LATEST NEWS

SA : ABSA PREMIERSHIP 
https://youtu.be/KRT7Hk-ofwghttps://youtu.be/KRT7Hk-ofwg

WHATS  GOING ON  WITH SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYERS?

OCTOBER LAST YEAR SENZO MEYIWA WAS  SHOT DEAD, AND  TODAY ITS  ANOTHER STAR ROBBED  HIS  LIFE  IN AN ACCIDENT.

Free State Stars striker Henyekane passes away in car accident

Richard Henyekane - Mamelodi Sundowns

Getty Images

1

Bafana Bafana,

07 Apr 2015 08:10:26

The 31-year-old former Bafana Bafana, Lamontville Golden Arrows and Mamelodi Sundowns player was involved in a tragic accident in the early hours of Tuesday morning

Free State Stars released thBafana Bafana,e following statement confirming the sad news:
"Henyekane was travelling with four other passengers when they were involved in a tragic motor vehicle accident.

 

"He was, unfortunately the only one to lose his life in this incident.
"We wish to say to the Henyekane family that they must know that we are with them at all times, and trust that they will put all their sorrows in the hands of God the Almighty in this hard period.

"To the Stars family of fans, sponsors, supporters and others we believe that this is a period in which you will remain steadfast in the praying for Henyekane’s teammates as they come to terms with this sad moment.’".https://youtu.be/KRT7Hk-ofwg
"South African football has lost yet another one of our promising players... go well ’Kimberley Express’".https://youtu.be/KRT7Hk-ofwg

NUTMEG SKILLS

WORLD STARS

 

https://youtu.be/UdB7K6HSQQ8

This  is  evidence  to  testify  that  some  players  are  just naturally  talented.  In the first scene it  is    Lionel  Messi who was  entertaining  the  crowd  in  Camp Nou when  Barcelona  hosted Manchester City  in  the second  leg of  the  UEFA  champions  league. Alongside  Messi  in  this  video  is  Neymar,  Suarez, Ronaldo,  Ronaldinho, Mata,Schwabe,Bellarani among  others.

IN comparison to  the  skills by  African  players.https://youtu.be/Y0FalsCfC9o
WHAT CONCLUSION  CAN WE  HAVE? Its sufficient  from  this  video  clip  that  Africa also  at one  point  in  history  had  a  magnificent  player  like  this.  Okocha  was  undeniable the most  influential  player  in  Africa.Also the  best  of  Samuel  Etoo  during  his days at Barcelona  can  be  seen  in this  video just  click  the  URL  and  you  can  enjoy watching  the  African  star  delivering. https://youtu.be/QA5NfsryOW8

FOOTBALL SKILLS

MESSI SKILLS AGAINST CITY

https://youtu.be/9xBEhcQfsPA

       

RONALDO SKILLS  VS  SHALKE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GKqAxmwy3Q

                                     
The  above  video clips show  how  different  Messi and  Ronaldo are in  football.  Messi has  power  in  his  foot,  where  he  can  manipulate  defenders unexpectedly mostly through  nutmegs,  however, Ronaldo  with  the  advantage  of  his  height  exerts  more  power  to  his  head  with  accuracy  of  about  90%. Are  the  two  therefore  not  comparable? Have  your say.... who  is  a  team  and  individual player  between  the  two? open  debate  lets  .............         

LATEST EPL NEWS

City lose fourth successive away game 

 Manchester City's hopes of retaining their title suffered another huge blow with defeat at Selhurst Park.

Glenn Murray put Crystal Palace ahead with a tap-in from close range before Jason Puncheon fired in a brilliant free-kick from the edge of the box to  put Pardew's men 2-0 ahead  of the champions.
Although Yaya Toure's fierce strike pulled a goal back in the  78 minute mark, 11th-placed  Palace held on to a win. After all the  drama over the weekend  including  last  night's shock  defeat  for  City  this  is  how the  Barclays  Premier League stands.

Position	Team	Played	Goal Difference	Points
Pellegrini's problems, Sergio's blues
No movement 1	Chelsea	30	37	70
No movement 2	Arsenal	31	30	63
No movement 3	Man Utd	31	27	62
No movement 4	Man City	31	33	61
No movement 5	Liverpool	31	9	54
No movement 6	Tottenham	31	5	54
No movement 7	Southampton	31	20	53
No movement 8	Swansea	31	-2	46
No movement 9	West Ham	31	2	42
No movement 10	Stoke	31	-4	42
Moving up      11	Crystal Palace	31	-4	39
Moving down 12	Everton	31	-3	37
No movement 13	Newcastle	31	-16	35
No movement 14	West Brom	31	-15	33
No movement 15	Sunderland	31	-20	29
No movement 16	Hull	31	-14	28
No movement 17	Aston Villa	31	-22	28
No movement 18	Burnley	31	-23	26
No movement 19	QPR	31	-20	25
No movement 20	Leicester	30	-20	22

LATEST SOCCER NEWS

TURKEY

The football association have opted to postpone the next round of matches while an investigation into the attack on the team bus continues.

The Turkish Super Lig has been suspended for a week following the attack on the Fenerbahce team bus which left the driver wounded.
The team bus was attacked by gunmen as they returned from their 5-1 win over Rizespor on Saturday, with the driver taken to hospital with a head wound following the incident.
Fenerbahce released a statement calling for the league campaign to be halted while an investigation is carried out into the attack, saying: "It is the end of football when blood is spilled. Fenerbahce's complete priority is for the culprits to be found and punished immediately."
And the Turkish Football Federation have now confirmed the next matchday will be postponed, along with the cup quarter-finals due to take place this week.
FA Chairman Yildirim Demiroren announced on Monday: "The Super Lig clubs asked us to postpone the games for one week and we have taken this decision accordingly."
Fenerbahce were due to face Mersin Idmanyurdu on Wednesday in the Turkish Cup, with a Super Lig clash at home to Bursaspor following on April 13.http://www.goal.com/en/news/467/turkey/2015/04/06/10518632/turkish-super-lig-suspended-for-a-week-following-fenerbahce?ICID=HP_HN_

SPAIN: Real  Madrid  vs Granada Cristiano Ronaldo breaks three records in astonishing Real Madrid wn

Former Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo netted five goals for the first time in his Real Madrid career as the La Liga giants thrashed Granada 9-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Portuguese winger headed in to the game very much like his side in general, out of form and looking largely frustrated as things haven’t worked out.
With just three goals in his previous eight La Liga outings pre kick-off, a recent study by CIES voted Ronaldo as only the 29th best forward in Europe based on statistics in 2015.
However, against Granada he was back to his ruthless best as he took advantage of some woeful defending from the visitors to break three personal records, as per the official Opta Jose Twitter account.

Mirror back page on Monday

 
ENGLAND:  RODGERS ANGRY
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is facing a dressing-room crisis after accusing several players of not playing for him. The Reds were thrashed 4-1 by Arsenal on Saturday, leaving them with a difficult task to finish in the Premier League top four. (Mirror) 
And Rodgers has conceded that Liverpool will struggle to attract big names in the summer after giving up on Champions League qualification. (Daily Telegraph) 
Newcastle fans turned on Tim Krul on social media after the keeper appeared to congratulate Sunderland's Jermain Defoe on his winner in the Tyne-Wear derby. (Independent) 

Mirror back page on Monday

GERMANY : Dortmund target Europa place via cup success

AFP IMAGES

 Borussia Dortmund aim to win this season’s German Cup to keep alive their hopes of European competition next season ahead of Tuesday’s quarter-final against Hoffenheim.
Dortmund host Hoffenheim while Wolfsburg are home to Freiburg on Tuesday, then holders Bayern are at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday as second-division Arminia Bielefeld host Borussia Moenchengladbach in the rounds only non-Bundesliga tie.
Borussia’s 1-0 league defeat at home to Bayern on Saturday left them tenth in the table and effectively ended their hopes of a fifth year in the Champions League next season.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are now 15 points from qualifying with a top four finish following a dire set of results earlier in the season which left them bottom of the Bundesliga in February.
But the 2012 German Cup winners could yet claim a Europa League berth, either by winning this year’s final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium or a top six finish in the Bundesliga table.
“The cup game is now very important for us. Going to Berlin is still a major goal for the season,” said Dortmund’s director of sport Michael Zorc.http://www.en.prothom-alo.com/sports/news/63109/Dortmund-target-Europa-place-via-cup-success

Football Earnings

Revealed: Football's highest-paid players and managers as Lionel Messi pockets almost £1m-a-week

By Neil McLeman , Liam Prenderville 11:57 25 March 2015

The Argentine earned around £48million due to his salary and commercial deals - but which other players and managers were among the top 20 earners in 2014?

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi banked almost £1million-a-week last year - making him the highest-paid footballer in the world.

The Argentine earns over £26million in his basic salary before bonuses - and almost the same again in commercial deals with the likes of Adidas and Turkish Airlines.
According to France Football's annual survey of wages, Messi's total income is around a staggering £47.8million!
But how does he compare to the top earners in the Premier League?
And where do Messrs Wenger, Mourinho and Van Gaal rank among the highest-paid managers?
Here is the list of top 20 earners in 2014 - based on salaries and commercial deals.https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5264094769357163987#editor/target=post;postID=7437643711744443589

CRAZY EARNIGS

 1)
 Lionel Messi - £47.8m
2) Cristiano Ronaldo - £39.7m
3) Neymar - £26.8m

AFRICA ALONE

Castle PSL vs ABSA Premiership:

By Mxolisi Mbekezeli :The Zimbabwean Newspaper. A few weeks ago, Zimbabweans went to town celebrating that the local Castle Premiership had been adjudged to be better than South Africa’s ABSA Premiership
Their source was an International Federation of Football History and Statistics, a German-based organisation that considers the history and records of national football associations. The IFFHS bases its rankings on all national championships, cup competitions and inter-continental club competitions to produce its not-so-flawless list of the Club World rankings.
While the idealists celebrated that the IFFHS put the Castle PSL 14 places above the South African league, realists did not ignore the facts that punched many holes in the organisation’s theories. Obviously, a system that puts America’s strong Major Soccer League behind the national leagues from Angola, Botswana, Armenia, and India, should not be trusted.
Those who still based their celebrations on the IFFHS statistics also ignored the fact that the same organisation put the ABSA Premiership (51st) 21 places above the Zimbabwean league on its list of the strongest Leagues of the 21st Century.
To be fair, Zimbabwean clubs have of late done better in continental competitions than their South African counterparts, but that is more attributable to the fact that the business-minded South African clubs have seen it better to cut their losses than chase tournaments with less reward than their domestic competitions.
The winners’ prize for the CAF Champions League translates to less than R9.5 million and put against the high costs of travel and hosting away clubs, the net amount can be less than half that figure – R4.75million.
That could be a fortune for Zimbabwean clubs, but remains peanuts to super-rich South African clubs with mega millions in their bank accounts.https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5264094769357163987#editor/target=post;postID=1901655342362056464

football powerhouse

Champions League  Predictions http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2015/04/05/10479922/barcelona-psg-will-be-a-real-spectacle-neymar?ICID=TP_TNM_ART_4
The forward expects an exciting test in the Champions League quarter-finals and has hailed Thiago Silva as one of the world's finest defendersNeymar believes Barcelona's Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain will be a genuine footballing "spectacle".
The Catalans overcame Manchester City in the last 16 to set up a clash with Chelsea's conquerors PSG, whom they beat to top spot in the group phase.
And Brazil star Neymar is expecting another exciting challenge when the two sides meet in the French capital on April 15.
"It will be a great game between two great teams with excellent players. That means it'll be a real spectacle," he told Samba Foot.
"PSG are a great side with plenty of individuals. We know it'll be a great footballing show."
Neymar has enjoyed productive form alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in 2015 and the former Santos star is confident they can continue to inspire a title charge.
"Messi and Luis Suarez are two great players who, along with me, try to help the team in the best possible way," he said.
"We're in a good moment of the season and I'm confident we can get the best title for the team."
The Brazil international also reserved praise for PSG captain Thiago Silva and revealed head coach Dunga has restored harmony in the national team dressing room.

NEYMAR teasing his fellow countrymen in CAMP NOU: GETTY

TRANSFER MARKET

ENGLAND PREMIER  LEAGUE  VS  SPANISH  LALIGA

England is dominating the international transfer market in terms of spending on overseas players, a new FIFA report has shown.www.fifatms.com.
 This  season  Chelsea  has signed Fabregas, Costa, Remy, Cuadrado, Drogba, Luis, Matic, from  different  clubs  in  Europe whereas Manchester United has  signed Herera, diMaria, Rojo,Falcao,Luke Shaw. This  is  sufficiet  to  posit  that  England do  lack  football  talent especially  at  young  age.
More than 770 million pounds was spent by English clubs on players from abroad -- 308 million (67 percent) more than nearest rivals Spain.
The figures are contained in the FIFA TMS Global Transfer Market 2015 report which also highlights the fact that Spain continues to be the biggest market for signing players aged under 18 from abroad -- a fact given extra relevance considering Barcelona's transfer ban for signing minors in breach of the rules and the FIFA investigation into Real Madrid over similar alleged offences.http://www.euronews.com/2014/12/30/football-fc-barcelona-s-transfer-ban-confirmed-for-one-year/.
The report shows English clubs are the biggest-spenders in the world on international transfers making up more than a quarter of the total $4.06 billion (2.64 billion pounds) spent worldwide in 2014. The figures included the 59.7 million-pound British transfer record signing of Angel Di Maria by Manchester United from Real Madrid.
Brazil is the most active country in terms of international transfers with 1,335 moves (incoming and outgoing) -- but it has experienced a seven percent drop since 2013 and England is closing in with a total of 1,263 international transfers, up 193, with Portugal third with 823.https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5264094769357163987#editor/target=post;postID=2058666147288217442;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=3;src=link

Was Judas wrongfully condemned?

Without the betrayal, there could have been no crucifixion - and no redemption. Was the apostle whose name is a byword for betrayal actually history’s greatest scapegoat?

Our chef has been on a health kick all year - but just for today, he's going to forget that

BEST FOOTBALL MANAGERS

Comparing Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho

BARCELONA

In the era of modern managers, Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho are two names that inevitably come up in every discussion. Few managers have had a better profile in the last decade compared to these two. They are two different individuals who have different ways of organising themselves, different football philosophies, but are great in their own regard.
The Catalan will be remembered as the mastermind of what many regard as the greatest Barcelona side in the history of the club. The Portuguese manager has built his reputation with his ability to assemble winning mentality into every team he manages. But which of the two is the better manager?
It's a tough task to compare managers. Unlike players, each manager has a different set of objectives, resources and problems at any given time. Both managers began their managerial careers as assistants to Louis van Gaal. While Mourinho started his managerial journey with Benfica in 2000, Guardiola started his career with Barcelona ‘B’ in 2007. Their beginnings were humble, but they have since gone on to conquer Europe.
Here is a comparison between the two managers. Who is better?

MANAGERIAL RECORD

	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Guardiola	364	266	65	33	73%
Mourinho	704	474	139	91	67%

People might argue that Mourinho managed smaller clubs like Benfica, Porto and Uniao de Leiria. Mourinho, who is said to be a result oriented manager, organises his teams to get the desired result. However, Guardiola sets out his team to play with a certain philosophy and with results being a consequence of that style. Going by the percentage of games won, and the fact that Guardiola has fewer losses than Mourinho, Guardiola comes out as a clear winner.
In terms of games managed, Mourinho has managed many more than Guardiola. The Portuguese has been at six different clubs during the course of his managerial career whereas Guardiola has only managed three with one being a second division side. The number of games lost (going by %) by Guardiola is significantly lower than Mourinho. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5264094769357163987#editor/target=post;postID=6573810713695466000https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5264094769357163987#editor/target=post;postID=6573810713695466000

Lionel Messi named top forward in 2015, Cristiano Ronaldo 29th

SO IT CAN BE  SAID MESSI HAS REDISCOVERED HIS MAGIC FOOTBALL PROWESShttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5264094769357163987#editor/target=post;postID=2743730585947874836

Lionel Messi has out-shone his rival Ronaldo so far in 2015

Lionel Messi is the best forward in 2015 – while Cristiano Ronaldo is only 29th on a list of top attackers.

These are the findings of a study conducted by the CIES Football Observatory, which has analysed the performances of players in Europe’s leading leagues since January 1.
The rankings take into account relevant statistics for different positions and find Barcelona's Messi - who has scored 17 in 12 La Liga games this year - streets ahead of his Real Madrid rival.

Ronaldo, who has scored six in 11 league matches in 2015, was, however, ahead of team-mates Gareth Bale (35th) and Karim Benzema (37th).
Diego Costa is the leading Premier League forward in fifth place, behind Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, Wolfsburg’s Bas Dost and Barcelona’s Luis Suarez.
Elsewhere, the study, which focuses on the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, found Manchester City’s Gael Clichy to be the top-ranked full-back and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard to be the number one attacking midfielder, ahead of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and City’s Jesus Navas.
Former Liverpool loanee Nuri Sahin, now at Borussia Dortmund, tops the central midfielder table from the past three months, while Man City’s Martin Demichelis misses out on the centre-back crown to Emir Spahic of Bayer Leverkusen.
Top forwards
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
Bas Dost (Wolfsburg)
Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
Diego Costa (Chelsea)

Chelsea's Eden Hazard is the top attacking-midfielder according to CIES

Top attacking midfielders
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
Jesus Navas (Man City)
Kevin de Bruyne (Wolfsburg)
Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund)

Nuri Sahin of Borussia Dortmund leads central midfielders

Top central midfielders
Nuri Sahin (Dortmund)
Paul Pogba (Juventus)
Fernandinho (Man City)
Lucas Biglia (Lazio)
Ilkay Gundogan (Dortmund)

Manchester City's Gael Clichy is the No 1 full-back

Top full-backs
Gael Clichy (Man City)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Rafinha (Bayern Munich)
Wendell Nascimento (Bayer Leverkusen)
Pablo Zabaleta (Man City)

Martin Demichelis just misses out on the centre-back title

Top centre-backs
Emir Spahic (Bayer Leverkusen)
Martin Demichelis (Man City)
Mats Hummels (Dortmund)
Chris Smalling (Man United)
Thiago Silva (PSG)
The full rankings can be found at: http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/wp105_eng.pdf

Ronaldo vs Messi

Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: Pele takes a side

By Cindy Boren

Lionel Messi (right) jokes around with his teammates during training for Sunday’s El Clasico. (Gustau Nacarino / Reuters)

Who’s the better player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

The debate has gone on a while now and Sunday’s edition of El Clasico between Ronaldo’s Real Madrid and Messi’s Barcelona has slightly  settled it. Prior  to the  match  Pele  stepped  up.

“At the moment people always try to compare Ronaldo with Messi [but] it’s a different style,” the legendary former player from Brazil told the BBC’s Sportsweek. “They are two great players, but in the past 10 years the best in the world was Messi.”
That’s a reversal for Pele, who in January 2014 said Ronaldo was better because Messi was struggling with injury. Messi, 27, leads Ronaldo, 30, in the Ballon d’Or battle, winning four to Ronaldo’s three. As for team championships, Ronaldo won three Premier League titles with Manchester United and one La Liga title. (He has won the Champions League with both teams.) Messi and Barcelona have won La Liga six times and the Champions League three times.
Pele wasn’t finishing ranking players, though.
“Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, George Best — they were the same level as Messi,” he said. “We had in Brazil Zico, Rivaldo.”

The  argument stemmed  more  when Ronaldo  moved  from   Old Trafford (Manchester  United) to  Real  Madrid  in the  summer  of  2009.  lhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/5505073/Cristiano-Ronaldo-transfer-Real-Madrid-agree-80-million-fee-with-Manchester-United.html. 

This  move  meant  that Ronaldo  had  to  face  Messi  in  every El Classico encounter with  Barcelona. It  was  unfortunate  for  the Portuguese international  because  the  man  he  wanted  to  compete  with  was  also  from  another  planet. Lionel  Messi  was  unquestionably at  his peak.    Thus was  named the  football  magician,  the  god  of  football. 

LALIGA BBVA

Laliga trios David Ramos Images

getty images

MSN VS BBCgoal.com
TRIUMVIRATE COMPARISON

SPANISH'S LALIGA BBVA has  become  a world  football powerhouse as  evidenced  by talented  players  who  play in the  Spanish Primera Division. Barcelona and  Real  Madrid  at  the  moment possess  unmatched player qualities.  Barcelona's triumvirate of  Messi, Suarez and  Neymar  (MSN) is  devastative and  also Real Madrd's trio of  Ronaldo,Bale  and  Benzma has  become  uncontrollable. The  three has been named BBC. Alongside  these  two  clubs is also Atletico Madrid, Valencia and  Sevilla.

Since the turn of the year,Messi has been in absolutely sensational form, scoring 18 goals and providing 11 assists as Barcelona have won 18 and drawn just two of their 20 matches in 2015.
His two strike partners Luis Suarez (10 goals, seven assists) and Neymar (12 goals, one assist) are also performing extremely well and have finally figured out how to play together.
Ronaldo has scored just seven goals and provided three assists as Los Blancos have faltered, with Benzema and Bale struggling even more, with just eight goals and four assists between them.
The Welshman has been especially poor since the turn of the year, with only three goals and three assists in 14 matches, prompting boos from sections of the Bernabeu crowd and calls for the most expensive player ever to be dropped.
Carlo Ancelotti's men have won just eight of their 14 matches in all competitions this year, losing four of those.http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/lionel-messi-now-has-more-goals-than-real-madrid-trio-cristiano-ronaldo-gareth-bale-and-karim-benzema-combined-in-2015-10095656.html