Sports Wrap (Football)

Europe:

Last weekend saw the resumption of European leagues and the commencement of the Champions League after the most recent round of world cup qualifiers.

In the English Premier League, the usual suspects (the top four) had interesting weekends. Manchester United defeated Tottenham 3-1 after falling behind to an early Jermaine Defoe bicycle kick. Chelsea also came from behind in defeating Stoke 2-1 but only sealed the win thanks to a Florent Malouda stoppage time strike. Liverpool walloped Burnley 4-0 and had the Reds shot more accurately the score would have been much greater. Liverpool had 27 shots in the match. Arsenal had an eventful trip to the Manchester City which resulted in a 4-2 loss. The talking point however was Adebayor stamping on former team-mate Van Persie's face and after scoring running the length of the field to celebrate in front of the travelling Arsenal fans. Adebayor has been charged with violent conduct for his stamping incident but nothing has eventuated about his celebration....yet.

In La Liga in Spain, Valencia had a high scoring win over Valladolid (4-2) with David Villa scoring 2 and David Silva also scoring one. Athletico Madrid drew 1-1 with Racing Santander, whereas the other Madrid team boasting the newly formed galacticos defeated 3-0 with superboot Ronaldo adding the third in injury time. Barcelona also won its second game of the season with Ibrahimovic and Messi scoring goals against Espanyol to keep Barcelona undefeated so far.

In Serie A, Juventus were away to Lazio in Rome, but that didn't deter them as they won 2-0 with Trezeguet sealing the win with an injury time strike. Inter Milan had to wait until 19 minutes from time before scoring and seeing off Parma. Roma travelled to Siena and won 2-1 and AC Milan drew 0-0 with Livorno.

The Champions League kicked off last night with no real surprises in the results columns. Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan won their matches against their respective opponents. The second lot of matches will kick off tomorrow morning Australian Eastern Standard time.

Soccer (Local):

Perth drew with Gold Coast 2-2 with Shane Smeltz scoring another goal (he has 9 so far this season from 6 games). Melbourne still have not won at home this season drawing with Wellington 1-1. Sydney were upset by a Robbie Fowler screamer, Brisbane flogged the woeful Newcastle, and Adelaide defeated Central Coast 1-0.

Will he wont he saga finally concludes: Ronaldo

It has been 12 months in the making but Real Madrid CF have finally got their man and Ronald has got the club he's always wanted. 

With more rumours than a girls school playground surrounding Ronaldo's possible departure, on 11 June 2009 Real Madrid CF agreed to pay Manchester United a world record $163 million fee for the Paris Hilton kissing hair gel industry sustaining global football star. Yesterday, Real Madrid CF put the finishing touches to the personal terms of Ronaldo's transfer and he is now officially a part of the Real Madrid CF Galacticos revolution.  It is reported that he will earn about $23 million per year for the next six years! that equates to about $442,307 per week! Amazingly, that is just his base wage and doesn't include payments for image rights or shirt sales. 

So how will Ronaldo's move effect all interested parties?

The English Premier League has lost one of its stars, and it may well effect its marketability in the short term, but with the mega brands that are the 'top four' clubs, the league will surely find another star to re-brand the league into all parts of the world. In contrast, La Liga is growing from strength to strength behind quality players plying their trade in the league (boosted enormously by Kaka and Ronaldo's move), a strong national team (excluding the recent USA loss), and better tax rates than those in England.

Manchester United are now minus their biggest and most influential star. Ronaldo could turn a game in a second. You only need to ask a string opposition goalkeepers, namely Arsenal's Almunia and FC Porto's Helton, who thought there was no danger with Ronaldo on the ball 40 yards from goal. However, Manchester United now have a substantial transfer kitty and it will be interesting to see who they put in the red number 7. 

Real Madrid CF have obviously gained a megastar both on and off the field. They are in the midst of a Galacticos revolution having already spent at least $300 million on players during the past month, and with another 2 months before the start of the season, the bank manager must be reaching for the valium at the thought of the possible future spending. There is no doubt, however, that Real Madrid CF will be a serious threat in all competitions.

Many English Premier League supporters may argue that Ronaldo's departure is a good thing with the amount of complaining he did each game, not to mention diving more than Greg Louganis. This behaviour is more acceptable in La Liga, so Ronaldo should fit right in.

Finally, with Spain, like everyone, being hit by the global financial crisis, many Spaniards are questioning the rationale of Real Madrid CF's spending.  It will similarly be interesting see how Ronaldo integrates into a team where he will be earning in some cases three or four times the amount of his team mates. All will be forgotten however, if the Los Merengues have a successful season. Only time and silverware will tell.