O Fenômeno

Apparently greatness never dies. Ronaldo, O Fenômeno ("The Phenomenon"), is back. After scoring the most goals in World Cup history and amassing one of the greatness resumes in all of football, Ronaldo blew out his knee about a dozen times, has been intermittently overweight for the past few years, and most recently was blackmailed by transvestite prostitutes in Rio de Janeiro. However, the man who was once on top of the world in Barcelona, Milan and Madrid is back plying his trade in Brazil. He's on my favorite team from Sao Paulo, Corinthians, and apparently had a pretty good week. Check out his first goal in a loooooooongg time. And check out the ridiculous/awesome/scary celebration and crowd reaction.

And to make this story even better, Corinthians, one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, is actually back in the country's first division this year after being embarrassingly relegated to division two in 2007. Looks like 2009 is the year of the comeback.

The Special Ones

Today there are some pretty exciting football (soccer) matches on television. I am most looking forward to the Champions League match-up between Manchester United and Inter Milan. Both teams are leading their respective domestic leagues (England and Italy) and their rosters are full of incredible talent and very interesting personalities.

Today the New York Times featured Inter's manager/coach, Jose Mourinho, the "Special One." He's brash and flamboyant, and brings a unique style to the science of winning. The article is actually titled: "A Coach Cloaked in Armani and Confidence" He has definitely mastered the art of attracting and molding media attention. NYtimes.com also featured him earlier this month in this Q&A session.

There are also some exciting things going on in the American world of soccer. The MLS season is about to start in a few days and the league is going to announce the two new cities that will have teams in 2011. According to most reports, it sounds like Portland and Vancouver will be on the receiving end of the new franchises. They will join Seattle Sounders FC who will be entering the league this season and the yet unnamed Philadelphia team which will play their first game in 2010. I typically try and keep up with all the new gossip and hearsay at MLS Rumors.

Also - in another story of international intrigue David Beckham will be staying with the Italian team AC Milan for the rest of the season but will rejoin the LA Galaxy in the summer - in the middle of the MLS season. I'm sure a lot of Galaxy fans are pretty upset about this. But I'll admit that David Beckham is still awesome. He's been able to succeed in all of the world's greatest leagues and turn himself into an international icon who transcends his own sport at the same time. Check out this promo he put together with Kevin Garnett for Adidas.

Goals, Blogs and Cups

My most popular video so far has undoubtedly been my tribute to Esporte Club Bahia. Thanks for all the Bahia fans that have visited the site. Your dedication to Bahia is incredible and you are the reason why the team will undoubtedly be back in the Brazilian 1st division sooner rather than later. Check out the blog: http://www.baheaminhaporra.com, a site dedicated to the club that was nice enough to feature this gringos homage to his beloved Tricolor. Fan dedication like this is what helps sell-out game after game at the Fonte Nova, and now Pituacu, and is why Salvador deserves to be one of the host cities when the World Cup returns to Brazil in 2014.

Speaking of the World Cup, the lottery for tickets to the 2010 tournament in South Africa is officially open. You can register to enter the lottery until the end of the month - I know I will. There is no way that I am missing South Africa 2010 (or Brazil 2014!)

In non-Brazilian soccer news, a buddy of mine, Mike Fucito is in the land of tango, steak, and mid-1990 economic meltdown, Brazil's archenemy on the soccer pitch, Argentina. He is traveling with Seattle Sounders Football Club, a new expansion team in Major League Soccer, America's professoinal league. He is currently training with the team on their South American pre-season tour trying to win a spot for himself on the team. He was a teammate of mine in college but was recently picked up by Seattle in the MLS draft. And it looks as though he is doing very well for himself. He scored the game winning goal in the Sounder's most recent scrimmage in Argentina. And here is a pretty funny post-game interview with Mike that was on the Sounders website. Enjoy!



More Carnaval recaps are coming soon, along with new video. And guest bloggers!!!

My life, my love, my pride...Bahia

Traveling to Brazil without experiencing the beautiful game is unforgivable. Here in Bahia, like the rest of the country, everyone has their favorite team. In the Northeast of Brazil, the most popular team is Esporte Clube Bahia. Almost everyone in Salvador is either a die hard Bahia fan, or they support the crosstown rival, Vitoria.

Bahia fans are proud of their club’s history. Founded in 1931, the team won their first national championship in 1959 by beating Pele’s Santos and were also crowned Brazilian champions in 1988.

Unfortunately the team has come under some hard times and a few years ago was relegated down to Brazil’s third division for the first time in the club's history. But even in the third division, the team still averaged attendance of over 40,000 people per match.

In 2007 during the third division championship match, a section of Bahia’s stadium, the Fonte Nova collapsed. Bahia won the title and were promoted to the 2nd division but 40 people were injured and seven fans died in the accident. The state government announced that the stadium would be partly demolished and a new multiuse arena will be constructed in its place. Bahia now plays it’s games at the Estadio Pituacu.

Yesterday Davidinho and I went with my brother, father and uncle to Bahia's state tournament match against Feirense, a small town team from the interior.

I tried my best to do my best monotone PBS narration impression in the video. Make sure to watch it in high quality - without that it is super blurry.



Bahia started off slowly, and Feirense scored the first goal. However, Bahia began to control the game and equalized. After that, things only got worse for Feirense. After all was said and done, Bahia were victorious, winning handily, 4 to 1. After a few cervezas, everyone felt compelled to let the world know their true love for their club, the famous Bahia!

Robinho

Starting to get settled in - hopefully the airport will get my luggage back to me sometime today. Thank goodness my Brazilian family here is so accommodating, because I literally have no clothes other than those I wore on the plane.

But despite the minor baggage setback, Brazil is already starting to feel like home. The house is always abuzz - at least 20 people were in and out during the course of the day. I spent most of the time with my brother Junior (he's the driver in The Arrival video) and catching up with old friends and family.

I also watched Brazil's national soccer team play a friendly match against Italy yesterday on TV. Brazil came out on top and really displayed some flashes of brilliance. One play reminded me of some of the aspects of Brazilian culture that I am quickly becoming reacquainted with. It's a stunning display of sly awareness and anticipation, cunning and lighthearted deception - all underscored by a fierce joy and love for life.

Watch the clip and I think you might get a brief tutorial in Brazilian culture. Or maybe I'm just trying to find an excuse to post Robinho's awesome goal from yesterday's match and get non soccer aficionados to watch.



Also, for all of you fans of the beautiful game and/or patriotic Americans, the United States is playing their first match in the last round of World Cup Qualifying. And the game is against Mexico! This is huge! Viva la red, white, and blue. Anyone know of bars in Salvador that might be showing the game???