Ronaldinho Gaúcho (Zumapress

Ronaldinho's return to the Camp Nou was one that brought back a great deal of nostalgia of an era not too far removed.  It was a different Barca side, but it was one that started to once again grab headlines and capture the imagination of the football world.

Those five years of R10 were some of the most magical arguably of our generation.  His final year was not one of brilliance.
He started to become more of a cancer on the team and the World Cup started to show the wear and tear of the game on him physically and mentally, but when he was on... he was the best in the world- bar none.

Although his exit from Barcelona was very similar to the exit of other greats, his impact was undeniable to the culture of this most recent generation of Barcelona.  If there was one signing that changed the balance of power in Spain it was that of Ronaldinho Gaúcho to Barcelona.

The day he arrived to the Camp Nou, the dream of glory was well on its way.

Ronaldinho was the catalyst to a Barca side that found itself in quite a dire situation come the end of the 2002-03 season.   The team was going through a four-year trophy drought that was compounded by Real Madrid's string of league and Champions League triumphs in the process.  He was that joy to the game that the world and the blaugrana looked for.

Every play as big as his Cheshire-cat like smile that was permanently placed on his face.  The Smiling Assassin was his modus operandi.  Whether it was slashing through the Real Madrid defense at the Santiago Bernabéu or smashing the competition at the Camp Nou, he was the gamebreaker and the main attraction.

Barcelona's acquiring the Brazilian star from PSG under then vice president of sport Sandro Rosell after David Beckham nixed the blaugrana to head to Real Madrid was a move that would take the Catalan giants to the next level.  But it was a painful, yet spectacular process in the beginning.

Dinho and Barca at Joan Gamper (Albert Gea/ Reuters)

If Johan Cruyff changed the culture of Barcelona forever with his arrival 30 years earlier, Ronaldinho renewed that spirit to a lesser degree.  The Dream Team era seemed like ancient history the season that Dinho came to Barcelona.  He was the catalyst to turning the malaise that had infected Barcelona.  It did take a season for the blaugrana to really adapt to La Liga after struggling mightily in the first half of Frank Rijkaard's first season.

The team turned around and almost overtook Valencia at the end of the season, which included an enormous 2-1 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

The following season there was no doubt that his frenetic beat was going to be matched by no one.  He broke ankle and had people dreaming of moves that could only be done on Playstation.  There were moves like the Elastico.

There were performances like that brace that he had at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid where the Madrid fans got on their feet and applauded Ronaldinho for his legendary performance.

That night he made Michel Salgado and the Madrid backline look like a training cones and he was a nightmare for Merengues all over.  The titles that Barca won at that point not only placed the team at the top of the football mountain, but had Dinho atop the football universe.

We might now see him at AC Milan as a shadow of that poet laureate with the ball that he was before. Still there are times when he sharpens up that we see that greatness peer through and give us hope that someday he rekindles that fire within.

Hopefully that moment was today at his old stomping ground.

Ronaldinho's legacy was celebrated at the Camp Nou

Throughout the season we will be reading up around the Web to be able to give you the best information as well as the most well-informed opinion possible. 


In our constant search for material, there are some that we definitely want to share with others, so that's exactly what we'll do.  


If you find any material that we should add to this weekly article... please drop us an email or leave it in the comments section.  Your help is always appreciated. 




Check out Own Goal Network
Serie A Weekly:  Juventus;  Why the rebuilding process is not simple
La Liga Weekly:  Segunda Focus, Wanna bet?
Ligue 1 Talk: Losing love for Ligue 1? Are transfer killing the league or helping it?
Madridista Mac: Finding meaning from the seemingly meaningless


Thoroughout the Web
Tactical--Football Further: How  the Premier League title contenders shape up
Human interest-- Trapped miner was a former Cobresal player. (ESP) Convocalo, Bielsa!
La Liga-- Barca, Madrid , and Who? 

Some good reading material for you all

Week 15 of the 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro witnessed the return of the 2010 Copa Libertadores Champions, Internacional of Porte Alegre to league play. On Sunday, O Colorado Gaucho drew 1-1 against bottom of the table side Atlético Goianiense. The draw extended Internacional's league winless streak of 3 matches, clearly a result of their Libertadores title run.

Corinthians dominated São Paulo with a 3-0 victory at the Pacaembu in a Paulista State rivalry match. 2 goals from Elias in the 1st half sealed the 3 points for O Timão. Corinthians victory cut into Fluminense's 1st place spot in the table to 2 points after Fluminense drew 2-2 against Vasco da Gama.

The match witnessed the Flu debut of ex-Porto & Barcelona star Deco in front of 80,000 spectators as these Carioca rivals played to an exciting and energetic draw. The draw extended Vasco's unbeaten streak to 8 matches and moved them up into the top 10 of the standings. Deco come on as a 2nd half sub in the 74th minute and missed a chance to give Flu the win in the 82nd minute when he was open in front of goal after a cross into the box but his shot went over the crossbar. The draw extended Flu's unbeaten streak to 12 matches.

Here are the results & standings from Rodada 15 of the Brasileirão:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 21

Botafogo 1 - 0 Avaí
BOT: Fábio Ferreira (31')

Ceará 2 - 1 Grêmio
CEA: William Magrao (og 1') & Geraldo (89')
GRE: Anderson (og 25')

Goiás 1 - 2 Gremio Barueri
GOI: Éverton Santos (56')
GRB: Wanderley (52') & Anderson Luis (81')

SUNDAY, AUGUST 22

Guarani 0 - 0 Palmeiras

Atlético Paranaense 1 - 0 Flamengo
APR: Manoel (82')

Internacional 1 - 1 Atlético Goianiense
INT: Leandro Damiao (67')
AGO: Victor Ferraz (42')

Santos 2 - 0 Atlético Miniero
SAN: Neymar (57') & Danilo (78')

Vasco da Gama 2 - 2 Fluminense
VAS: Éder Luís (37') & Fágner (47')
FLU: Gum (6') & Júlio César (59')

Cruzeiro 0 - 1 Vitória
VIT: Junior (53')

Corinthians 3 - 0 São Paulo
COR: Elias (22' & 44') & Jucilei (70')

STANDINGS

2010 Brasileirão Wrap - Rodada 15

Courtesy Pablo Tesoriere

"Pressure? When I was at River Plate and (Rosario) Central they would put a shank to my stomach and say, 'If you don't win on Sunday, you're dead.' I would hear from the fans behind the goals threten me by saying that they were going to kill my entire family. That's where I come from. What kind of pressure could there be playing at Barça? They play in a beautiful stadium with 100,000 fans cheering you on, and if they are not pleased with you they take out a white handkerchief?” - Former Barcelona goalkeeper Roberto Bonano

Interview with Pablo Tesoriere- pt.1

Bayern Munich show why it wil be tough to knock them off their pedestal after beating Wolfsburg in the dying moments of the match courtesy of a Bastian Schweinsteiger goal.

Hamburg also showed that they were going to give Bayern a fight after beating Schalke 04 2-1 thanks to a brace by Ruud Van Nistlerooy as he overshadowed former Real Madrid teammates Raúl and Christoph Metzelder.

Meanwhile Michael Ballack made his return for Bayer Leverkusen and beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0.  Meanwhile Hoffenheim made history this past weekend as they did something that they had never done in their short history in the German top flight.

Dietmar Hopp's side started out losing against an Mesut Özil-less Werder Bremen side thanks to a Torsten Frings penalty kick. Then The Hoffe poured it on with four unanswered goals, beating Bremen 4-1 and winning at home for the first time after allowing the first goal. 

St. Pauli began the celebration of their 100th anniversary in the right fashion beating Freiburg on the road 3-1.  All three goals for the Buccaneers came in the final seven minutes of the game and came back from a 1-0 deficit.

The other team returning to the Bundesliga, Kaiserslautern also started their campaign winning with a 3-1 score against FC Koln.  The highlight or lowlight of this match was the sending off Lebanese international and team captain Youssef Mohamad after just two minutes of play.  Kaiserslautern would take advantage of playing a man up for 88 minutes with all three goals being scored by Croatian duo Srdan Lakic and Ivo Ilicevic.

Bundesliga opening weekend wrap

Throughout the 50's and 60's América was mired in mediocrity.  They were the laughing stock of Colombian football but the fans remained faithful to that "Mechita"(string) of hope.  The team was exactly that as they fought to avoid relegation.

Their fortunes changed slowly in the late 60's and in the 70's began the push towards becoming contenders.  That finally came to fruition in 1979.  After coming up short a couple of times before, América arrived to the top of the domestic mountain.

After that they emerged into one of the glamor teams of South American football.    Adding players like Ricardo Gareca, Julio César Falcioni, Juan Manuel Battaglia, as well as former New York Cosmos star Robert Cabañas and many of the top Colombian players such as Willington Ortiz and Anthony D'Avila.  There the

If the past 24 hours have not been a display in ineptitude and complete desperation, then nothing is. It is so sad to see a club that in the past 30 years was mired in glory, despite the controversy, to have come down so low. I am not condoning what the people that ran the club during those glory years did, I am only talking about what the players and teams did on the pitch. América are literally on life support and are trying everything in order to remain afloat.

If we mention the problems that this once-glorious club has right now there is no doubt that we would have to do a five-part (hmmm, sounds like a good idea) feature on it.

Within this time period we've seen the players finally decide to stop playing after being owed nine months worth of wages. And with time running against them, they began to take a "react then think approach".

One of the first steps was to sack coach Jorge Bermúdez due to his lack of efficiency in his role as coach.  The former América and Boca Juniors man so far has not been able to revert the adverse situation that the Cali club is currently going through on the pitch.

Now comes the next step.  Who do we hire?  There were names being thrown around, but many of them refused based on the fact that there was little guarantee of payment outside of what the Dimayor could help pitch in.  That might not have helped because one of the conditions in which the players were going to come back and play was only if the club reinstated Bermúdez as coach.

So much for that plan.
 According to reports from the Colombian media, Dimayor president Ramón Jesurún and the club agreed to split the costs on one month's wages of the nine that are currently owed by the club.

This little detail helped propel the players to jump on a 6am flight to Medellín and play Envigado in a match that will mean much more than pesos and centavos to the club. In the end, all the drama was good for a soap opera as they came in and dismantled a hapless Envigado side 3-1.  The win helped their cause in the relegation race, but still sees an uphill battle on the promotion end.

The win might have eased anxieties a little bit, but the reality is still there.  The team still owed their players eight months worth of wages.  They are fighting for their first division lives.  Jorge Bermúdez is still at odds with the media and the club.  The club is still between two entities that are completely cash-strapped and fighting against the tide and the effects of the Clinton List.  The latter had a dubious effect especially with any corporations that deals with an entity on that list.  Every single possible avenue for revenue was removed and that is a major hindrance if a club would like to operate properly.

In other words, América will look to fight another week.

From Diablos to Mechita: The disaster that is America

Mano Menezes called up 22 European-based players for his upcoming training session in Barcelona next month.

Two players will be making their respective debuts with the Canarinha. Shakhtar Donetsk man Douglas Costa as well as Inter's new signing- 18-year-old Phillipe Coutinho- will get some international experience and try to fight for a spot for the upcoming Copa America.

There are players like Porto target man Hulk will be making his return to the national team in September. The same thing goes for Hoffenheim playmaker Carlos Eduardo. The Brazilian was a vital part of the team's explosion onto the scene two seasons ago in the Bundesliga and should be a consistent callup in the coming months as well.

On the goalkeeping end, two of the top youngsters currently playing in Europe were called up and early on it would seem that Diego Alves would be the front runner to threaten Julio Cesar's starting job; although do not count out Spurs gatekeeper Gomes either.

Menezes calls up European-based players

The University of Miami athletic department announced on Wednesday that the women's soccer team will be joining forces with MALAIKA for Life this upcoming season.


The Hurricanes have established the Scoring Goals to Save lives Campaign this season.  Ten dollars will be donated to the fund with every goal scored by the women's team this upcoming season.

“So many of our soccer alumni are doing well in life since graduation and Kristen is the most recent to share her passion with us,” said head coach Tricia Taliaferro. “The simple concept of her organization makes you stop and put things in perspective and anxious to help immediately.” 

The Lady Canes will don these new bracelets in their season opener against the Florida Gators in Gainesville this coming Friday.

The non-profit organization is currently being run by former Lady Canes footballer Kristen Kenney.  Their mission is to help promote and educate communities all through Africa as well as help prevent the spread of malaria throughout the continent.  They help generate revenue through the selling of African bracelets. 

Lady Canes join forces with MALAIKA

Mauro Camoranesi (Zumapress)

Rough play is part of any sport and football is not the exception. Some challenges are of the criminal type... at least we say that in the figurative sense.

But on Monday a court in Argentina ruled against the Italian international in a court case that saw him as the defendantin a case that was 16 years in the making.  

According to daily Clarín, the Civil and Commercial court of the city of Mar Del Plata ruled that the World Cup winner would have to pay damages that ended the career of Roberto Pizzo back in 1994 when he played for second division side Aldosivi. 

Judges Ramiro Rosales and Roberto Lostaunau decided that the Juventus midfielder "grossly misinterpreted the rules of the game" and "acted in an excessive and brute manner which was abnormal and preventable."

The former Cruz Azul and Banfield man challenged Pizzo in an overly aggressive fashion.  The challenge saw the former Alvarado man sustain a torn ACL, MCL, and right and left menisci.  Not only that the player also underwent an extensive rehabilitation, but his career was over.   

This coincides with Camoranesi's negotiations that have him probably moving to Birmingham for the upcoming season after nine seasons with Juventus.

Meanwhile the lone judge who voted against this decision, Alfredo Méndez,  stated that it was "purely incidental" and "part of the game".   Méndez said that it was a typical action action where two players went after a divided ball. 

Could this court decision start a litigious firestorm if one player seriously fouls another?

Let the madness begin... I guess.   

Argentine court rules against Camoranesi

Saturday
Guraní 4-1 Avaí
Botafogo 3-0 Atlético-MG

Sunday
Gremio 1-2 Fluminense
Goiás 1-1 Palmeiras
Corinthians 1-0 Flamengo
Ceará 0-0 Atlético-GO
Cruzeiro 0-0 Gremio Prudente
Atlético-PR 1-1 São Paulo
Vasco da Gama 1-0 Vitoria


Standings

Brasileirao Week 13 scores