Fútbolita

Ok, so we’ve reached the most decisive month of the football calendar (oh come on now.. it’s never about Ibiza in December!) and that means that ya’ll should tune your ears and start sending roses to Del Bosque, Fabio Capello and van Marwijk’s assistants as soon as possible!

For now, you can scream “Hoera!” because the Dutch have named their 26-man training squad for the World Cup (there’s officially 30 to be finalized before June 1st but four were not called up due to the Champions League final and this includes Transporter Robben, Sneijder and van Bommel). Unfortunately, good ol’ van Nistelrooy has been left out of the squad. Onze sympathie!

SQUAD LIST :

Sander Boschker (FC Twente), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht); Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord);

Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Otman Bakkal (PSV Eindhoven), Edson Braafheid (Celtic), Wout Brama (FC Twente), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax), Orlando Engelaar (PSV Eindhoven), John Heitinga (Everton), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), David Mendes da Silva (AZ Alkmaar);

Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Eljero Elia (Hamburg), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Jeremain Lens (AZ Alkmaar).

via Reuters

Zizou and amigos played out to a nice 3-3 draw in last night’s “Match of the Stars” to help Haiti. And don’t you agree that it’s tres bien to see Rui Costa, Luis Figo and Edgar David’s Mask on the field again?! Daaaamn, feels like old times. Anyway forty international football stars from across the world joined UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) to play that match against Benfica All Stars. This is the match which Kaka played on behalf of Greaseano cuz’ their Bromance is going out of hand and bros don’t let bros down. Anyway, once again it’s amazing how futbol has transcended all boundaries and reached out to those in need!

“By coming to the stadium people have done a great thing. I am very happy we can do something to help,” said Zizou. Added Louis Van Gaal, who was in charge of the All-Star squad : “This is a very good cause, that’s why there are so many players here. Football is with the people of Haiti.”

van Nistelrooy has switched sides from Madrid to Hamburg (a pity, since we hear he’s one of our dear amiga’s favourite interviewees!) .Granted, he did look a little zoned out at his own presentation but it was all done for the Oranje.

There’s a lot riding on Nistelrooy’s quest to join the national team and only first-team football will give him that chance, seeing that Madrid are very content with Higuain and Benzema. He will remain at Hamburg until his contract ends in 2011. And as the Dutch say… veel succes!

Do not fear, Robinho is not pulling a R.Carlos and getting married again. Instead of showing him looking all gloomy on the bench, we decided that a smiling-and-spoilt Robinho would be the better option for your precious eyes.

Anyway, A Douche has declared that he wants to take a pay cut, return to Santos and play regular football again. He’s looking at a Beckham/Milan deal where Oil City continues to pay his wages while he parties at the Catwalk club in Rio. Ah cara, sei lá…! Sao Paulo better be ready for the return of Robinho and his entourage.

via AP, Globo