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Morning Ticker: Brazil to tour USA, Barca sets Ronnie price and Ronaldo’s nightmare

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Good morning all. Today is the big day for Champions League fans as Manchester United faces Barcelona in a winner-take-all semifinal second leg today.

I will be writing about that match shortly. For now, here are some soccer news tidbits to get the day started:

Brazil to tour United States, play Canada in Seattle

The Brazilian national team will play matches against Canada and Venezuela in the United States this summer. Brazil will face Canada in Seattle on May 31 before playing Venezuela in Boston (well, Foxboro) on June 6 as part of preparations for World Cup qualifying. This is great news for the Canadian national team, which has been starving for just these kinds of matches. Brazil will also play at Gillette Stadium for the second straight year after playing Mexico in a friendly last summer.

Barcelona sets Ronaldinho price at 40M Euros

Barcelona president Joan LaPorte doesn’t believe in bargains, at least not in selling off top players at bargain prices. LaPorte has stated that he won’t sell Ronaldinho for anything less than 40 million Euros. Is that a reasonable price tag or is LaPorte simply trying to send the message that Ronaldinho is not for sale? AC Milan is certainly interested, but with all its other needs could Milan really afford to splurge that much on a player who isn’t even necessarily a need?

Blatter wants Spain to bid on 2018 World Cup

FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that Spain should bid to host of the 2018 World Cup, a pronouncement that had to go over really well in England. Spain last hosted the World Cup in 1982 and Blatter believes the time is right for Spain to have it again. Apparently the fact that England hasn’t hosted since 1966 didn’t fill Blatter with as much sentiment. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the World Cup in Spain, and Spain would get my vote before England, but you always have to wonder what Blatter has working when he makes these random statements.

Things get worse for injury-hit Ronaldo

Remember when Brazilian forward Ronaldo injured his knee again playing for AC Milan a while back? Did you think to yourself that things just couldn’t get any worse for him?

Think again.

A story has surfaced claiming that Ronaldo was being extorted by a transvestite hooker who tried to blackmail him after an incident at a motel. It seems that Ronaldo met three call girls at a club in Brazil he thought were female and took them to a motel, only to realize the three were, in fact, transvestites. He tried paying them to leave, but one tried to extort money from Ronaldo.

What else can be said? I’m at a loss for words.

Sven’s Man City days over?

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson’s days at City could be over. At least his agent thinks so. Man City owner Thaksin Shinawatra isn’t happy with the club’s late-season free fall and appears ready to drop the hammer? Would it be a fair dismissal? One season doesn’t seem like a long time to really establish a team. I also wonder who Shinawatra would have in mind as a replacement.

Comments

  1. News just in that one of the transvestites just so happened to be Chris crocker who happened to be on vacation in brazil….there is soon to be a video posted on youtube with the title:

    LEAVE RONALDO ALONE!

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  2. Of course Sven will leave City. He’s gonna be the new (well, it will be his third stint there) Benfica coach next season.

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  3. One thing that is clear, Ronaldo is totally messed up in the head right now. He obviously is not dealing too well with the realities of the injury. Why else would he be shacked up in a hotel with prostitutes looking for some blow?

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  4. Its a sad day to be a City fan… Sven has done a remarkable job. The depth and toughness has taken its toll late in the season, but City has played great football and Thaksin is a joke. I hope Thailand convicts him of war-crimes or something to get him out of City if this goes though.

    Sven: All City fans are proud of the turn-around you’ve made in such a SHORT time. You didn’t even have a pre-season with these guys and no terrifying striker all season. Whoever takes this job will inheirit an amazing team, but a child of an owner.

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  5. I am sick of rich owners who buy clubs so they can play a real life Club Manager video game (Abrahimovic, that guy at Hearts (Romanov?), Thaskin). The more money goes in, the more the owner thinks he knows better than the manager about who should be playing, bought, etc. The club is just a toy.

    Ten bucks says if Sven goes the new coach will be from Thailand, and all the summer transfers will be Thai national team players.

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  6. How many of the really good teams suffer through managerial instability on a regular basis? If Thaksin things canny Sven after one year is going to breed success then he’s smoking some of whatever he smuggled out of Thailand with him.

    Everton took years to get on track, but Moyes has them solidly entrenched as the best of the non-big 4 teams in the EPL, and challenging for the Champs Lg regularly.

    Flip side – look at Newcastle: huge resources, mad fan support, struggling to avoid relegation because they went through 4 managers in 3 1/2 seasons.

    Stick with your guy for a while and it pays dividends. But one-and-done is no way to build a team.

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  7. Ha, at least Bruce Arena got a full season.

    I love England: TAKE THIS MEDIOCRE TEAM AND GO UNBEATEN AND UNSCORED UPON THROUGH APRIL OR YOU ARE FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!

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  8. How about JCO to Man City and we take Sven off Thaksin Shinawatra’s hands? We’ll throw in Reyna just to balance the trade!

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  9. Yo Ronaldo, come to NY and Spitzer will hook you up well.

    Honestly, when the helk is Ronaldo coming? I know he’s past his prime and knees are shot, but I’d love to see the Phenome play, even at 65%.

    Actually, is Chivas still intereted in him, they were before I know.

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  10. Was Ronaldo drunk? It sounds like he got off easy. A man worth the amount of money Ronaldo is worth could have found himself in a whole mess of trouble (kidnapping?) that makes this “embarrassment” look light.

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  11. There is no way that Ronaldinho goes for 40 million euros. NO WAY!!! Not on his current form anyway. The guy is barely making the bench these days and he’s supposed to sell for that much!

    That’s great news for Canada. They are one of the fews teams in CONCACAF that I feel can realistically challenge the superiority of the US and Mexico in this region, they need to get better, for the sake of our regional competitiveness.

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  12. If im Sven i wouldnt put up with this. Any idiot knows then Sven can coach clubs not countries. The owner, Shinawatra, is sorely mistaken if he thinks he can lure a Lippi, Scolari, or any world cup winning coach to the blue half of Manchester. Stick with Sven, it will pay off in the long run

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  13. Shinawatra is a moron. If Sven proved one thing this year it’s that, while he may not be the best National Team Manager, he is a more than capable club manager.

    A year after nearly being relegated, they will finish in the Top 10…that’s impressive. Why not let him bring in some more of the players he wants and see what he can do?

    You aren’t going to get a much better club manager than Sven.

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  14. Ronaldo – You gotta look at the hands, man. You can change everything else, but man-hands are always man-hands!

    PS: A-Rod wants to know if you still have their number.

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  15. I think you’re right, Ives, to not comment on the Ronaldo story. Well… ok. I guess that the guy knows what kind of R & R he needs.

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