Diego Costa - the biggest mistake Brazil could do

Whoever didn't know the name Diego Costa before probably knew him yesterday after scoring the winner for Atletico Madrid against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu to win the derby for the first time in 14 years in the Liga competition.

The 24 year-old Brazilian footballer is a very aggressive player, a troublemaker, but he is one of the greatest modern strikers in the game right now who is given the freedom by Diego Simeone to float around near the opponent's box.

Costa scored 10 goals last season and did seven assists in the Liga, he was also the Copa del Rey top scorer with eight goals which clearly helped his team win the title. He is in top form this season having scored 8 goals from seven games putting him joint top scorer with Lionel Messi.

All the above stats seems not interesting for Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari who only called him twice for friendlies in May 2013 against Italy and Russia, but was left out of the squad for the summer's Confed Cup. He had been granted the Spanish nationality in July 2013 and since he didn't played a competitive game for Brazil, he is free to make the switch.

"If Del Bosque calls me up, how could I say no? I'm going to choose the national team with which I feel most comfortable", the Atletico Madrid striker told Brazilian site Lance. So if Diego decided to play for Spain it is due to the lack of confidence and faith that his native country has showed in him.

Brazil or Spain, whoever Costa decied to go with will be so lucky having such a prolific striker in their squad ahead of the Word Cup.

Barca downs Sociedad as Neymar scores first liga goal

image source: foxnews.com

La Liga - Result: Barcelona 4 (Neymar 5, Messi 8, Busquets 23, Barta 77) Real Sociedad 1 (De la Bella 64).

Barcelona scored a routine four goals for the third consecutive time to win 4-1 over Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou, the match also witnessed Neymar first Liga goal after just five minutes.

Messi, Neymar, Sanchez, Pedro and almost every other player had a chance to add a goal or two, but the post and some low concentration from the players saved Sociedad from a real humiliation tonight.

Barca continued their perfect start of the La Liga season as they won all six games to stay top of the table, three points ahead of Atletico Madrid who are playing Osasuna at the Vicente Calderón tonight with a chance to continue their perfect start as well.

Gareth Bale finally signs for Real Madrid

Real Madrid had confirmed the signing of Tottenham and Wales international Gareth Bale who will play for Los Blancos for the next 6 seasons.

The deal which had been dragging all summer was finally announced by AVB following the Spurs derby defeat by the Gunners where he said "He is going to join Real Madrid and we wish him all the best". It was later confirmed by Madrid on Social Media.

"Real Madrid C.F. and Tottenham Hotspur FC have reached an agreement for the transfer of Gareth Bale who will play for the Whites for the next 6 seasons. The player will be presented tomorrow at 13:00 CET at the Santiago Bernabéu.", Real Madrid Facebook page wrote in a statement.

The 24 year-old joined Tottenham in 2007 from Southampton and he developed year after year to become one of the best footballers in the world, his transfer fee isn't yet confirmed if it will break the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo (€93 million).

Barcelona start Liga defense with superb form

The Spanish champions scored seven past Levante at the Camp Nou as they kicked off their domestic season in style.

Goals from Sanchez, Messi (x2), Alves, Pedro (x2) and Xavi helped the Catalan giants hammer a weak Levante side who couldn't keep pace with their opponents and depended on an offside trap plan that obviously didn't work.

Barcelona new manager Tata Martino's mark was clearly out there on the field as the team looked much sharper in their pressing game and more effective inside the box with their direct approach, all this happened without losing the entertainment of the tiki-taka as they possessed the first half with 77%.

50 million euros for David Luiz or nothing

image source: warsidaha.com 

Chelsea has rejected an estimated 25 million euros offer from Barcelona for Brazilian defensive midfielder David Luiz, and the Blues told the Catalans to double their offer if they want to capture the deal before the transfer window closes at August 31.

Barcelona are eager to sign a top notch defender to strengthen their back-line after last year defeats to Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and others, but the price they are paying for Luiz is less than the one Chelsea paid for Benfica to capture the 26 year-old defender back in 2011 which makes no sense for the Londoners to sell him.

The alternatives for the Spanish champions are Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen and Liverpool's Daniel Agger where also it seems that both teams have no intent in selling their players.

Should Barcelona pay the €50 million Chelsea are asking for, let us know your opinion in the comments section?

Neymar scored first Barcelona goal in friendly

image source: www.dipnot.tv

Neymar scored his first goal for the Barcelona as they thrashed Thailand 7-1 in a preseason friendly match.

Messi added two goals, Pedro three and Alexis Sanchez one with Thailand's only reply coming from a penalty just before halftime.

Messi, Ronaldo and Ribèry shortlisted for UEFA award

Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) have been shortlisted for the 2012/13 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

The winner will be voted live in Monaco during the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage draw on August 29.

Messi won La Liga title last season with Barcelona scoring an astonishing 46 goals to win the Golden boot award as well. 

Real Madrid Ace, Ronaldo, didn't won any major trophy last term but was top scorer in the Champions League.

French star, Frank Ribery, led Bayern Munich for a historical treble where they were unstoppable.

Who do you think deserve the trophy more?

Audi Cup - Bayern Munich beat Manchester City to win title

Bayern Munich beat Manchester City 2-1 in an entertaining match at the Allianz Arena to win Audi Cup.

Manchester City's new signing Alvaro Negredo opened the score sheet after 61 minutes, but European champions couldn't be denied  on their own pitch as they scored 2 goals in the next 12 minutes by Muller  and super substitute Mandzukic to claim the title.

Result:
Bayern Munich 2 (Muller (pen) 65, Mandzukic 73)   Manchester City 1 (Negredo 61).

Higuaín signs for Napoli

image source: commons.wikimedia.org

Napoli had confirmed through their website and a tweet from club president Aurelio de Laurentiis that Gonzalo Higuaín has signed a a five-year deal for the amount of 40 million euros.

The 25-year-old Argentine who scored 122 goals from 264 appearances for Los Blancos in six seasons will be making 4.5 million euros a year.

Guardiola's Bayern down Barca in friendly

Bayern Munich won 2-0 over Barcelona in a friendly match at the Allianz Arena in this year's Uli Hoeness Cup

Goals from Philipp Lahm and Mario Mandzukic were enough for Bayern to secure a comfortable win over La Liga champions.

Official: Barcelona sign Gerardo Martino for two seasons

FC Barcelona had announced on their official website that they had reached an agreement with Gerardo Martino to be the manager of the club for the next two seasons.

The 50-year-old who is born in Rosario revealed that he is an admirer for Barcelona's tiki-taka. He was the Manager for Paraguay in 2010 Fifa world cup when they reached the quarters for the first time and Newell's Old Boys' Boss last season when they won their sixth Argentine Primera División.

Gerardo Martino is the fourth Argentinian manager in Barcelona history after Roque Olsen, Helenio Herrera and César Luis Menotti.

Who will get the Barcelona job?

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Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, former Paraguay and Newell's Old Boys coach, who is not currently managing a team is one of the favorites to replace Vilanova.

The 50-year-old who is born in Rosario, same city as Leo Messi is an admirer for Barcelona's tiki-taka, he was the head-coach for Paraguay in 2010 Fifa world cup where they reached the quarter-finals for the first time and the Boss for Newell's Old Boys last season (2012-2013) as they won their sixth Argentine Primera División.

According to Marca.com, Barcelona are already in contact with Messi's favorite Martino regarding their available vacancy.


Guus Hiddink has just resigned as manager of Russian club Anzhi, and is already rumored for Barcelona's job, he is one of the best managers in the recent era who led South Korea to the semi-finals at  2002 Fifa world cup.

The 66-year-old experience is unquestionable, he already managed  PSV, Fenerbahce, Netherlands, Real Madrid, Real Betis, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Chelsea and Turkey.


Luis Enrique, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid Player, started his managing career in 2008 at Barcelona B where he spent three years at the club before going to Roma for one season in 2011-2012.

On June 8th 2013 Luis Enrique became Celta de Vigo's Boss, but since Vilanova announced his resignation, he is now one of the favourites for the job.

PSG confirms Roma's Marquinhos signing

image source: forzaitalianfootball.com

French champions Paris Saint-German have confirmed the signing of  Roma defender Marquinhos  for 35 million euros for five-year deal to become the fifth most expensive defender of all time.

The 19 year-old Brazillian defender joined Roma last summer from Corinthians for only 3.7 million euros, he will wear the number five shirt at PSG.

Alvaro Negredo signs for Manchester City

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Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Sevilla's forward Alvaro Negredo for 28 million euros.

"City are delighted to announce the signing of Alvaro Negredo, who becomes the Club’s third new recruit of the summer." a statement on the club's official website said.

"The Spanish international follows Jesus Navas in making the switch from Sevilla.  He will join up with the squad on the pre-season tour, and wear the number 9 shirt."

source: http://www.mcfc.com/News/Team-news/2013/July/Negredo-signs-for-City

Tito Vilanova Steps down as Barcelona coach

image source: thesun.co.uk

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell announced this afternoon in an emergency press conference that the Catalan manager will not continue at Barcelona due to recurrence of his cancer.

The club said they will name the replacement next week hopefully, and that the team will not travel to Poland on Saturday.

Joan Francesc Ferrer, ‘Rubi’, former Girona coach who joined Barcelona coaching staff this year will be temporarily the head coach of the club.

PSG secure Edinson Cavani signing for 64 million euros

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Paris Saint-Germain have secured the signing of Napoli and Uruguay talisman Edinson Cavani for 64 million euros for five-year deal.

Cavani scored 104 goals from a total of 138 matches with Napoli, and was the Serie A top scorer last season with 29 goals.

The Uruguay international was linked with many big names this summer like Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City but PSG sealed the deal with the new Ligue 1 transfer record of 64 million euros, the previous record belonged to Monaco, which recently paid an estimated 60 million euros for Colombia striker Radamel Falcao.

"I am familiar with Ligue 1 and I know many players in the team, My message to the fans and the city is that I want to win and complete all of our objectives." said Cavani.

Manchester United offer 30 million euro for Cesc Fabregas

image source: www.independent.co.uk

Manchester United offered 30 million euros to Barcelona for Cesc Fabregas services.

After failing to sign former Barca midfielder Thiago Alcantara, Man United had turn their attention to another Catalan midfielder, the ex-Arsenal star Cesc Febregas.

Manchester United will have to wait now for Barcelona to respond now regarding the offer that they just made this Monday on July 15th.

Since he joined the Blaugranas back in 2011, Fabregas wasn't in top form although he scored 29 goals and helped his team with 32 assists from a total of 96 games. 

Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich for 25 million euros

image source: hereisthecity.com

Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reached an agreement that Thiago Alcantara will join the Bundesliga  and European champions for a fee of 25 million euros. The agreement also includes that a friendly match between the two teams will be played  in the next four years.

The Spanish midfielder, 22 year-old, leaves Barcelona after playing for the first team for two seasons scoring seven goals, he will join up again with his former Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern Munich Chairman, said in a statement: "Thiago Alcântara was the biggest wish of our new coach, Pep Guardiola. We are pleased that we have been able to seal this great transfer. Thiago is a fantastic player with great perspective, which will strengthen Bayern"

Thiago was named the best player at the European Under-21 Championship after his brilliant performance in the final when he scored a treble in Spain's 4-2 win over Italy.

France Under-20 win World Cup Turkey 2013

France beat Uruguay on penalties  to win Under-20 World Cup for the first time in their history.

Both teams couldn't find the net after 120 minutes of play resulting in a penalty shootout which France won 4-1.

Earlier in the same night, Ghana beat Iraq 3-0 in the third-place match.

Real Madrid sign Illarramendi for 38.9 million euros

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Real Madrid signed Real Sociedad midfielder and Spain U21 star Asier Illarramendi for a six-year contract for 38.9 million euros and will be presented to the press and fans on Saturday, Madrid paid the player’s buyout clause which is of 32 million euros plus 6.76 million euros of VAT.

Carlo Ancelotti, Real's new coach, was very excited about the signing of 23 year-old Illarramendi and had gave approval for the deal since his arrival.

Jokin Aperribay, Real Sociedad president, said in a statement: “Real Madrid have paid the buy-out clause plus VAT for Asier and he is leaving Real Sociedad this summer. We’re sad about it since he is going too early”.