Neymar Left Out of Brazil Squad for International Break

Neymar, probably one of the best youngsters around

While I didn't have the time to write about the weekend's action, I've decided to write a little about the international break coming up. Below I've provided the squads of three teams which need to rebuild after a disappointing World Cup. Italy is slowly re-surging with Cesare Prandelli at the helm, England look powerful right now, and Brazil are building upon youth.

Italy 

Italy currently have a mix in their squad, while Prandelli has decided to call up veteran Gianluca Zambrotta, he is also calling up plenty of young talent. While I'm a big believer in Giuseppe Rossi, he hasn't really proven himself for Prandelli. And with the wealth of strong forwards which Prandelli has to pick from, if Rossi doesn't show what he can do, he could be left out. If you're interested in more info about the Italian team along with Serie A coverage, be sure to check out Serie A Talk.

Here's the Italy squad below:


Goalkeepers: Mirante, Sirigu, Viviano


Defenders: Cassani, Zambrotta, Bonucci, Bovo, Chiellini, Gastaldello, Antonelli, Criscito


Midfielders: De Rossi, Lazzari, Marchisio, Mauri, Palombo, Pirlo, Pepe


Forwards: Cassano, Gilardino, Pazzini, Borriello, Rossi


Italy will be playing qualifiers for the European Championships of 2012, facing Northern Ireland away from home and then Serbia at home.


Brazil

Brazil seem like the team to beat right now, although Spain managed to win the World Cup in South Africa, right now Brazil looks full of fantastic talent. They're full of young, talented, attacking players, but a name you won't see on Mano Menezes' teamsheet is the one of Neymar. The 18 year-old phenomenom rejected a multimillion dollar offer from Chelsea, and then practically got his coach fired at his club Santos after having a temper tantrum, now Menezes has decided to not include the player. This Brazil side are different from the physical side which Dunga created, there's plenty of young talent which has the ability to samba like back in the Pele days, we'll just have to see how they do.
Here's the Brazil squad below:

Goalkeepers: Victor, Jefferson, Neto

Defenders: Adriano, Andre Santos, Daniel Alves, Mariano, Alex, David Luiz, Rever, Thiago Silva

Midfielders: Carlos Eduardo, Elias, Giuliano, Lucas, Philippe Coutinho, Ramires, Sandro, Wesley

Strikers: Alexandre Pato, Andre, Nilmar, Robinho

Brazil will be playing two friendlies against Iran and Ukraine, so if you want some players to watch, be sure to keep your eyes on the attacking midfielders Giuliano, and Philippe Coutinho, and the defensive midfielder Sandro.

England

England are just playing one match this international break, and it doesn't look too difficult for the three lions. At home against Montenegro should give Fabio Capello a chance to test a few players who might not be ready yet. Jack Wilshere has been given his chance, and the Arsenal player will be looking to impress Capello. Along with Wilshere, Kevin Davies of Bolton has been called up. It's a bit of a surprise, especially considering that Davies is 33 years old now, not a choice for the future. But we'll see if Capello's decisions pay off, and if he'll be able to win another European qualifier.

Here's the England squad:


Goalkeepers: Foster, Green, Hart


Defenders: Cole, Jagielka, Johnson, Ferdinand, Lescott, Terry, Warnock

Midfielders: Barry, Cole, Gerrard, Huddlestone, Johnson, Lennon, Wilshere, Wright-Phillips, Young 


Forwards: Bent, Crouch, Davies, Rooney

Eto'o: footballer by day, Photographer by night...

Eto'o taking a couple of shots

Samuel Eto'o, a complete striker with speed, skill, and deadly finishing. Probably among the top three strikers in the world, if not number one. The Cameroon showed his stuff again for Inter Milan against Werder Bremen during the Champions League matches this midweek, scoring a hat-trick in the nerazzurri's 4-0 victory over the German side.

But you might not have noticed, that during one of his goal celebrations, Eto'o went over to a cameraman, borrowed his camera, and took a few photos. While we're not sure if this is Eto'o's first attempt at photography, some photos came out pretty well.

He only took three photos, and while his first two attempts are slightly fuzzy, his third and final shot shows Wesley Sneijder in all his brilliance, looking towards the camera. I've put all three on this post, just so you guys can rate him as a photographer.

Eto'o going for a scenery shot of the San Siro here, shame that Sneijder and that pesky Brazilian kid got in the way

A little fuzzy right now, I guess Eto'o wanted to focus in on Coutinho on the right, but he's slightly cut off...

Finally Eto'o gets it right, focussing in on a smiling Wesley Sneijder at the San Siro

What do you think of the photos? While I think he should stick to playing football, maybe one day in the future, he'll be sitting behind some advertising boards, taking photos silently.

If you're interested in photography, and you want to see some great photos, I'd consider you check out Stern Photos. The blog is run by a close friend of mine, and he takes some great photos.

English teams win as Barcelona slips up to Rubin Kazan

The Champions League is providing plenty of interesting stories, for example, do you remember Vincent Enyeama? He was the Nigerian goalkeeper in the 2010 South Africa World Cup, and he basically stopped Messi from scoring his first goal of the World Cup.

Well, Enyeama became the third goalkeeper ever to score in a Champions League match when he slotted in his penalty for Hapoel Tel-Aviv. In that match, where Lyon won 3-1, we also saw a superb strike by Michel Bastos. This was an amazing volley from outside of the box which curled into the top right-hand corner, watch it if you want to see something mesmerizing.

Chamakh and Rosicky awkwardly hugging after the second goal

Partizan - Arsenal


Speaking about keepers, Fabianski put in a great performance for Arsenal away against the Serbian side Partizan. Arsenal started with an amazing goal by Andrei Arshavin, Jack Wilshere provided the sublime assist for the Russian, rolling the ball backwards for Arshavin to slam into the back of the net. After that, Cleo equalized for Partizan from the penalty spot, making the sides go into halftime equal.

It was in the 71st minute which Arsenal grabbed the winner, Chamakh clumsily hoofed in the second. And then in the 82nd minute Squillacci grabbed his first goal for Arsenal, a header which Samir Nasri set up from a corner.  But Fabianski truly proved his worth, he saved a penalty to make sure the Serbian side didn't find an equalizer, and then made some great interventions, stopping any chance of a consolation goal for Partizan.

Gareth Bale scoring the fourth goal for Tottenham

Tottenham - Twente

And Tottenham also won, the Spurs defeated Twente 4-1 in a match with penalties galore. First we saw Rafael van der Vaart have his penalty saved by Mihaylov, but the Dutch midfielder made up for his mistake by scoring a great volley in the 48th minute. Then in the 51st minute Tottenham was given another penalty, this time the Russian Pavlyuchenko stepped up to take it, and he found the back of the net. 

After that, things took a turn for the worse for the Spurs, van der Vaart was sent off after receiving a second yellow card due to some silly tackling, and then Twente pulled one back to make it 2-1. But Tottenham were resilient and were awarded another penalty! Pavlyuchenko stepped up again, and scored again, making it 3-1. The match was practically over, and when Gareth Bale scored in the 85th minute, the Tottenham fans were celebrating their first win in the Champions League.

A cool cucumber

Chelsea's match against Olympique Marseille had probably one of the best taken penalties I've ever seen. The English side won 2-0,  the first goal was Terry flicking in at the near post from a corner, but the second was a lesson on taking penalties. It was Anelka who took it, and he practically skipped during the run-up, casually bouncing his way toward the ball until he coolly sent Mandanda the wrong way.

Manchester United managed a 1-0 win against their main group rivals Valencia, and it was Javier Hernandez/Chicarito who scored the late winner. Macheda squared the ball to the young Mexican, and somehow Hernandez managed to finish the ball into the bottom corner with two defenders attached to him. But maybe the United's opposition is Rangers, the Scottish side won 1-0 at Ibrox Stadium against Bursaspor. This puts them top of the group, sharing the first place with Manchester United.

Messi made his return for Barcelona

But it's not all about the English! We saw Jose Mourinho win thanks to a late goal by Angel Di Maria. Real Madrid were having difficulty breaking down Auxerre, although they were solid at the back, something generic of Mourinho's teams. But the Argentinean broke the deadlock in the 81st with a volley from inside the box.

However the Blaugrana didn't win in Russia when the faced Rubin Kazan, Barca's ultimate bogey team. The match ended 1-1 with both teams scoring penalties, Noboa scored for Rubin and Villa scored for Barcelona. And there was some good news for the Catalan fans, Messi returned after his injury, the Argentine replaced Javier Mascherano in the second half.

Among these results, we also saw Inter Milan destroy Werder Bremen 4-0 at the San Siro. Samuel Eto'o scored a hat trick, taking advantage of the very shaky German defence. And the other side of Milan could only draw with Ajax. AC Milan conceeded first when Suarez broke down the rossoneri defence by nutmegging Nesta and squaring the ball to El Hamdaoui who scored. But the magical Swede Zibra saved AC Milan yet again, an awkward close-range volley equalized against his former team, with the match ending 1-1.

My favourite picture with Eto'o about to score against a flying keeper

Roma managed a 2-1 win against Cluj with Mexes scoring first from a corner, and then Borriello scoring a fantastic volley to make it 2-0. Cluj got a consolation goal with Rada in the 78th minute, but they weren't able to equalize. And last years finalists Bayern Munich won 2-1 against FC Basel. The Germans conceded first when Frei scored in the 18th minute, but Bayern came back thanks to a double by Schweinsteiger, winning 2-1.

What were your thoughts on the Champions League? Comment below!

Review of the Concave PT+ Classic

After having used the Concave PT+ Classic football cleats for about two weeks now, I've truly enjoyed every moment of it. These cleats have just about all the features needed to accommodate any type of player, as long as you take time to adjust to them. If you're interested in reading about the features of the Concave PT+ Classic, check out my preview of the boot here, and if you want to visit the Concave website, visit it here.

Getting used to the cleats


The first thing that I need to mention about these cleats is something I noticed right away, it will take you some time to actually get your foot to enter the cleat. This is due to the large Concave Component on the top of the boot which covers the laces. That's why Concave gives you a handy shoe horn which you'll need to use to get your foot to enter the boot. But once your foot is inside, the comfort is extremely noticeable. The K-leather is what makes this boot so great, as it moulds to your foot, providing no discomfort or blisters. The boot was actually slightly roomy, and it certainly accommodates wide feet.

After you've got the boots on, you need to make sure you get used to shooting with these. At first I found it new, and I was blasting balls high over the crossbar with little accuracy. But my coach gave me the best advice as I was practicing free kicks, he simply said, "Just put your foot through it". With that mentality, I scored a rocket top-corner free kick (in practice), and I began to understand how I should use the boots to shoot, pass, and cross.

How they perform

After a few practices, I was able to take hard shots from farther out, and place long balls and crosses with more ease. The Concave Component truly does what Concave says, it reduces the amount of force that a player needs to use when kicking the ball. It enlarges your sweet spot, reducing the chance of bad connection between your foot and the ball. While I was obviously unable to prove the statistics that Concave reports, I saw a noticeable improvement in my shot power and shot accuracy.

In fact, I found out that these boots allow a player to use his "wrong" foot with much more ease. It was much easier to take shots with my left foot, mainly because I knew I was going to get a strong connection thanks to the Concave Compenent.

Concave Component close-up

Protection


I used the Concave boots in three games, and in all three I appreciated their durability and protection. The shoe truly offers protection like no other, it is unrivalled in this sector. The pain of a stomp on the foot didn't exist anymore for me thanks to the Metaguard on the front of the boot, and the shoe was durable as it gave overall solidity to my feet.

Negatives/Cons


Using the Concave PT+ Classic, I found few negatives. But to start with, these boots aren't for a speedy winger, they offer protection along with the Concave Component which weighs down the boot. If you're interested in being the fastest player on the field, then look at another type of boot, because these don't offer any advantage in that area. The other negative for me occurred just when I had to put them on. Some days when I wanted to just slip on my boots, I couldn't. I had to use the shoe horn, and really stuff my foot through the opening. But trust me, once the foot is inside the boot, you'll love the comfort.

The trusty shoe horn at the top-right

Final judgement


Here's my final word on the cleats, while they aren't flashy and colourful like some other cleats on the market, they're among the best I've used. They offer protection like no other, an increase in performance, and a high amount of comfort thanks to the K-leather. All this is also proved by the fact that Premier League players like John O'Shea and Wes Brown use the Concave PT+ Classic.


Share your thoughts regarding the Concave PT+ Classic below, and be sure to visit Concave's official site here. If you'd like more information on the features of the boot, click here.