Fútbolita

NILMAR HONORATO DA SILVA

Yes, it’s the day of the Brazil-Holland “do or die” match and we’ve promptly lined-up our exclusive interview with Brazilian striking ‘fofo‘ NILMAR. Many of you will be excited to note that he has joined David Villa in the ‘Futbolita lovin’ bandwagon, and yes, he really is one of the nicest ‘manos’ out there, in case you were wondering. The Villarreal striker is also expecting a son next month and spoke about his aspirations for Nilmar Junior. Awww, what is there not to like about Nilmar again?

NILMAR ON FUTBOLITAS

“It is great that there are Futbolitas who play football and support the game! This sport is very healthy and the women give much color to football. Of course, I am in support of this and seeing women playing futebol in the fields gives joy to all.”

NILMAR ON THE SELECAO

“It is a great joy to be called up because it is the dream of any player to play in a World Cup and more so with Brazil, the best selection of all time. In addition, it is more worthwhile to go as a striker, especially since the large number of attackers are Brazilian. It is a dream come true and I am very anxious to to play.”

“The the truth is that I feel enormous pride whenever I wear the Brazil shirt, and without a doubt the most special moment with the selection is now, during the World Cup.”

NILMAR ON HIS WIFE AND SON

“I wanted Laura (his wife) to accompany me to South Africa, although it will be difficult because of my unborn son. As for my son, the truth is that I would prefer if he likes football like me, but more importantly, he grows up to be what he want to be!”

NILMAR ON THE SELECAO’S FUN-LOVING NATURE

“I have a good relationship with most of the players on the selecao like Luis Fabiano, Kaka and Julio Cesar. I get along great with everyone and that is very important. A good relationship among the players will go a long way in our World Cup campaign.”

NILMAR ON BRAZIL BECOMING A GLOBAL POWER..

“We have the highest expectations of becoming a great global power. It is true that there are very good teams that play at a high level, such as Spain, Italy or Argentina. But Brazil is always a candidate in the world cup and there is no exception this year . We are confident that we will do well because we have a great squad.”

Enjoy Nilmar’s hat-trick against Chile in last year’s WCQ!

BEM VINDO to the Matchday edition of Seleção Bootcamp! Don’t you love it that everybody has their headphones on in the morning? What could fofo Nilmar possibly be listening to? Lady Gaga? Meu Deus, we bet it’s Bebel Gilberto…. or Sergio Mendes! In the last two days, the guys have been training at 4:30pm everyday and attending the compulsory press conferences. At every World Cup, teams have to follow a specific FIFA protocol, and it’s no different with the selecao. Everybody has to face the press and if you’re lucky, you get the jokers Luisao or even Julio Cesar, as he proved other day. Or if you want to throw daggers at someone, Felipe Melo will be the man for you – but he won’t take it lightly!

Anyway, caras face off against Portugal today and we feel like we’ve been waiting for this one since FOREVER. Listen Greaseano, please play nice today ou eu vou mandar uma garrafa de GASOLINA para a sua casa em Madrid. Your stepovers can be nice to watch, but today, you won’t be the only one doing it because Robinho is IN THE HOUSE. Forcaaaaaa and BEIJOS to you from the squad….!

via AFP, R.Ribeiro

Within the next week, Futbolita will reveal our list of exclusive World Cup player interviews and yes, Nilmar happens to be one of the sexy jogadores! For the record, we can confirm that he is THE coolest nerd in seleção bootcamp, so desculpe Kaka, but you have officially lost that title to your friend from Paraná!

Anyway, here he is in full-on geek mode in one of Nike’s unique seleção pre-Copa del Mundo videos featuring the enthusiastic Robinho and straight-talking Fabuloso. You can also catch glimpses of nossos meninos training. Of course, they’ll be playing Zimbabwe in a friendly later today, so this is your preview!

The seleção have checked into their temporary boot camp in Curitiba (poooor fin!) and have taken their medical tests (courtesy of the Atlético Paranaense team!) Poor Nilmar seems afraid of needles while Fabuloso and Elano struggled to be brave men. They boys are also doing muscular exercises daily under the watchful eyes of Senhor Paulo Paixão and Fábio Mahseredjian. Oh Mio dios, those two instructors are not to be messed with.

Unfortunately, Kaka and Fabulouso sat out training but they’ll be back soon. Read more to see a MEGA GALLERY.. and yes, Luisao’s pained expression below wants you to go check it out!

Photos for Futbolita via R.Ribeiro
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Bom dia gente… and Happy Friday! Nilmaaaar, você olha fofo hoje (you are looking cute today). Anyway, this is a new series of ads by Nike conceptualized to help you ease into the World Cup mood. It’s called the “Pelada“, which is the journey of the selecao caras as they experience the ‘maximum velocity’ training program. Greaseano did the same thing too, which you can watch here (ever so dramatic!)… but in the meantime, Robinho, Fabulouso & fofo Nilmar would like you to listen to them below, por favor!

Presenting to you Greaseaño in all his Waxiness! Si, it sounds absurd, but this is a brilliant shot of his hair doing what it does best at most matches : literally standing by him. Now THIS is dedication…Ricky Martin would be proud! Anyway, CR’s Cabelo had nothing to do with his penalty for Los Blancos in their 2-0 win over Racing last night. However, we’re thrilled to add that the Pied Piper of Higuain netted this week again. Yes, the Beatles fan is definitely dancing his way into the Argentinean World Cup squad!

Elsewhere, papa Nilmar delivered for Villarreal again during their encounter with Valladolid last night. It’s truly unfortunate that the photographers almost NEVER get shots of him celebrating his domestic goals. Lo injusto! He is the equivalent of the Candy Floss striker, so everyone should sit up and take notice of Sr. Nilmar NOW!

via Gettyimages

Quão brilhante! These fans turned up at full force to watch Brasil play Ireland in London yesterday… and if this isn’t hardcore (ok, that title belongs to the River and Boca fans), then we’re not quite sure what is!

As expected, manos defeated Ireland 2-0 and the goals were thanks to Robinho (although it was deflected and considered an own goal! Poor Keith Andrews, time for some chicken broth, love). As you can tell, tipos were clamoring over themselves to do well as the Copa del Mundo approaches. Adriano also started alongside his amigo in Santos and of course…. fofo Nilmaaaaar himself came in as a replacement for the goalscorer himself later in the game.

This edition of the Selecao Bootcamp was a relatively short one as the guys make their way back to their clubs to play in the domestic leagues. We look forward to more jacuzzi stretching exercises in próximos jogos!

via R.Ribeiro, Globo, AFP

We’re in day two of the Seleção Bootcamp specials… and these manos skipped gym conditioning and went to the Emirates stadium to start work immediately! According to Dopey, the objective was to get the players back to their clubs in ‘fine form’. And if you’re in London and have yet to wrap yourself in a flag at Hotel Dorchester, please sit up AGORA!

The team was divided into two as usual for an 11-a-side match-up yesterday evening , but since there was one extra player, Lucio wore a white vest and was allowed to play for both sides! As a result, whenever he picked up the ball, they started booing him. “Please do not mention who was the worst player on the field today,” joked Kaka. “Today there were so many that you can’t choose (only) one.”

Sadly, the game takes place tomorrow – so tipos won’t be getting into the jacuzzi anytime soon!

fotos de R.Ribeiro

Don’t you hate it when everything ends in a stalemate? Maçante! Where’s the spirit, Madrid? Tipos ought to rewrite their new-year resolutions as soon as possible, and remove the part about getting new car windshields. Pellegrini, victories are the ones that count so stop spending Perez’s credit on nail polish, vale?!

Anyway, in case you think we’re talking in circles, Madrid drew 0-0 with Osasuna last night. Barca themselves gave them a chance to take the lead after their 1-1 draw against Villarreal on Saturday. Apparently, the club’s CEO is pissed that Nilmar wasn’t awarded a penalty after being fouled by Goldilocks Puyol. Shit, he’s right! For Nilmar, the referee should’ve brought out the candy floss machine. How dare they mistreat Nilmaaaar!

In other news, Ibracadabra’s love, Helena Seger made her presence known at Barca’s game. Don’t you think she can be Sylvie van der Vaart’s twin? You can totally imagine their conversations…. Helena : “Oh älskling, did you see the new Vuitton? Splendid, yes?” Sylvie : “Um, ja? Rafael is totally on the VIP-lijst. We get de zakken from Marc Jacobs himself!”

via AFP, AP

Ei chicas, you have to admit that front page image with David Villaaaaa in his Kung-Fu pose is muito legal!!! He looks ferosha… come on, his daughter already thinks it’s cool and has started to draw on it with her red Crayola. Anyway, Villaaaa opened the scoring against Osasuna in the sixth minute thanks to his outstretched boot (talk about being at the right place, at the right time) last night. David Albelda and Carlos Marchena scored the other two goals.

“This is a tough place to come and we played really well to win the game,” said Albelda. “We are growing as a team and just have to keep going the way we are and see what happens.”

Also, David Silva’s hair is calling out to be in a Sunsilk ad…. seriously, darle una oportunidad!

Nilmar’s Brace Sinks Valladolid!

So tipo over here was the hero for Villarreal yesterday, following a bad start to their season. Nilmar didn’t even have to change the colour of his jersey… all he needed was two goals bebes! Thanks to him, it looks like El Submarino Amarillo are slowly starting to find their pace again, scoring 14 goals in their last four games.

“Despite the result it wasn’t easy,” said Villarreal coach Ernesto Valverde. “I liked what I saw of my team and think we were better so we are happy with how we played as well as the result.”

Photos via AP, Villarreal

And it’s L for Laura Guimarães! Nilmar scored a beauty of a header in Brazil’s 1-0 victory over England yesterday (let’s not talk about that Fabulouso penalty shall we, the sky fell down when that happened!) and aptly dedicated the goal to his wife! Awww … Que romântico… trazer para fora as velas! (bring out the candles).

via Gettyimages/AP

So Dopey officially called up 24 homens for the selecao’s upcoming friendly matches next month. Ooooh yes, we mean that exciting one against England in Qatar on the 14th and the other one against Oman in Muscat. And futbolitas, are you ready for some new names? Say “Bem-vido!” to Porto’s Brazilian sensation, ‘Hulk’ Souza (they call him that because he resembles Lou Ferrigno) who will wear yellow for the first time after shining in the Liga Sagres. The same goes for Fabio Aurelio, whom Dopey is calling up for the first time. You know he was totally impressed while watching Sunday night’s derby and his Scouser of a nephew started yelling at him to ‘pick Fabio!’

Also new to the squad is Lyon’s Michel Bastos, who apparently told Dopey that he’d ‘play in any position’ so long as he got called up to the selecao. Tipo, isso é patético, mas tudo está perdoado! Lastly, Hoffenheim’s Carlos Eduardo – you’ve might not have heard of him – also earned himself a spot in the team. Well, it’s only a friendly so Dopey’s allowed to experiment. And we don’t know about you… but we’re looking forward to this Selecao Bootcamp! Até então …

Allow Nilmar to present the squad list to you….

Goalkeepers : Julio Cesar (Internazionale) / Doni (Roma)

Defenders : Maicon (Internazionale) Daniel Alves (Barcelona) Luisão (Benfica) Lúcio (Internazionale) Juan (Roma) Naldo (Werder Bremen)

Midfielders : Fábio Aurélio (Liverpool) Michel Bastos (Lyon) Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos) Josué (Wolfsburg) Lucas (Liverpool) Felipe Mello (Juventus) Alex (Spartak Moscou) Julio Baptista (Roma) Ramires (Benfica) Elano (Galatasaray) Kaká (Real Madrid) Carlos Eduardo (Hoffenheim)

Strikers : Robinho (Manchester City) Luís Fabiano (Sevilla) Nilmar (Villareal) Hulk (Porto)

via AP

The only person who looks ready for this family and class photo is… Andre Santos! Nevertheless, manos failed to secure a win over the Bolivians yesterday… losing 2-1 to them instead. it must have been the altitude! Nilmar scored the only goal for the selecao, but as they say in Brazil, poderia ter sido melhor! No excuses.

“We slept (when) the first goal went in. It’s very complicated … the timing of the ball was impressive. (You) must be a little faster … but it was as an experience,” said Julio Cesar. “I did not jump for the ball. I crouched to see the ball and got no reaction time. If I was standing, I might have seen it.”

Oh well, at least they’ve already qualified. Plus, Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva were spared from the game due to the altitude risks (now we know who’re the more valued jugadores..). They’re already preparing to face Venezuela and they’d better win!

Bom dia and welcome to Day 2 of the Brazilian Bootcamp! Both our coach and goalkeeper are enjoying a Soul Sista moment in the photo above  (Dunga : “Gurrrl, you got strength!” The Cesar : “Adriano ain’t got nuthin’ on me, lady. Uh-uh.” ) And that’s because Juliolita had a field day during yesterday’s training -  saving almost everyone’s shots at goal and getting teased in the process.

Barbecue King, Adriano was really pumped up and put many goals past Julio, but when his former Flamengo mano saved it, there were plenty of jokes. “Are you kicking with all your strength? What do you want? You (Adriano) are always like popcorn to me!” yelled The Cesar. Later, Dunga made the tipos shoot from a further distance, and this time, many of them missed the target. “For those who do not know, the goal of this sport is to score!” joked Julio again.

Meanwhile, Kaka looks like he just saw an ice-cream truck pulling up into the driveway. Unfortunately, Miranda knows that the best person to ask for Cadbury hot chocolate is still Adriano. Damn, tipo brought the whole kitchen! And since it rained, everyone had to warm down quickly and throw on their windbreakers. They had to do their interviews in the rain… and damn, we hate it when that happens! Still, we spotted our worried looking friend, Rodrigo, wearing a hoodie and windbreaker in the clips below. Você olhar engraçado, tio!

Fotos de R.Ribeiro/Getty

Tudo bem, people?! Welcome to Day 1 of the Selecao bootcamp…. a staple here at Futbolita. And in true spirit, we just did a thorough assessment of the selecao’s arrival at Granja Comary with our Brazilian amiga here, Ana. Gata wants to marry Zagallo but he’s old enough to be her grandfather, so she has now shifted all thoughts to Julio Cesar. On the other hand, Fabulouso is looking sleek in white… he needs to pose for a furniture catalogue agora!

So manos were sent for gym conditioning (to “maintain muscles and detoxification”) ,with Senor Pablo Paixão. This was accompanied by light field training and running exercises. Nilmar is deep in concentration… (while el amigo Lucas is presumably talking about English tea) so do not disturb!

Of course, playing at a high altitude is another issue for selecao. As such, the team’s doctor Jose Luis Runco has confiscated the potato chips from Adriano’s room. “I recommend a light diet for the team – with fruit and carbohydrates. Our position in relation to games at altitude does not change and I hope that FIFA changes it,” he said. “It is advisable to practice the sport at (a suitable) altitude because we run a risk of compromising the life of a human being.”

Added the excited André Santos. : “The secret is to adapt as quickly as possible to play a great game.”

Fotos de R.Ribeiro

via Reuters

We only wished for Nilmar to start against Chile…. and mano went on to score a hat trick against them last night! Daaaamn, tipo over here is keeping track, ya’ll. On hindsight, 4-2 isn’t the perfect score but what else can we say to Nilmar except muito obrigada?! After all, Chile actually equalised 2-2 after Baptista’s 40th minute goal and thought they could get away with a victory. Desculpe, but this is Brasil…

On a sadder note, Felipe Melo had a bad night when he was sent off in the 49th minute for going in with his foot raised on Sanchez. He was also penalized for a foul which led to Humberto Suazo’s penalty for Chile. Speaking of the Melooo, we’ll be speaking to him soon – more details on that to come!

Our Brazilian amiga was in a visibly samba-like mood today so please help yourself to that unopened can of Guaraná and join her as we await the next Bootcamp!

(via Reuters, AP)

Fotos de R.Ribeiro

E ai tipos??!! It’s the final day of our Selecao bootcamp specials and if you’re already bored, please sit by the window and speak Joel Santana English. Yes, you must… we insist!

Anyway, Miranda celebrated his birthday with his amigos yesterday – his cake wasn’t as zany as Julio Cesar’s – but you can never go wrong with strawberries and chocolate. Filipe looks mesmerized by the cake… although you know Juan looks like he’d much prefer tiramisu. Awww.

In more serious news, Dunga has called up four players to face the Chileans later. They are André Dias (São Paulo), Cleiton Xavier (Palmeiras), Diego Souza (Palmeiras) and Diego Tardelli (Atlético Mineiro). Robinho flew home yesterday afternoon, after suffering a nasty injury and will continue treatment at Man City. We hope Nilmar starts!

Brazilian fans gather outside their hotel in Chile to welcome them! / via globo

Summer tales...... / Foto de R.Ribeiro

The Brazilian bombshells have arrived in Tallin for their friendly against Estonia tomorrow. OK, Gomes doesn’t know anything about the Estonian national team but still, it’s always nice to see the seleção. It cures our homesickness!

Anyway, homies are staying at the Radisson Hotel and except for Inter’s trio of Maicon, Julio Cesar and Lucio who arrive today, a crowd of screaming boys and girls waited to welcome the squad. Doesn’t Felipe Meloooo look like a high school stud trying to round up his gang of friends? Luisao is not amused!

Caras also gathered to have dinner together last night. And ya’ll know that Kaka told the best story at the table followed by Dani Alves‘ fishmonger tale (“Na verdade, eu não comer peixe!!” he cried). Nilmar looked excited to share his story about the crying children at his official presentation (“Eu queria chorar também..”) Well, they didn’t exactly say any of those things but imagination is key, amigas!

According to our friends, the view of the city from the Radisson hotel is “beautiful” and the sunset happens at exactly 9:30pm every night. Awww, how romantic. Robinho and co’ can certainly toast to that! Training will take place in the afternoon later today. Enjoy the photos…

Awwww, why are they all crying?! That’s not a very nice way to welcome Nilmar, isn’t it?

Anyway, doesn’t cara look fineeeeee in the Villarreal kit? Maybe we’re so used to seeing him in the Brazilian colours, so yellow is practically second nature to him. The striker was officially unveiled to the fans and media yesterday, after signing a five-season contract with the yellow submarines.

“Negotiations are always complicated but I always had great desire to play in Spain because (they play) football like the Brazilians and have great technique,” he said.

“I am full of pride and responsibility. I know I have to score goals and help the team.”