First time lucky, second time right! Who would have imagined the 17-year-old Manchester United Reserve player, Federico Macheda, to have burst into the scene with sublime match-winning goals for two consecutive ocassions.

With Liverpool just won 4-0 against Blackburn in the afternoon and leptfrog Manchester United to top position in the English Premier League, Manchester United is drawing 1-1 against Sunderland and the match is seems nowhere clear of winning as the Red Devils are completely devoid of idea and creativity. That is when Sir Alex Ferguson took the gamble and threw in Federico Macheda in the 74^th minute. Within a minute in the field, he scored the winning goal as the game ended 2-1 to put Manchester United at the top of the Premiership Table again.

continue reading "Federico Macheda – Rising Star of the Red Devils"……

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal and Manchester United winger, becomes the first Premier League player to win the prestigious Fifa World Player 2008 award after beating AC Milan’s Kaka, Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Xavi to the title.

Ronaldo’s 42 goals for Manchester United last season helped the Old Trafford club to the Premier League and Champions League double. He also picked up the European Player of the Year honour in December and the FifPro World Footballer of the Year crown in October.

The coaches and captains of 155 national teams took part in the voting for the award with Messi finishing second ahead of Torres, Kaka and Xavi. Ronaldo is only the second Portuguese player to have won the title, following Luis Figo in 2001.

The winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or trophy has been announced and is awarded to none other than the well-deserved Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United player. Ballon d’Or is the most coveted individual honour in European football, which recognises Ronaldo’s outstanding performances over the past 12 months. The winger has scored an impressive 42 goals last season, on his way to domestic and European glory with the Red Devils.

This morning, the 23-year-old Portuguese joins other United legends George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton on the award’s roll of honour has he became the 42^nd different player to pick up the prize. Previous winners include Kaka (AC Milan, 2007), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus/Real Madrid, 2006) and Ronaldinho (Barcelona, 2005).

The full nominee list for the European Footballer of the Year award 2008 is as given below. In the list, there are only 3 English players; who are Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Apparently, the clear favourite to win the accolade is Cristiano Ronaldo, who helped Manchester United win the Champion League and the English Premier League titles. However, you can never rule out Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and AC Milan’s 2007 winner Kaka; both of which are expected to be in contention.

continue reading "European Footballer of the Year award 2008"……

The traditional Uefa Cup name will be given a revamp. From next season onwards, the new name will be called Uefa Europa League. Besides the new look of the logo, there is also be some changes to the league.

The Uefa Europa League will have 48 clubs in 12 groups of four, with teams playing each other home and away as opposed to just once as it stands now. The top two in each group will then join the eight third-placed Champions League clubs in a 32-club knock-out stage.

More information is available from the BBC News.