Soccer Wrap Up and the Sparklings rock band are affiliates. The Sparklings are playing at Pellestrina, Italy August 3rd and 8th free entrance.

Soccer Wrap Up and the Italian rock group, The Sparklings, have become affiliates. The Sparklings are an italian rock group which play many Italian and American singles, such as American Idiot, Holiday, Buoni e Cattivi and many more.

For more information go to www.sparklings.altervista.org

Inter Milan win first derby against rival AC Milan 2-0

In a friendly match part of the world football challenge Inter Milan have beaten AC Milan in the first derby of the season 2-0 with both goals coming from the just bought Diego Milito.

Different style, with better posession

Inter Milan showed a different style of play than recent years, the defensive line is higher up the field remaining closer to the halfway line than the keeper thanks to a fully recovered Maicon and a brilliant Lucio that had recently arrived from a struggling Bayern Munich. This allows the defenders to defend in a more anticipatory style, and also allows them to rise up the midfield and help with the posession. Another change is caused by Thiago Motta, the midfielder that Mourinho was heavily looking for, Thiago Motta helped play a holding role but also made sure Kalac was awake with great attacking play.
After Ibrahimovic left many were worried what would be of the nerazzurri's attack, but Milito the prince of Milan has made everyone forget about the Swedish magician and hopefully will continue and possibly bring Inter Milan the famed Champions League.

Ronaldinho, the leader that shone in a tired team

AC Milan has tried to be very new, bringing in the American defender Oguchi Onyewu was certainly a new move, while changing the coach to Leonardo was new, and probably the most important new thing, is the new Ronaldinho, the leader Ronaldinho. After AC Milans president Silvio Berlusconi forced Ronaldinho to stand on a table in front of his teammates and pledge to be a leader and give his best to bring AC Milan to their goals Ronaldinho has started to shine and in the derby made himself dangerous with free kicks and flashes of brilliance. But he will have to have consistency and this could be where he will have the most difficulty, this was shown in the preseason Audi Cup in which AC Milan, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, and Boca Juniors are battling for the 2009 Audi cup. AC Milan lost with the heavy scoreline of 4-1 against Bayern Munich, and Ronaldinho was probably the most disappointing factor of the Italian side.

So in summary an Inter that works better without Ibrahimovic and an AC Milan that will have to show consistency, and will have to try and regenerate an aging team.

Tottenham buy Peter Crouch for 11.5 million euro's, Portsmouth chairman replies, "The financial gain was too important"

Tottenham have finalized the transfer of English striker Peter Crouch
from Portsmouth for 11.5 million euro's, peter crouch has already
played for Liverpool, Portsmouth, and now will play for Tottenham.

Inter Milan and barcelona finalize the striker swap

Inter Milan have finalized the deal with Barcelona to swap the
strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o with an extra 50 million
€ and hleb (with 70% wages being payed by Barcelona) going to the
nerazzurri. Samuel Eto'o is going to be paid 10.5 million euro's a
year with a Champions League bonus of 4.4 million euro's for 5 years,
which is less than what Inter Milan payed Zlatan Ibrahimovic (12
million euro's a year)
Although it may seem a deal that is very unbalanced there are some
hidden reasons as to why the Swedish striker seems to be worth much
more than the cameruun striker. An editorial will come out later this
week as to why.

Real Madrid sign French Forward Benzema

After signing Kaka`, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid have decided to add even more talent to their attack, Karim Benzema of Olympique Lyonnais has signed for Real Madrid for 35 million Euros. The French club confirmed the signing and although they have gained 35 million Euros, they have lost the 26 goals that Benzema scored last season for Lyon.