Euro 2016: France are still waiting for the real Paul Pogba to turn up

If he does, starting with the game against Albania in Marseille on Wednesday, expect plenty of 'Pogmania' in the tournament.

A dictionary about Paul Pogba would read: 1) La Pioche: The Pickaxe, as midfield pivot; 2) Pogiba: for his dribbles during the last World Cup; 3) Il Polpo Paul: Paul the Octopus, for his long legs that look like tentacles while tackling or running; 4) Pogboom: for his explosive style and energy on the pitch.

At Euro 2016, "Pogmania" may also become mainstream vernacular – not a moniker for his sublime skills, brute brawn and midfield motion, a combo French fans have been enchanted by, but a reference to Pogba’s outings, projectively steeped in grace and glory, at the European Championship.

Yet, last Friday in France's opening game against Romania, Pogba didn’t star for the hosts. He was subdued, if not anonymous. West Ham’s Dimitri Payet darted and dazzled on the wing, at times bamboozling defenders with his nifty footwork. Then, with Les Bleus in despair, stalled by stage-fright and anguish, Payet received the ball outside the box, slid inside and let fly a Beckham-esque shot, regal in curve, radiant in finality.

Payet’s goal had a French chic, in line with the zip and oomph of his Premier League season for West Ham United. When the fourth official showed his number, the enormity of his feat struck. Tears welled up in his eyes and he left the field to a rapturous applause.

An underwhelming start

Pogba watched it all from the bench. French coach Didier Deschamps had substituted his No 15 for Manchester United’s Anthony Martial after 77 indifferent, and slightly underwhelming, minutes. Pogba has somehow always underachieved with Les Bleus, and rumours are circulating that Deschamps is prepared to axe his poster boy.

It's not that Pogba didn’t try. In the opening exchanges, the 23-year-old was a zealot, one of eleven in fact, but, for much of the 90 minutes, he drifted in and out of the game. He struck a neat volley, which Romanian goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu parried. Overall, he played disappointingly.

At Juventus, Pogba enjoys an attacking role, but Deschamps asks him to play deeper for France. The French midfield, however, looked laboured, slow in both ball circulation and transition. Pogba got a bit exasperated, at odds with his many pursuits this tournament. He has always wanted to be the best after all.

Ingrained competitiveness

Pogba cultivated that ingrained competitiveness in Roissy-en-Brie, an eastern suburb of Paris, where he grew up and played with his elder twin brothers, Mathias and Florentin, against bigger and stronger boys. Pogba senior had dreamed of a professional career and wanted his sons to succeed. He had them study videos and quizzed them.

Today, Paul, Mathias and Florentin are all internationals. The twins play for Guinea. At an early age, they enrolled at the local club US Roissy-en-Brie. Paul Pogba moved to Le Havre, a French club famed for its youth development, and, then, at the age of 16, to English giants Manchester United.

His spat with Sir Alex Ferguson remains nebulous. Pogba, so focused on self-improvement, felt alienated and frustrated with the Scotsman’s persistent promise of playing minutes at the highest level. In his last season in England, Pogba got seven cameos at senior level, but his discontent simmered.

He left for Juventus with an explicit motive: first team action and game development. Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal became tutors for technique, aggression and passing abilities. He added a latent steeliness to his game, derived from the physical and tactical encounters in the Italian Serie A.

At the 2014 World Cup, Pogba’s youthfulness led to inconsistency. Wilson Palacios of Honduras wound him up in the opening game and his retaliation deserved a red card. Rio Mavuba and Patrice Evra pleaded with Pogba to calm down. Against Ecuador, Pogba was ominously quiet, but he came good with a goal in the round of 16 against Nigeria.

The new midfielder

On the back of another Italian championship with Juventus this season, Pogba is more mature, more decisive, the way he wants it to be. The Frenchman once said that he wants to be "the new midfielder". When asked to elaborate, he projected a science-fiction player, who can defend, attack, score, give assists, tackle, win back the ball and be a leader on the field, all at the same time – a surreal concoction of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta.

In real terms, Pogba is an avant-garde decision maker, who in a split second executes game play all over the field, a box-to-box midfielder, a number eight, but with a touch of Zinedine Zidane. His ambition is to become a legend of Zizou’s magnitude. Zidane’s 1998 World Cup win was celebrated as a triumph for Les Bleus’ multicultural DNA.

Pogba is both black and a Muslim, the son immigrants and from Paris' suburbs. He can carry those values and emotions forward and, in his own right, transcend the French game. He must, however, improve his performances, starting with the game against Albania in Marseille. If he does, expect plenty of "Pogmania" in France.

Ronaldinho eyes return in second half of year

Rio de Janeiro, May 6: Ronaldinho has vowed to return to football later this year as he seeks to kickstart his stalled career.

The 36-year-old former Barcelona star has not played competitively since ending a disappointing two-month spell with Rio de Janeiro outfit Fluminense last September, reports Xinhua.

"At the moment I'm only getting involved in [promotional] events but in the second half of the year you can be sure that I'm going to play again," Ronaldinho told reporters at an event in Sao Paulo on Thursday night.

In March, Ronaldinho's brother and manager, Roberto Assis, said the two-time FIFA World Player of the Year winner was hoping to sign with a club in the US or China.

He added that the attacking midfielder had ruled out returning to a Brazilian outfit. 

Ronaldo and Ronaldinho eliminated from Legends World Cup

The star quarter-final clash is undoubtedly Lionel Messi vs the late, great Johan Cruyff, while Pele, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo were among those who won their bouts.

World Cup-winning former Brazil forward Ronaldo was the most high profile of the eight eliminated Legends World Cup stars as Cristiano Ronaldo came back from behind in the final few hours to topple his namesake.

The current Real Madrid No.7 edged the vote with 51 per cent of of the 54,000 votes cast in the 48 hours leading up to the full-time whistle, despite being behind the retired Ronaldo for most of the race.

Another close-fought battle came between Barcelona icons Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho, which the Argentine edged with 51% of the vote too.

Ronaldinho did the equivalent of scoring after the whistle had been blown by overtaking Messi once the voting deadline had passed, but it was too late to stop Messi from sealing a quarter-final tie with the late Johan Cruyff, who saw off competition from Alfredo Di Stefano.



Without doubt the closest battle was between Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas and Dutch icon Marco van Basten. The footballing giants were separated by just SIX votes of the 6,062 cast upon the deadline, with Puskas winning the photo finish.

The Hungarian has a quarter-final game against Diego Maradona to look forward to on Saturday. The Argentine made light work of his contest with fellow cult icon George Best.

The winner of that last-eight battle will face either Pele or Zinedine Zidane in the semi-finals. The Brazil phenomenon eased past Eusebio while Michel Platini faced the biggest thrashing of the last 16 with just 17% of the tally against Zidane.

The final last-16 spot went to Paolo Maldini having won the battle of defensive giants against ex-West Germany skipper Franz Beckenbauer, meaning he lined up a last-eight tie against Ronaldo.

Legal eagle wants to lift S.League to new heights

TODAY reports: “My primary goal as club chairman is to support Singapore football and bring back the passion and belief that, in my opinion, have been lost in recent years,” says Tampines Rovers chairman Krishna Ramachandra.

SINGAPORE: He snapped up nine top players from the disbanded LionsXII side, secured a deal with Ronaldinho to set up the Brazilian legend’s football academy in Singapore and, if all goes to plan, he may soon make the S.League’s long-time dream of a former English Premier League star plying his trade here a reality.

That is the remarkable job Krishna Ramachandra has done in his short tenure as Tampines Rovers chairman since taking over from Teo Hock Seng back in November last year.

In just two months, the 44-year-old lawyer has created more buzz in the S.League than the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) could over the past few years — which is exactly what he wants to do.

“My primary goal as club chairman is to support Singapore football and bring back the passion and belief that, in my opinion, have been lost in recent years,” said Krishna in an interview with TODAY.

The father of three — two boys and a girl — said he grew up in the generation of the Kallang Roar and tries his best to watch matches at the National Stadium whenever possible. And he hopes to see that recreated in the coming years.

“Everyone loved the Kallang Roar,” said Krishna, who is the head of Duane Morris & Selvam’s Corporate Finance and Investment and Private Client Practice Groups. “If I can recreate the nostalgia and emotion felt in those days through Tampines, it would be remarkable.”

With such eye-catching collaborations and big-name signings on the agenda, one wonders where the Stags are getting all the resources from. “That’s a good question,” answers Krishna with a laugh.

“The FAS and the S.League have been incredibly supportive with their subsidies and, apart from that, we are still blessed to have the funding from our main sponsors, Hyundai.”

Taking over from Teo, who led the Stags to five S-League titles, was never going to be an easy task, but Krishna, who was recommended for the job by his predecessor five years ago and spent the subsequent years as his understudy, said he has been relishing the experience so far.

“Mr Teo was a great mentor and his style of leadership and management is inspirational,” said Krishna.

“So far, it has been exciting and I can feel a positive buzz around the club. The fact that there are volunteers who want to help out convinces me that there is an innate enjoyment and desire to embrace football, which makes my job much easier.”

BALANCING YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND ACHIEVING SUCCESS

He plans to focus on two main areas in the next five years in his efforts to bring back the lost glory to local football: Youth development and helping the current crop of National Football Academy and national team players to aspire and strive for greater things.

Said Krishna: “For me, these are two philosophies that work hand in hand. There needs to be a right balance of both and one must not be shunned for the other. Or else it won’t work out.”

With so many national players in the squad, and with Jermaine Pennant waiting in the wings, it is clear that Tampines are favourites for the S.League title.

The Stags finished second last season, ceding the domestic crown to Brunei side DPMM. Some observers have even tipped the Stags to make a real impact in regional competitions such as the AFC Cup this season, and the AFC Champions League in future.

However, Krishna is not getting carried away just yet.

“Enjoy the game, I say that to the fans and that’s what I always tell the players as well,” he said. “I don’t want to pressurise the players.

“In fact I would be more than happy if they set their own targets because, as a team, they know what they can achieve.”

Ronaldinho Has Offers From England and No Plans to Retire

Brazil legend Ronaldinho has offers on the table from English clubs and is not considering retiring just yet according to his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira who acts as his agent.

The 35-year-old recently left Fluminense, prompting questions of whether 'Dinho was ready to finally hang up his boots.

His brother, however, has dismissed such talk, revealing that the Barcelona icon's body is 'in perfect condition' and that his competitive attitude will ensure he keeps playing football.

"I have had more than one call from England," he said according to The Sun (via ​Joe.co.uk). "My brother is a competitor. He loves to win. That is what people do not realise about him.

"He still wants to play. He has never had serious injuries; his body is in perfect condition.

"I think he has three or four years left to him, maybe more."

While technically a free agent at the moment, Ronaldinho is set to take the pitch for Fluminense once more as the club take part in the Florida Cup this month.

Fluminense president Peter Siemsen ​confirmed the news last month while speaking to Radio Tupi.

He said: "Ronaldinho and Fluminense maintain a great respect for each other. And for the American market is very attractive brand of player."

Is this Former Chelsea Superstar, the Best Man to Play at Arsenal after David Seaman?

Many have criticised the transfer policy of Arsene Wenger over the years, the fact that he does not spend enough to strengthen his squad has often come back to haunt him in the long road of the Premier League title race. We have seen how his teams have capitulated post-December either due to a dip in form or the numerous injuries, which for some reason happens more at Arsenal than any other club.

While Arsenal are still reeling under the problems of injuries to players this season, one signing was all the French manager made for the club. That was the signing of experienced Premier League veteran Petr Cech from Chelsea. It was a surprise to see Jose Mourinho give up such a talented football to a direct rival and it has paid off for Arsenal this season.

Petr Cech Arsenal

While Arsene sent Szczesny out on loan at Roma, Petr Cech didn’t start the season in the best way by conceding two goals in a 2-0 home loss against West Ham United but his performances have gotten better as the season has progressed and he has added something to the Arsenal backline that has been missing since the days of David Season, authority and dependability between the sticks.

Cech could be the best goalkeeper in years for Arsenal

David Seaman is a legend at Arsenal, apart from the World Cup in 2002 when Ronaldinho caught him off his line, the Arsenal goalkeeper is probably one of the best English goalkeepers to have played the modern game and Arsenal have lacked someone even remotely as good as Seaman over the years.

It isn’t due to a lack of options, Arsenal have tried a range of goalkeepers, starting from the hot-headed Jens Lehmann to Lukas Fabianski to Manuel Almunia, almost every goalkeeper has had their follies which has cost Arsenal sometime or another. Even the latest signing, David Ospina had a recent howler in the Champions League which cost Arsenal at least a draw at home.

Petr Cech is a leader at the back, Arsenal have needed someone like this for years and at only 33-years-old, Cech, unlike most other positions which require players to mull retirement at this age, can continue notching up appearances and performing to the highest level. Just like Gianluigi Buffon, Cech can play for years on end and as in the case of most goalkeepers, get better.

Petr Cech

Arsenal didn’t buy any outfield player in the summer transfer window, unheard of in the Premier League context, but the signing they made was one of the most important. Cech has experience of winning titles, medals and of leading from the back. The defence will be accentuated with the composure and reliability of Cech, we saw that against Liverpool where the Czech goalkeeper did extremely well to keep the likes of Coutinho and Benteke out.

Cech might have been one of the more economical buys in this transfer window but in the case of Arsenal, he could be their greatest buy this season and easily is the best goalkeeper they have got since the days of David Seaman. The question that needs to be asked is, can Arsenal win the league with this squad?

The three secrets of Barcelona star Neymar's adaptation

When Neymar Jr goes out to play he turns the pitch into a huge canvas. He comes from the classic Brazilian school. The Barcelona No 11 is a prodigy of individual technique. His happiness, like with Garrincha, comes from dribbling.

Neymar, however, differs from his compatriots, by being the first "crack" from his country that has run his career so far in a 100 per cent professional way.

From when he exploded at Santos FC in 2010, at just 18, a project was organised around him to give him the fundamentals to go on and win a Ballon d'Or. 

With his family company NR Sports, it wasn't just about image rights, but a comprehensive vision encompassing speech therapy, psychology, 'media training' and personalized fitness. 'Ney' was formed on and off the pitch.

"Neymar Jr is a perfectionist, sometimes it's better to say nothing because he's obsessed, he knows perfectly where he's gone wrong and can improve," said his coach at Santos, Muricy Ramalho. 

The main challenge Ney had when arriving at Barcelona was not to compete with Messi, and much less stoke up memories of Ronaldo, Romario, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. His opponent was himself. His process of adaptation was completely different to the 4Rs - all of them had come to the Camp Nou after playing for a different European club. 

His professional environment took work. Neymar's father told SPORT: "Neymar Jr is a Brazilian footballer who comes from a culture that trains twice a day and plays many more game. The first year we realized that the culture of Europe is a single workout with more intensity, Neymar needed to know how the new system worked." 

And after the first year, Neymar and his father decided to establish in Barcelona their own sports structure, with two professionls from Santos FC, whom they knew perfectly: Ricardo Rosa as a trainer and the physiotherapist Rafael Martini. They subsequently denied that the decision did not sit well with some of the Blaugrana coaching staff.

"We coordinated with Barcelona and introduced his own trainer and a physiotherapist, we judge it necessary to leave Neymar in the best possible physical condition along with the club and the results have come - Neymar has a higher percentage of finishes [in games], we managed to protect him from injuries," said his father.

"It is true that Neymar has gained muscle mass, but we are looking for other things, this structure is to prevent certain injuries occurring, preventive work is done."

Meanwhile, the forward was very receptive to the indications of the club. "The club nutritionist changed his diet," added his father. "Culturally this is something difficult for Brazilians, who have a base of rice and beans."

"Everything changes with respect to Brazil. Schedules, habits need to adapt and we have done everything possible to speed up this process, last year this was ok, we won the treble, and this year we go for more!"