams: the lack of money. Individual investors are prohibited from owning a majority of any team, for one thing, which prevents rich owners from buying up teams. So you’re not going to get situations like EPL team Chelsea’s owner Roman …

Excerpt: … look like a young Ronaldinho or what?) But not …

Wanted: Brazil Blogger

… you started. Dunga has named his squad to face Paraguay and Argentina next month. No room for Ronaldinho (no surprise there) but Adriano gets a recall:
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma), Diego Alves (Almeria)
Defenders: Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Maicon (Inter Milan), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kleber (Santos), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Luisao (Benfica)
Midfielders: Elano (Manchester City), Gilberto …

Excerpt: … month. No room for Ronaldinho (no surprise there) but …

The Offside Rewind: Bright Lights

Stories you may have missed on The Offside this week…

Bribery in Romania. Or candies . We’re not sure.
6+5=good or 6+5=bad ?
Youngsters staying put
Name that goal (voting is tight)
English FA make some demands
The Premiership and the Democratic Primary
The future is now: robot goalkeepers
Is Gaúcho a goner ?
Wow, that’s a lot of ink …

End of an Era at Barcelona

… team in 2003, but put together the magnificent attacking trio of Samuel Eto’o, Deco and Ronaldinho to produce some brilliant football, back to back La Liga titles in 2005 and 2006 and a Champions League win in 2006. Ronaldinho’s golden years which we all so fondly remember, were also Frank Rijkaard’s golden Barcelona years. Whoever thought it would end with Barcelona applauding Madrid at the Bernabéu and then capitulating 4-1?
But the last two season have seen a …

Excerpt: … Deco and Ronaldinho to produce some brilliant …

Ronaldinho Has Left the Building

I’ve got some news for you. The Ronaldinho we knew and loved in 2006 is gone, and he’s not coming back. That Ronaldinho was young, happy and healthy. And the football he played was brilliant. For a while there it was as if YouTube existed purely to showcase his moves. But that was two seasons ago.
Since then we’ve seen the Brazilian play a poor World Cup 2006 followed by an underwhelming season at Barcelona. Then …

Excerpt: … news for you. The Ronaldinho we knew and loved in 2006 is …

Highest Paid Footballers (and Guess Which MLS Star is #1?)

… Not sure if there’s a connection and I don’t want to think about it.
02. Ronaldinho, Barcelona, $32.6 million. Forbes mentions “Brazilian Superstar Disease” as the reason he’s gone missing in Barcelona this year. Love it.
03. Thierry Henry, Barcelona, $25.1 million. The article actually lists the Seattle Sounders as possible suitors. Seattle, we’ve reached the big time and we don’t even have a team yet.
04. Ronaldo, AC …

Excerpt: … it. 02. Ronaldinho, Barcelona, $32.6 million. …

Barcelona and ManU Highlight Videos, to Get You in the Mood

… are backing.

Above, we have some joy from some of the stars of Barcelona. Including the MIA Ronaldinho. (Is anybody else heartbroken what we’re not seeing this on the pitch anymore recently?)
And below? A little ManU fun from Cristiano and the boys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zlC-G6tFFo

And don’t forget our LiveBlog of the game later today.

Excerpt: … Including the MIA Ronaldinho. (Is anybody else …

I Meant To Do That, I Swear

… one is pretty spectacular. Reminds of Juan Antonio Goicoechea against Germany in ‘94 and Ronaldinho against England in 2002. (Vid’s after the jump.)

Excerpt: … in ‘94 and Ronaldinho against England in 2002. …