Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Bold Pato picks legend Didier Drogba's iconic jersey number as Chelsea announce squad numbers for new signings

Chelsea's newest Brazilian Alexandre Pato has chosen the shirt number of former striker and club legend Didier Drogba in a very bold move.

Drogba is arguably considered as the best striker the club has ever had, scoring the wining penalty as they won their first and only champions league trophy in 2012. He now has a big reputation to live up to donning the iconic No 11.

American new boy Matt Miazga opted for the No 20 jersey that was last worn by academy player Josh McEachran.


Pato is preparing for his Barclays Premier League bow and on Tuesday picked one of the squad formalities, a number, while fellow

Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa bizarrely sent off after intercepting the ball during play against Genoa


Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa was involved in what is probably the most bizarre dismissal for a manager in recent times following his Sunday sending off during the game against Genoa.
Sousa was sent off after he intercepted the ball while it was still in play, although he later claimed after the game that it was 'an honest mistake'.

The Portuguese coach, standing on the touchline, saw that a Fiorentina clearance was going out of play, stopped the ball with his foot and handed it to a Genoa player to take a throw-in.
But television replays clearly showed that the ball was still in play when Sousa stopped it and the Portuguese was then ordered from the touchline much to his bemusement.


I think a yellow card should have been fair enough especially as it was not as if he intercepted the ball when Genoa had the advantage.

Arsenal legend Ian Wright told to "shut up" by angry Chelsea fan live on air. Lool...



One would have thought that all Chelsea fans would be in a good mood after their thumping 5:1 win over MK Dons in the FA Cup on Sunday. However, the news of John Terry's likely exit from the club come the end of the season seemed to put off a good number of them, that one even had to vent it on unlucky Arsenal legend Ian Wright.
The episode started when the Chelsea fan called BBC 606 to air his views on the FACup, suggesting that the oldest cup competition in world football is "pointless" and "outmoded" and should be scrapped forthwith.
However, he was challenging an Arsenal legend that won it twice during his career. And it definitely did not go down well as both parties argued.

After being questioned about Chelsea's impressive love affair in the cup, the supporter quickly loses his temper. Disregarding the counter-argument that the FA Cup is a much-loved tournament which still springs up some magical and surprise upsets.

Consequently, he tells Wrighty to "shut up and listen".

Zika virus is now an international public health emergency - W.H.O

The World Health Organization has declared the spread of Zika virus an international public health emergency and has freed funds to combat the disease.

“This is an extraordinary event,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan at a press conference on  Monday. “It poses a public health threat to other parts of the world and a coordinated international response is needed.”

Margaret Chan cited the pattern of the disease’s spread, the lack of a vaccine, and the large global population of mosquitoes that can carry the virus as factors that contributed to the declaration.

The declaration, only the fourth in WHO’s history, comes just days after the organization said the number of cases could hit 4 million by the end of the year. The virus has spread rapidly throughout the Americas infecting people in more than 20 countries. 

Officials in Brazil, the hardest hit country, have estimated 1.5 million infections. 

The Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites and causes genetic mutation in babies. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week.

Rumour: Chelsea line up deal for Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini

Chelsea ready to hire this veteran coach as their new manager this summer

Chelsea are lining up a deal to hire Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini as their new manager, according to reports.
Pellegrini is leaving City at the end of the season after they agreed a deal to hire Bayern Munich chief Pep Guardiola.
A host of clubs are keen on the Chilean, and now the Daily Express says Chelsea are looking at hiring him as their new boss.
The Blues are on a world-wide hunt for a new manager for next season and Pellegrini is seen as a quality option.
He turns 63 in August but wants to continue his management career, and prefers to stay in the Premier League rather than move abroad.

Rumour: Manchester United close in on deal to hire Jose Mourinho

Man Utd close in on dream manager after deciding to sack Van Gaal
Manchester United are closing in on a deal to hire Jose Mourinho after deciding to sack Louis van Gaal, according to reports.
Van Gaal’s future has been subject of major speculation following another disappointing season at Old Trafford.
And now the Daily Star says United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has decided to get rid of the Dutchman and move for Mourinho.
Van Gaal would leave at the end of the season, despite having a year left on his contract with the club.
jose
The Daily Star has the full story on the deal (Picture: Daily Star)
They would then grab ex-Chelsea boss Mourinho, who is seen as the best option after Pep Guardiola moved to Manchester City.

Chelsea injury news: Willian gives Blues boost, Alexandre Pato needs time to adjust

Chelsea injury news: Willian latest, Alexandre Pato not yet ready
The FA Cup might have lost its romance, respect or whatever else, but winning it will paper over a lot of cracks.
Arsenal have benefited in recent years and snoozing dinosaurs Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea would happily dust the cobwebs from the trophy cabinet doors.
No team has a better record over the last decade than Chelsea and so far the draw has been very kind. Scunthorpe United at home, then MK Dons away were plum ties, although both prompted full strength teams. Another Wembley win for Chelsea – and Guus Hiddink, who has already lifted the trophy on interim duty back in 2009,  would go a long way to scrubbing this annus horribilis from the record.
However, hosting Manchester City in the fifth round was not in the script, especially as tie falls just a few days after their Champions League appointment with Paris Saint-Germain. It still remains the most realistic route to silverware this season, however.

No major worry for Willian

Chelsea’s soon to be player of the season, Willian, will be assessed after ‘someone stepped on his foot.’
A slightly concerned Hiddink told to the press post-match on Sunday that he hoped it would not be too serious.
‘I asked him and he said it is no big worries,’ he said. ‘But we have to see in the upcoming time because we are playing a lot of games and I hope he will recover in two days.’

Pato no gamble

Alexandre Pato arrives at Stamford Bridge on-loan to help ease the increasing burden on striker Diego Costa. The 27-year-old has been asked to play through the pain-barrier this term as Loic Remy struggles to overcome a persistent calf complaint and Radamel Falcao recovers from a ‘significant’ muscular strain following a setback in January.
However, Pato needs time ‘to settle’ and adjust to the rigours of a ‘very demanding league.’ The Brazilian ‘is likely to need more work on his physical condition before he can take part in games,’ Hiddink revealed.

Chelsea injury news

Radamel Falcao
Injury: Muscular Strain
Estimated return date: Progressing. February.
Loic Remy
Injury: Calf Strain.
Estimated return date: Minor. Assessed this week.
Willian
Injury: Foot Injury.
Estimated return date: Hopeful for Wednesday.

These ignorant American Madrid fans say Real would win the World Cup...watch to see more hilarious reactions from them. Lol...


I guess when something isn't happening around you it just doesn't matter and isn't important.

So this football fan took to the streets of New York to ask American football/ soccer fans questions ahead of the 2014 Brazil World Cup and while some responses are just hilariously unbelievable, we just can't blame them.
Two young fans spotting Real Madrid jerseys were asked who they thought would win the tournament and they said REAL MADRID! Another said England won the world cup in 2010. They seem so uninformed of what's going on outside the US...but before you crucify them, arene't we all??? :( Watch below...

Chicharito voted Bundesliga Player of the Month for the third time in a row!


The Mexican superstar polled 63 per cent of the votes to win by a landslide, ahead of Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Claudio Pizarro. He also won the award in November and December.
One would wonder if Manchester United regret selling him off.


  • Against Hannover on Matchday 19, Chicharito demonstrated how clinical he is, scoring twice from his only two shots on goal.
  • That was his third Bundesliga brace and took his goalscoring tally to 13 in 16 league outings. No other Bayer player has more than four goals.

  • His penalty against Hannover was the first scored by a Leverkusen payer in the league since Sefan Kießling's spot-kick against Eintract Braunschweig in March 2014.
  • The Mexican has now had a direct hand in almost 45 per cent of his team's goals this term.
  • Chicharito is the most prolific Mexican in Bundesliga history. He scored his first brace at Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 13 and grabbed his first hat-trick on Matchday 17. His 13 goals are now more than the total scored by the five Mexican players that preceded him combined.

Lionel Messi 'wants to do something' for the little Afghan boy with plastic bag jersey

Stories that melt your heart! Barcelona star Lionel Messi is hoping to arrange a meeting with an Afghan boy who shot to fame after pictures of him dressed in a striped plastic bag jersey went viral (read storyhere), Kabul’s football federation said Monday, February 1.

Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi idolises Messi but a jersey of his favourite player is beyond the means of his poor family in the volatile province of Ghazni near Kabul.
His elder brother Homayoun, 15, made him the blue-and-white-striped plastic shirt with Messi’s named scrawled in marker pen and posted the photos of Murtaza wearing it on Facebook in mid-January.

Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father, told AFP on Saturday that the footballer was aware of the photos that made waves on social media and "wants to do something" for his young fan.

The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) on Monday said Messi was keen to meet Murtaza as soon as possible, though no date or venue has so far been finalised.

"Messi has been in communication with the federation to set up a meeting with the young boy," AFF spokesman Sayed Ali Kazemi told AFP.
"We are working to see whether Messi will come to Afghanistan or the five-year-old will travel to Spain or they will meet in a third country."

The Spanish embassy in Kabul told AFP it would do whatever possible to facilitate a meeting in a European destination. Murtaza’s father, a poor farmer in Ghazni’s Jaghori district, said he could not afford to buy him a replica jersey, and that Murtaza only had a punctured ball to play with.

Photos of Murtaza wearing a plastic striped bag with improvised Messi 10 written on it has touched a chord with football fans around the world.

Source: AFP