Nike's "Write the Future" advertisement was a brilliant campaign, a continuation of the long history of great spots Nike has created for the World Cup. However, this year it seems they may want to re-consider their casting agency.
Let's see:
-Didier Drogba broke his arm before the games even started and Côte d'Ivoire never looked like going through their difficult group.
-Fabio Cannavaro looked like he was already in retirement and hitting up the talk show circuit, a step to slow for every attacker that came his way. Still, Italy probably should have had enough quality to qualify but were completely uninspiring.
-Wayne Rooney barely bothered to even show up. Was he still injured? Probably. At the least he was worn down from carrying Man U on his back all season. Not even Atlas probably beared such a burden. England were less inspiring than Italy, only they managed to get one round further before being humiliated by the Germans (controversial goal or no goal).
-Franck Ribéry... well, the less said about the French the better. Who is that player in the background of the play marking Theo Walcott (who didn't make England's roster)... that's right, Patrice Evra!
-Ronaldinho, as everyone knows and regrets didn't even get a plane ticket to South Africa. At least the Brazilians are still playing though.
-Cristiano Ronaldo was mostly anonymous save for his preening and grimacing after either diving or being fouled but not getting a call in either case, and now Portugal is out thanks to their superior Iberian neighbors. By the way, why does Portugal play such a horrible, defensive system? They actually have good defenders, so they should play creative, attacking football knowing the defense is solid behind them. I blame Carlos Queiroz (who proves that anyone looks like a great coach while assisting Alex Ferguson, but doing it yourself is a different matter... maybe it's leftover stink from his stint with the New York MetroStars).
On the other hand, three teams getting only minor cameos had better fortunes. OK, so the USA lost, but Landon Donovan was the only player of the entire commercial who truly "wrote the future" by scoring the goal against Algeria that so far is still probably the moment of the tournament. But maybe the US disappointment (I'd say failure) in losing still tied to this commercial?
The Spanish players also get a brief cameo (even though the Spanish team itself is sponsored by Adidas, which is why you only see Iniesta, Fàbregas, and Piqué wearing blank warm-ups with no logos) and they are still on course for a potential dream semifinal with Argentina/Germany and final against Brazil. Brazil, as mentioned before, are still in it, and looking pretty much locks to advance to the final, with only one threat in their half of the bracket, the Netherlands... who also happen to have a cameo in the Nike ad! That's them fouling Ronaldo.
The Dutch are impressing most people but honestly, do you think their D will hold up against the Brazilians? And of course they're up to their old tricks again, the Dutch, what with Robin van Persie acting like the spoiled arrogant brat (I'd also call him a certain name that rhymes with witch) that he is -- shocker considering he's coached by Arsène Wenger -- and showing hints of the internal dissension that has derailed so many better Dutch squads in the past. No matter what the Dutch camp says about unity and harmony within the team, don't buy it.
Adidas doesn't have any ad remotely as good right now, but at least they can tout Leo Messi and David Villa, who just keeps on scoring (god, how scary will Barcelona be next season).
It's not quite the Madden Curse or SI Jinx, but funny nonetheless.
Showing posts with label Franck Ribery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Franck Ribery. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday Morning's Quick News
Arjen Robben will move to Bayern Munich for 25 million euros. Apparently Real Madrid's need to sell overuled Pellegrini's desire to keep the Dutchman. Supposedly this move also facilitates Ribery's arrival to the Bernabeu next summer.
And not wanting to miss a chance, Ribery says that Zidane would be "very happy" if he moved to Madrid.
The Wesley Sneijder era at Madrid appears to have come to an end, with the Dutchman agreeing to a 15 million euro transfer to Inter. He's not happy about it, and meanwhile Van der Vaart remains at the club while the two top Dutchmen depart. Madness.
The Scottish Football Association have called for Arsenal's Eduardo to be banned for diving against Celtic in their Champions League qualifier.
Senna returns to the Spanish national team, as may Cesc Fabregas - calling into question the gameday status of both this weekend. Especially the gunner, whose team faces United at Old Trafford.
And Chygrynskiy finally arrives to the Camp Nou for a paltry 25 million euros. He's the second most expensive defender in Barca history, after Dani Alves.
Also, today we'll discover the Champions League groups - always an exciting proposition.
And not wanting to miss a chance, Ribery says that Zidane would be "very happy" if he moved to Madrid.
The Wesley Sneijder era at Madrid appears to have come to an end, with the Dutchman agreeing to a 15 million euro transfer to Inter. He's not happy about it, and meanwhile Van der Vaart remains at the club while the two top Dutchmen depart. Madness.
The Scottish Football Association have called for Arsenal's Eduardo to be banned for diving against Celtic in their Champions League qualifier.
Senna returns to the Spanish national team, as may Cesc Fabregas - calling into question the gameday status of both this weekend. Especially the gunner, whose team faces United at Old Trafford.
And Chygrynskiy finally arrives to the Camp Nou for a paltry 25 million euros. He's the second most expensive defender in Barca history, after Dani Alves.
Also, today we'll discover the Champions League groups - always an exciting proposition.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Writing the Final Chapter on a Transfer Season
It's the first Monday in August and every team knows the window on improvement, banking, or whatever else a team desires is rapidly closing. The action will be fast and furious, especially in a summer that has seen most teams try and wait out the market because of Real Madrid's spending frenzy early on. Lots of rumors, but almost no moves yet, though we'd be expecting that to change quickly.
The news on Xabi Alonso's move to the White House is literally all over the place. Alternatively he has been signed, is very close with Real up to 30 million euros, or is moving farther away with Liverpool unwilling to move on the 40 million euro price tag. (In hilarious fashion, the link stating that Xabi might not be moving was replaced with one assuring that the English are reporting the move was complete for between 32 and 34 million euros). It appears Florentino's dream may be coming true, but one must wonder at what price.
Several sources are reporting that Chelsea has 118 million euros at is disposal and is looking to sign Aguero, Ribery, and Pirlo. Pirlo appears to be the most realistic aspiration, with Atletico directing all comers to the buyout clause on el Kun (60 million euros) and the Bayern Munich/Ribery/Real Madrid/90 million euro paradox being rather well advertised by now.
Wesley Sneijder has moved from the most likely to stay in the Bernabeu to the most likely to go. Pellegrini had wanted the Dutchman to stay, but it seems the final push for Xabi, and perhaps even a last ditch effort being prepared for Ribery have changed his mind. Not to mention the fact that Pellegrini has six surplus players to dispose of. Seriously linked with a move to Inter Milan this weekend, Sneijder is now looking at an offer from Peace Cup champions Aston Villa. Earlier this summer Chelsea and Liverpool were also suitors. There is still word that a Inter Milan loan is an option too.
Meanwhile, Chelsea look set to fight any overtures from Tottenham to sign Joe Cole. But just the interest in these moves from the likes of Tottenham and Aston Villa show that it's not just Manchester City that smells the blood in the water as Arsenal's lack of signings seem to open up that prized fourth spot.
Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh seems to have gotten the message about late summer last chances and has started doing his part to hasten a move to Arsenal. He is very unhappy with Les Girondin's attitude toward the move.
Barcelona keep pushing for Mascherano and Chygrynskiy. Liverpool's pitbull seems unlikely to move at this point, with Rafa pricing him at 50 million euros. The Shakhtar centerback's move has been complicated by his play in the Champions League qualifiers. Barcelona believe this should lower his price since he is cup-tied, while Shakhtar are sticking close to their original figure.
Gianfranco Zola, who played with Eidur Gudjohnsen at Chelsea, is seeking to sign the Icelandic striker for West Ham. The move could be completed this week, and means that Guddy is rethinking his early retirement on the Barcelona banch.
Why should the Eurpoeans have all the fun? Corinthians is interested in bringing Riquelme in to accompany fat Ronaldo (less fat now, post-liposuction). Now all they need to sign is a time machine.
FutbolNation will likely be previewing the EPL as well, but that's no reason to keep you from this well written team-by-team preview. First up: Arsenal.
The news on Xabi Alonso's move to the White House is literally all over the place. Alternatively he has been signed, is very close with Real up to 30 million euros, or is moving farther away with Liverpool unwilling to move on the 40 million euro price tag. (In hilarious fashion, the link stating that Xabi might not be moving was replaced with one assuring that the English are reporting the move was complete for between 32 and 34 million euros). It appears Florentino's dream may be coming true, but one must wonder at what price.
Several sources are reporting that Chelsea has 118 million euros at is disposal and is looking to sign Aguero, Ribery, and Pirlo. Pirlo appears to be the most realistic aspiration, with Atletico directing all comers to the buyout clause on el Kun (60 million euros) and the Bayern Munich/Ribery/Real Madrid/90 million euro paradox being rather well advertised by now.
Wesley Sneijder has moved from the most likely to stay in the Bernabeu to the most likely to go. Pellegrini had wanted the Dutchman to stay, but it seems the final push for Xabi, and perhaps even a last ditch effort being prepared for Ribery have changed his mind. Not to mention the fact that Pellegrini has six surplus players to dispose of. Seriously linked with a move to Inter Milan this weekend, Sneijder is now looking at an offer from Peace Cup champions Aston Villa. Earlier this summer Chelsea and Liverpool were also suitors. There is still word that a Inter Milan loan is an option too.
Meanwhile, Chelsea look set to fight any overtures from Tottenham to sign Joe Cole. But just the interest in these moves from the likes of Tottenham and Aston Villa show that it's not just Manchester City that smells the blood in the water as Arsenal's lack of signings seem to open up that prized fourth spot.
Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh seems to have gotten the message about late summer last chances and has started doing his part to hasten a move to Arsenal. He is very unhappy with Les Girondin's attitude toward the move.
Barcelona keep pushing for Mascherano and Chygrynskiy. Liverpool's pitbull seems unlikely to move at this point, with Rafa pricing him at 50 million euros. The Shakhtar centerback's move has been complicated by his play in the Champions League qualifiers. Barcelona believe this should lower his price since he is cup-tied, while Shakhtar are sticking close to their original figure.
Gianfranco Zola, who played with Eidur Gudjohnsen at Chelsea, is seeking to sign the Icelandic striker for West Ham. The move could be completed this week, and means that Guddy is rethinking his early retirement on the Barcelona banch.
Why should the Eurpoeans have all the fun? Corinthians is interested in bringing Riquelme in to accompany fat Ronaldo (less fat now, post-liposuction). Now all they need to sign is a time machine.
FutbolNation will likely be previewing the EPL as well, but that's no reason to keep you from this well written team-by-team preview. First up: Arsenal.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Transfers, Audi Cup, All-Star Game, Oh my!
A variety of things to cover this morning.
Transfers first. Liverpool news reports indicate that Xabi Alonso has handed in his transfer request for a £28 million move to Real Madrid, who are in a fight with Manchester City over who will alter this season's Premier League title race the most. Man City's latest such move, signing Kolo Toure on top of Emmanuel Adebayor, has forced Arsenal to seek a replacement for the defender and striker by offering a one year deal to past-his-prime defensive midfielder and former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira. That makes perfect sense. Granted, Arsenal do need someone to keep the youngsters on their toes and remind them of how hard things used to be, walking miles in the snow without boots just to get to some relic called Highbury. One of the players who Wenger hoped to step in and play a key role this year, Tomas Rosicky, may have had a set back in his attempt to return after 18 months on the sideline.
Proving that Inter really made out like bandits in the Ibrahimovic-Eto'o swap, they don't really seem concerned that Alexander Hleb will be moving to Stuttgart on loan rather than to the San Siro.
Staying at the San Siro, AC Milan (more on them in a second) need reinforcements badly, so Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko, who netted 26 times while helping his team to the Bundesliga title last season, has declared his desire to move to Milan. However, it doesn't seem like there's much movement on Milan's end.
If you're not tired of reading about Franck Ribery, well here's more! Bayern put a €94 million price tag on the France winger. By setting a market price, the thought now is that if Real is willing to match that price they can get their man, rather than flatly denying that he's moving at all. Chelsea, who have looked strong in preseason, apparently remain in the hunt for Ribery, even though it seems like they're a ways off from meeting Bayern's valuation of the man.
Back to Milan. Yesterday in Munich began the Audi cup, a short tournament pitting Boca Juniors v. Manchester United and AC Milan v. Bayern Munich, with the winners facing off for the championship.
Let's just say AC Milan looks a little bit in disarray.
They are old. They are slow. They have no strikers (would you want to start the season with 19 year old Pato, still an unproven commodity, and 35 year old Pippo Inzaghi?). The defense looks like Swiss cheese. Oguchi Onyewu's move looks worse every time he steps on the field. While he can't be blamed for it all, he hasn't looked great as part of a defense that allowed 3 more goals once he came on. Yesterday the damage was a 4-1 loss in which Milan was thoroughly outclassed, and even the lone goal from Pirlo's free kick was really the result of a goalkeeping blunder.
Here are the full highlights.
Additionally, Man U defeated Boca Juniors 2-1, with Anderson and Antonio Valencia combining to reproduce what used to be done by Cristiano Ronaldo (Anderson scoring from a nice free kick and Valencia opening his account by making a nice burst slightly in from the wing). Man U looked tentative in its overall approach to a degree, which was disappointing, but it's still early.
Here are highlights (including Anderson becoming the 1 millionth person to honor Michael Jackson by celebrating his goal with a patented leg kick).
I also wanted to briefly comment on how impressive the atmosphere seemed at the Allianz Arena. It was a reminder of how great the crowds were for the 2006 World Cup, particular as Germany made its surprising run to the semi-finals. Too bad 2010 will be marred by those damn vuvuzelas.
Finally, last night was the MLS All-Star game, pitting Everton against a team that wasn't really the best of MLS (with some players out or withheld because of injury or their teams playing in the CONCACAF Champions League). The result was a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes, with Everton prevailing in PKs on the back of superstud goalie Tim Howard. Not sure that game means anything at all, other than Stewart Holden apparently brought with him some of the Gold Cup final karma by sending Louis Saha in alone with a wonderful pass for Everton's lone goal, and it's a great sign to see Howard on top of his game ahead of the upcoming clash against Mexico.
Here's video of how not to take penalty kicks.
Transfers first. Liverpool news reports indicate that Xabi Alonso has handed in his transfer request for a £28 million move to Real Madrid, who are in a fight with Manchester City over who will alter this season's Premier League title race the most. Man City's latest such move, signing Kolo Toure on top of Emmanuel Adebayor, has forced Arsenal to seek a replacement for the defender and striker by offering a one year deal to past-his-prime defensive midfielder and former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira. That makes perfect sense. Granted, Arsenal do need someone to keep the youngsters on their toes and remind them of how hard things used to be, walking miles in the snow without boots just to get to some relic called Highbury. One of the players who Wenger hoped to step in and play a key role this year, Tomas Rosicky, may have had a set back in his attempt to return after 18 months on the sideline.
Proving that Inter really made out like bandits in the Ibrahimovic-Eto'o swap, they don't really seem concerned that Alexander Hleb will be moving to Stuttgart on loan rather than to the San Siro.
Staying at the San Siro, AC Milan (more on them in a second) need reinforcements badly, so Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko, who netted 26 times while helping his team to the Bundesliga title last season, has declared his desire to move to Milan. However, it doesn't seem like there's much movement on Milan's end.
If you're not tired of reading about Franck Ribery, well here's more! Bayern put a €94 million price tag on the France winger. By setting a market price, the thought now is that if Real is willing to match that price they can get their man, rather than flatly denying that he's moving at all. Chelsea, who have looked strong in preseason, apparently remain in the hunt for Ribery, even though it seems like they're a ways off from meeting Bayern's valuation of the man.
Back to Milan. Yesterday in Munich began the Audi cup, a short tournament pitting Boca Juniors v. Manchester United and AC Milan v. Bayern Munich, with the winners facing off for the championship.
Let's just say AC Milan looks a little bit in disarray.
They are old. They are slow. They have no strikers (would you want to start the season with 19 year old Pato, still an unproven commodity, and 35 year old Pippo Inzaghi?). The defense looks like Swiss cheese. Oguchi Onyewu's move looks worse every time he steps on the field. While he can't be blamed for it all, he hasn't looked great as part of a defense that allowed 3 more goals once he came on. Yesterday the damage was a 4-1 loss in which Milan was thoroughly outclassed, and even the lone goal from Pirlo's free kick was really the result of a goalkeeping blunder.
Here are the full highlights.
Additionally, Man U defeated Boca Juniors 2-1, with Anderson and Antonio Valencia combining to reproduce what used to be done by Cristiano Ronaldo (Anderson scoring from a nice free kick and Valencia opening his account by making a nice burst slightly in from the wing). Man U looked tentative in its overall approach to a degree, which was disappointing, but it's still early.
Here are highlights (including Anderson becoming the 1 millionth person to honor Michael Jackson by celebrating his goal with a patented leg kick).
I also wanted to briefly comment on how impressive the atmosphere seemed at the Allianz Arena. It was a reminder of how great the crowds were for the 2006 World Cup, particular as Germany made its surprising run to the semi-finals. Too bad 2010 will be marred by those damn vuvuzelas.
Finally, last night was the MLS All-Star game, pitting Everton against a team that wasn't really the best of MLS (with some players out or withheld because of injury or their teams playing in the CONCACAF Champions League). The result was a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes, with Everton prevailing in PKs on the back of superstud goalie Tim Howard. Not sure that game means anything at all, other than Stewart Holden apparently brought with him some of the Gold Cup final karma by sending Louis Saha in alone with a wonderful pass for Everton's lone goal, and it's a great sign to see Howard on top of his game ahead of the upcoming clash against Mexico.
Here's video of how not to take penalty kicks.
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