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.

Serena beats Azarenka to win US Open

World number one Serena Williams defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 7-5 6-7 6-1 to win her 5th US open title after (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012) and her 17th grand slam title overall.

The Amercian was 4-1 up in the second set with double breaks but Viki clawed her way back and forced a tie break which she won 8-6 to level the match, however Azarenka had nothing left in the third set as she lost it 6-1.

This is Serena's second grand slam title after the French open where she defeated Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-4, she now has 17 grand slams, the same number as Swiss Ace Roger Federer.

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.