Fútbolita

Welcome to day 2 of Mano’s Seleção Bootcamp in New Jersey! The image above exudes so much ego that you can even smell Jersey Shore’s resident douche The Situation from ten miles away. Andre (right far end) is dying to know about Pato’s divorce pension but tipo ain’t saying anything for now. Seriously guys, quit the gossip…. concentrar-se na formação!

Anyway, the schedule remained the same yesterday, with some running drills, ball exercises and press calls. No word yet on who’s bunking with who, but you can be assured that Neymar, Ganso and Andre are living the Bro Life and watch episodes of Glee while feasting on popcorn. And since they’re in Jersey Shore, the bell boy probably kept his eyes open for some Snookin’.

As for Curly Fries da Silva, he miraculously recovered from food poisoning and took a later flight to join the squad! Look, he even offered autographs at the hotel lobby. Rafael had better have taken his Futbolita shirt along with him in his luggage. Cos’ that’s the way we roll, OK?

The friendly against the United States will be tomorrow, and our amigas in Brazil tell us that they will not be telecasting the game. Gasp! That’s despicable. This sounds like a job for the CQC crew!

via Terra Brasil, R.Ribeiro

BEM-VINDO to the Selecao Bootcamp, and as we always say, it’s a “tradition of Futbolita’s!” The guys have arrived in Jersey Shore (fist pump!) to train for the friendly against the United States scheduled for tomorrow. Mano Menezes wasted no time and made sure everyone HEARD what he had to say, which obviously meant no late nights and focus, focus, focus!

As always, manos divided themselves into two groups and got to work immediately. This time, there was no gym conditioning (oh damn) and everybody took to the field. Victor, Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, André Santos, Lucas, Ramires, Ganso and Robinho were in the grey shirts while Henrique, Rever, Marcelo, Ederson,  Neymar, André and Tardelli played with orange vests. And for those of you who were wondering about Rafael Fetus Da Silva, he’s now recovering from food poisoning, so he was unable to answer the call-up.  Que pena!

Anyway, here’s David Luiz getting all brotherly with the trio of Neymar, André and Ganso. They’re all the faces of 2014, so he’d better pick his side soon before it gets too late!

Fotos de R.Ribeiro

Ok, forgive us for the lack of a creative title, but like Neymar, we’re kind of surprised at Manoooo Menezes’ 24-man squad for the USA friendly on August 10th. With so many new faces for Seleção Bootcamp, everyone needs to attend Orientation Camp ASAP!  Meninos like Rafael Curly Fries da Silva, Ganso, Pato and (drumroll) Hernanes, also finally received their call-ups after waiting on it forever. This is not to say that all of them deserved it (Lucas??), but it’s a nice technique to soothe the Brazilian public who can’t shut the image of defeat from their minds.

Rafaelito knows it, and he will be throwing a bitchface – like the one below – if you do not agree that he deserved the call-up. Seriously, enough of PS3 and barbecuing in Manchester… it’s time for the real deal. Hopefully, Fabio isn’t jealous because sibling rivalry is hilarious!

FULL SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Victor (Gremio), Renan (Avai), Jefferson (Botafogo)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Rafael (Manchester United), Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Marcelo (Real Madrid), David Luiz (Benfica), Henrique (Racing), Rever (Atletico-MG), Thiago Silva (Milan)

Midfielders: Sandro (Internacional), Ramires (Benfica), Lucas (Liverpool), Jucilei (Corinthians), Ganso (Santos), Ederson (Lyon), Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Carlos Eduardo (Hoffenheim)

Forwards: Robinho (Santos), Diego Tardelli (Atletico-MG), Alexandre Pato (Milan), Andre (Santos), Neymar (Santos)

Photos via Gettyimages/Reuters

So The Messiah is incredibly exhausted.. but he still has six months to go until they crown the new FIFA World Player of the Year, so tipo has to WORK IT! It must be incredibly tiring to go back to playing football right after the World Cup, so he was nice enough to pick all the players whose teams went out early in the tournament. Obviously, folks like Materazzi had ample time to go for a spa, enjoy a manicure AND get inked at the same time while Lucio, as ya’ll know, has been hitting the bitch with Juan!

Edgar Davids and Kevin Urandi also didn’t have anything to say to Marco and Lucio, so they decided to have their own conversations (as seen below) instead. Seriously, what could Edgar and Lucio have spoken about? Felipe Melo?

It’s that time of the year again… the “Gêmeo Season!” The question is, can you tell the Da Silva brothers apart below? Meu Deus, someone needs to give them a hairdryer, the Perpetual Greaseano look is not working!!

Anyway, caras are now in the USA with the rest of the United gang as part of their pre-season tour. They’d better bring their Futbolita tees along for the ride. Hmmm, Fabio (left) is trying to recall where na terra he put it!

Last, and certainly not least, es hora de Ikerbonero! They’re now officially Pap material, which means you’ll probably be seeing them every morning at the breakfast table as you sip tea next to Arsene Wenger.

Anyway, here they are after enjoying a nice little dinner and getting into Wedgiellas’ car. OK, we don’t really care where they’re heading to or if he decides to get a new haircut, but he’d better keep Sara because she’s one of the few girls he has dated with actual brains!

via Gettyimages, Hola and AFP

What a magnificent ball! I’m afraid we’re going to need people to carry us in order to put the Brasil flag at the top of it so please step forward and don’t be shy. Anyway, in case you’re like tio Ferguson, scratching your head and wondering what all this fuss is about, the ball is actually perched on top of a giant countdown clock in “Jo’burg” (come on now, you can’t just play vuvuzelas… you’ve got to walk the TALK too) in South Africa. There’s a giant statue of Nelson Mandela too. Muito legal!

The WPS league kicks off again this weekend – and of course, some of our futbolitas who’ll be featuring in it include Cristiane, Marta, Fabiana and Rosana! Let’s not forget Kelly Smith, Abby Wambach and Heather Mitts who’re all making us muy orgulloso about women’s football. Anyway, our friends from the league sent us photos from their new ad campaign which is pretty cool, especially this one of Abby Wambach!

Also, we’re pretty sure there are many of you here from the USA (and love Clint Dempsey), so you’d better secure your season tickets AHORA because Cristiane is going to be up against Rosana in the opening game of the season. Queremos ir!

Poor Curly Fries got himself sent off last night – and despite our constant barrage of criticisms, we do think that menino has improved his game as of late. He delivers the ball well but gets fired up too easily and he has been collecting cards like Futbolita t-shirts. Which isn’t so bad, but that’s not the point!

“He decided he wasn’t going to give (the red card), then he was pressured into it. He’s [Rafael] young and he’ll learn from it. He’s got a great future ahead of him and he’s going to be a great player and a big asset for Manchester United. He’ll bounce back, he’s a strong character,” said tio Fergie.

via WPS, Gettyimages & Globo

Uncle Mancini knows that Robinho’s form at Oil City is already looking like your leftover chicken from last Christmas. Even so, you were incredibly mean not to send him fresh flowers. So now, he’s turning his sights to Ibracadabra and Maicon instead!

Declared ManChin : “I always had a loyal relationship with Ibra. He is a world class player and any coach would like to have him in their team. Also, I would be delighted if I could count on Maicon.”

Well well, It’s pretty obvious that he wants to steal from Mourinho’s pool of favourites.  Don’t you remember how Mou kept on going about how Ibra was the best in the world when he was at Inter last year? C’mon, we all know Ragdoll Crespo secretly cried himself to sleep over that every night!

Also, please don’t hit us with candy canes because we didn’t update about Curly Fries Da Silva’s goal. Obviously, the family gave him a new remote-controlled web cam over the hols and Rafael didn’t end up fighting with Fabio over who’ll be wearing the Futbolita shirt to the family barbecue! Marcar mais golos this year, tipo!

It must feel pretty damn good to be scoring a brace on Christmas weekend…. just ask Cescy! Elsewhere, Rafael Curly Fries Da Silva managed to earn himself yet another yellow card against Hull City (oi cara, parar de sonhar com vacas ok…) In contrast, the dude needs to stop thinking of that brand new webcam waiting beneath his Christmas tree.

Speaking of Cescy, we found a rather epic photo of the Spaniard trying to convince you that his eyes are indeed magical. So go on now – have a look (and that also applies to you, hombres! Don’t get all shy…)

via Forocoches

No no, not Ronaldinho but Patinho! The award is officially called the “Golden Boy” award and is given out by Italian newspaper, Tuttosport. It recognizes the best U-21 player in the game, and Pato won most of the votes this year – beating out Balotelli, Bobojan and Ghana’s Adiyiah. Quite amazing, for esse cara who hasn’t been called up to the selecao in recent months!

Anyway, here Pato waxes lyrical about his interest to see Rafael da Silva clinch the next edition of the award (from one jovem to the next!) and his memories at Internacional, where he was pretty much a cracker. Which is a nicer word for “douche”, which we can’t bring ourselves to say.

“I see many familiar faces. I like Jovetic, who eliminated Liverpool in the Champions League with a double. I like Balotelli, I like (Bojan) Krkicand I like Adiyiah, a very fast striker who made my cry Brazil in Under-20 World Cup final in Cairo where his Ghana won on penalties,” said Pato. “But above all, I can say I have many friends and countrymen in the list of candidates. Beginning with the Benfica defender Sidnei: we arrived when we were 11 in the youth team of Internacional in Porto Alegre and spent six seasons together. Then Rodrigo Possebon, now at Sporting Braga on Manchester United – he comes from the same school. And as for Rafael da Silva, I root for him to become the next Golden Boy.”

via Tuttosport, AP

So a sad day has come, and according to reliable sources in Argentina, Gianinna and Kun Aguero have officially parted ways. Kun has already packed his bags and left the family home following allegations that he cheated on his wife with a dancer. So it isn’t just Tiger Woods who should be avoiding the feminism society these days!

Anyway, gossip rags are saying that Kun is “not used to married life” and that the emotional discomfort he is facing at home has led to his dismal performances on the pitch. The main problem was he wasn’t comfortable idea of raising a family yet and while he initially showed good behavior, over time the relationship began to crumble and Gianinna often ‘questioned’ her husband’s frequent nights out.

For now, her intention is to stay a while longer with Benjie to save the relationship. But if it does not work out – according to people close to the family – Gianinna could return to Argentina with the child. By the way, what does The Dona have to say about all this and will blood be thicker than water in his team selection? (via La Nacion with thanks to Kickette).

On the eve of the star-studded World Cup Draw, Mickey Mouse’s Muse aka David Beckham remembers Nelson Mandela! What a great PR team he has… “When I was last here with England, I had the honour of meeting Nelson Mandela. That was the highlight of my career; to meet such a great man and a strong man and such a passionate man about sport and life will always stay with me.”

Lastly, your favourite pair of Brazilian gêmeos happened to arrive at the same time as their coach in a UNICEF benefit earlier this week. They tried to tell their older brother to drive slower but…it was too late, and they got out into the pavement at the same time! Look at Rafael’s face.  Nós queremos beliscar-la!

Show romanization

via La NacionAFP, Bauer Griffin and WIRE Image

via Gettyimages

Come on now, futbolitas… let’s gather around the fire and play a game! Which one of these lindo meninos is Rafael… and which one is Fabio? This one’s pretty easy and ya’ll know which twin we prefer but didn’t get to meet (hey, at least the other was equally sweet!).

Need more time? By the love of Kun, you need a lesson in Twin Identification agoraaa! [Ok, we'll give you 20 seconds....]

Ombre on the left looking slightly stern is Faaaaaaabio (ya’ll remember his LOL-worthy quote which evoked laughter from Rafael). Cutie grinning to the right is his twin bro. Whatever the case, they both have lovely hair and gostaria de penteá-lo.

A few weeks ago, we were out with a friend and spotted more than 11 “mini-Fabios” with the exact same hairstyle (albeit differences in height, age, weight etc). Interestingly though, none of them were Brazilian. Looks like the Da Silva love is spreading internationally. Adorável!

They don’t stand among our favorite teams but we had a blast covering Man United when they travelled to Malaysia for their Far East tour. All our preconceptions of them were wrong and they’re all really nice hombres- everyone from the folks in their entourage to the players!

We spoke to Anderson, Fabio, Nani, Rooney, Tosic, Evra, Carrick and even Sir Alex, Kiko Macheda and Paul Scholes briefly.

Rather excitingly, we met one half of our fav Brazilian twin-defenders, Fabio! And among other things, we told him he had sexy hair (thanks to Mari and Sabrina Sato for the inspiration). He chuckled – eyes twinkling – and said, “Obrigado!” By the way, the boy is left-handed and has soft hands. Sadly for us, Rafael wasn’t around for us to hang with so we gave Fabio the Futbolita camisa instead. “Ah, futbolita. Muito prazer!” Fabio said, taking the shirt with a smile. Charming!

We also met Nani - who believe it or not – is the friendliest hombre around and exudes NO douchebag behaviour whatsoever! Halfway throughout our convo, he said to me : “You speak good Portuguese, did you study it?” I replied, “Yes!” and Nani said, “Yes, you speak it well. Very good.” Then he added that he was bored in the hotel and there was nothing much for the players to do following the Jakarta bomb blasts and tight security. So I had to ask : “Do you guys feel sad that Cristiano is gone?” and he replied : “Well, we are getting used to it.” Tosic – who was next to him – told us he didn’t like the weather there.

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Photo by Priscilla Liu

Sim, futbolitaaaas! We met United’s Brazilian full-back Fabio da Silva (too bad Rafael wasn’t in Malaysia) as part of United’s Asian tour  and told him how we loved his sexy hair. We also spoke to Anderson, Nani, Rooney, Tosic, Evra, Carrick and even Sir Alex. It was a blast… and we’ll have more on this in the next few days so look out for it. Tchau!

Ok, Cescy is getting nervous and it’s raining. Still, if you are like us and refuse to listen to 99% of the people around you, you can still appreciate Arsenal ahead of tonight’s clash against Foreignchester United. At least they have a solid, impressive youth strategy that Real Madrid do not.

“To play football well, you have to be happy to play. It’s not because you say to players that if you don’t do this or that, you will die. That doesn’t make them better players,” said Monsieur Wenger.

“No matter what happens (tonight), I believe this team will make a big impact in the game and that is what we want to continue to develop.”

Fantastique! With that, we eagerly welcome you to tonight’s Champions League semi-final with a picture special. There’s a bonus of Hair Grease and Rafael da Silva (olá, querida!) too. We know, we couldn’t help it.

If that’s not Pillowface on Rafael da Silva, we don’t know what is. Anyway, one half of our favourite Brazilian twins has signed a contract extension that will see him at Foreignchester United till 2013. No word on his married bro yet, but they’ll probably be playing jersey-swapping games once Fabio gets his extension.

“It has been an exciting time for me and I want to be part of this for a long time so to get an extension is unbelievable,” he said.

Oh Rafael, we beg you not to join the DoucheBag trio that is Ronaldo-Anderson-Nani! Do us all a favour, por favor.

We love The Guardian’s interview with United twins Fabio and Rafael da Silva. Gotta love their sense of humor and the fact that they also alike. Muito adorável! Here are some excerpts…

Fabio: Yeah I got married six months ago, I’m serious like that, I like being at home [Rafael shakes head and laughs]. She’s called Barbara and is 17 years old. We got married so that she could come here.
Rafael: I’m less introverted than him, and it’s always been like that. Here I don’t go out but in Brazil I do.

Who are the biggest jokers at the club?
Fabio: Rio and Patrice. Once, Anderson came to training in his slippers and they set fire to his slippers and tipped cream out all over them.

What do you think of Robinho taking the bus to the Trafford Centre?
Fabio: Well Brazilians are like that. ‘Do you want to go there?’ ‘Let’s take the bus then’. Come on. I doubt that people would stop and stare at him, they wouldn’t believe it was him. The English players wouldn’t do the same but yeah I’d take the bus too.

Best friend?
Both: Rodrigo Possebon.

English or Brazilian food?
Both: Brazilian

You know the tricky situation about playing for Brazil or Portugal? Of course you do eh, Deco?!

Well, it looks like Man United’s Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio da Silva are being faced with the same ‘problem’. Both have played for the U-15 and U-17 Brazilian selecao but also hold Portuguese passports which makes them eligible to play for Carlos Queiroz’s side. And the coach hasn’t been able to hide his enthusiasm for them.

“Carlos likes me and Rafael and calls me all the time. He really wants us to play for Portugal but I don’t know,” Fabio told the News of the World. “Every kid dreams of wearing the yellow and green.”

While the source of that quote is questionable, we have to agree with Fabio. Brazil needs fresh talents for the future and the inevitable 2014 World Cup hosted in their home country. Me, you and your brother know that it’s a ‘must-win’ championship for them – we don’t want a repeat of the 1950 final against Uruguay now, do we?

So why lose the likes of these twins to Portugal? Do something Dunga! AGORA!