Brave New World

According to the Lounsbury correlation, Mayan calendar started August 13th, 3114 BC.

Tomorrow 6:00pm local (noon EST), Villarreal president Fernando Roig will hold a press conference regarding Riquelme's future.


Will Roman sit on the bench for the remainder of his contract? Will he be auctioned? Will Boca loan or buy him back? Where do you want him to be? Atletico? Real Madrid? Milan? Or back in Boca finishing up Club World Cup?

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The shattered relationship between Roman and Villarreal management might of been too much to repair, and it's sale or nothing now. The transfer deadline is last day of August, and Riquelme is out on the open market.


If Roman still wants to play for Boca, he'll have to be prepared to take a significant pay cut since the highest paid player in Argentina doesn't even make a quarter of what he had been getting in Villarreal. On top of that, will Boca be willing to shell out that much transfer fee?

Or Riquelme might have to start evaluating his European options seriously.
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Rooney broke his foot again. To my great disappointments, there won't be a short people striker duo for at least another 2 month. On other hand, Tevez will get his chance ahead of schedule.


ManU and Reading had a 0-0 draw past weekend. Next stop will be the 15th at Portsmouth (right next to Reading in standing last season), who also suffered a draw (2-2) in their opening match, against newly promoted Derby county. With Saha also injured, we should be seeing Carlito on the pitch Wednesday.

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Tevez played yesterday, and ManU suffered another draw. One red card for each side when C.Ronaldo ended up getting send off for a head butt.


Tevez had an assist and almost a goal, David James' impressive stretch saved Portsmouth from a home lost. However, Tevez didn't seem very in sync with his teammates, and several missed chances indicated that he wasn't at the top of his form yet. Paul Scholes' goal

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Carlito's buddy Mascherano also played on Wednesday, with Liverpool in Champions League match against Toulouse. Rafael Benítez was yelling at Mascherano all day, telling him where to play and what to do.


Mascher followed the directions and played excellently. Throughout the 90 minutes, Javier was pulling out tackles and disrupting almost all the Toulouse attacks. He also drew 2 yellow cards by initiating attacks from the rear and producing explosive forward runs. I was quite upset to see Mascherano not on the pitch the past weekend, and Liverpool barely managed to win at Villa Park. In the match yesterday, Javier seemed rested and ready, I think we'll see him again this weekend against Chelsea.
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Also missing from ManU's squad in the 0-0 tie was Heinze. The court hearing about Heinze's future is set to take place on Monday, Aug 20th. Can Rafa Benitez's US$13.2million secure him an EPL title?


If the deal falls out, Liverpool will have to either look for another LB, or start integrating Emiliano Insua into their equation.

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In Barcelona's training match today, Messi was omitted from the starters' team, although he scored a goal and won the match with the substitutes.


Even though he hasn't really played all that much with Barça (50 games since '04), Messi' position there is quite secured. I would worry more about Gaby Milito. In order for Milito to have hope for a starting spot in FR's 4-3-3, he needs to at least move pass Rafael Marquez in the pack.

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The flea hit a wonder volley and propelled Barcelona to a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Franz Beckenbauer cup friendly. Messi goal


Pekerman was crucified because he didn't play Messi. Hopefully FR isn't about to make the same mistake this season. God willing, let Messi play! The boy is healthy and in top form.

Milito was substituted in at 60th minute for Thuram, after Marquez had been subbed in for Zambrotta at the beginning of second half...
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With the Diego Forlan purchase, Aguero's starting spot in Atletico Madrid also appeared in doubt. However, Forlan's consistency can only ensure little over 10 goals per season. It's when he gets the fluke, he'll get a couple extras and make his record look nicer. And he just had a fluke before leaving Villarreal...


Without Torres, Atletico will have to rely on Forlan if they planned to keep Aguero on the bench. Even if Maxi stayed healthy, they'll need more than that to progress in both UEFA Cup and La Liga.

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Despite Javier Aguirre's (Atletico Madrid coach) claim of not planning to start Aguero, he unleashed El Kun in UEFA Cup home match against Vojvodina Novi Sad yesterday.


At 37th minute, an Aguero cross found Maxi, and the Atletico captain touched it in. The Serbians lost Milutinovic to second yellow soon after the restart, and more chances were created by Atletico. At 60th minute, Forlan finally picked up a garbage goal and made it 2-0. Aguero then volleyed in Forlan's cross towards the end to finish the game 3-0.
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What else? These 2...