AC Milan drop Ronaldo contract plans

AC Milan have pulled all plans of drawing up a new contract offer for striker Ronaldo.
Tuttosport says the Brazilian's latest injury setback has alarm bells ringing in Milan's boardroom and no deal will be considered until they have clear answers on the forward's long-term fitness.

Ronaldo comes off contract in June and insisted before his latest injury in Lisbon that he wanted to prove himself worthy of a new deal.

Ronaldinho tells Barcelona pals: I'm the black sheep!

Ronaldinho showed he hadn't lost his great sense of humour at Barcelona training yesterday.
With all the pressure and speculation swirling around him, Ronaldinho managed to get his teammates bursting into laughter after a miss-kick during a drill.

"I am the black sheep!" proclaimed the Brazilian, as he put his hands up in mock apology.

All his teammates appreciated the joke, coming just days after Edmilson's "black sheep" controversy. Edmilson yesterday, meanwhile, was returning to his first full-scale training session at Barca for five months.

Scolari: Barcelona's Ronaldinho already past his peak

Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari believes Barcelona ace Ronaldinho is already past his peak.
Scolari, who won the World Cup with Ronaldinho, said: "He already has reached his maximum point as a soccer player. He played wonderfully well in 2004 and 2005, but already he's dropped a little in his form since 2006. What is clear is that he cannot maintain the same level he has performed at for the past ten years.

"Ronaldinho is never going to obtain what Brazilian and Barcelona fans demand of him. No longer can he beat four players nor will he score four goals in the same game."

Eriksson Hoping To Perform Without Elano

The Swedish manager knows what an impact the Brazilian midfielder has had on the Citizens, but now wants the rest of the players to show that they are not a one-man team.

Elano is sidelined with a hamstring injury and the blow has come just as City were looking to end a poor run of away displays that has seen them pick up just five points from six matches.

"It is pity Elano is not playing because we know what he means to us," Eriksson said.

"He is having a scan and we do not know at the moment how long he will be out for. But that's life. We have to show we can play without him in the side."

Geovanni Deberson or Stephen Ireland will compete to take Elano's spot in the centre for City at Wigan and Eriksson can see the merits of both.

"We have to consider Geovanni or Ireland for Elano's role," he continued. "Ireland is doing well and is in good shape, even though he is in a role that is new to him.

"But he is improving and his two goals gave us four more points."

Eriksson knows that new Wigan manager Steve Bruce will be looking to make a good start and believes that the Latic's league position is a false one.

"It is a big game and a difficult game against them. They are a better team than the table shows," he concluded.

Dunga's Olympic Hopefuls

The Brazil Coach read out the list of 22 players who'll represent the Seleção Olímpica (Olympic Squad) in a friendly that will pit the hopefuls against a compound team of the best of the Brasileirão (Brazilian First Division).

The match has been scheduled to take place at Botafogo's spanking new Engenhão stadium on the 9th of December and the game - albeit a friendly - is bound to be tightly-fought as the freshly called-up names get a rare chance to strut their stuff with an eye on a potential place in Peking.

"It's up to them to show that they have the potential ready to be realised and are fit to represent Brazil by using the Canarinha [Canary Yellow Shirt]. I always say that the Olympic Squad is the same as the main squad in terms of what I expect and the player have a chance."

"In football the real truths are seen on the pitch during competition and the players are the people who get decide if they have got the right stuff to be fielded and are worthy of being called up again", explained Dunga as the list was released in Rio de Janeiro.

Given that all the names - with the conspicuous exceptions of AC Milan's soon-to-play-legally Alexandre Pato and coveted São Paulo centre-back Breno - are all local players, Goal.com provides an accelerated guide to bring those who aren't up to speed with the Brazilian League's latest crop.

Brazil Call-Up List - Peking Olympic Games 2008

Goalkeepers

Renan (Internacional)
Felipe (Santos)

Wing-Backs

Apodi (Vitória)
Leonardo (Portuguesa)
Nei (Atlético Paranaense)
Valmir (Palmeiras)

Centre-Backs

Leonardo (Grêmio)
Breno (São Paulo)
Luiz Rhodolfo (Atlético Paranaense)

Midfielders

Diego Souza (Grêmio)
Charles (Cruzeiro)
Leandro Almeida (Coritiba)
Maycon (Internacional)
Wagner (Cruzeiro)
Thiago Neves (Fluminense)
Diogo (Portuguesa)
Toró (Flamengo)

Strikers

Pedro Ken (Coritiba)
Pedro Oldoni (Atlético Paranaense)
Ramires (Cruzeiro)
Keirrison (Coritiba)
Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)

It's not a vintage according to the local experts. "The highlight really is Alexandre Pato, and of the rest the only names capable of generating whispering anticipation so far are Breno and Diego Souza", commented Lance! columnist Carlos Alencar, correctly, although perhaps a tad unfairly.

Each year sees the great clubs - and increasingly more obscure teams of lesser footballing nations - of the Old World cast their nets over the fertile football fishing ground of South America and catch future stars at ever-younger ages and the pickings are now scarcer.

This hasn't reached overfishing levels although the signs of scarcity are there, not just in the inflated prices paid for embryonic stars but in the paucity of exciting talent that has been grown and is coming to stardom on home soil rather than nurtured in the richest clubs' stables.

Three Brazilian clubs lead the standings as source stars with three players apiece - Coritiba, Atlético Paranaense and Cruzeiro - Portuguesa, Internacional and Grêmio contributing two while the rest - Santos, Vitória, Palmeiras, Fluminense and Flamengo - all chip in with a promise.

The main candidates to hog the limelight may already be in Europe or on their way there, but the following - apart from the self-evident Pato and Breno - but there are other players who could well be able to make a splash at national level.

One man whose been increasingly tipped to shine after a great year is Grêmio 's Diego Souza - a name that may ring a few bells, but it must be taken into account that there are at least two other players named Diego Souza playing in Brazil.

Fluminense's playmaking left-sided midfielder Thiago Neves is also a man who many expect to be a future star buy for a European great, although his somewhat convoluted ownership is the subject of tripartite legal wrangling between Flu, Paraná and Palmeiras.

The Rio de Janeiro-based playmaker is still with Fluminense after signing a contract extension and singing the praises of Coach Renato Gaúcho as the man responsible for ensuring he honed his talent sharp enough to carve a place in the seleção.

In the running for the prize of top Brasileirão 2007 revelation, Neves is seeing the Engenhão game as a fantastic Xmas present. “I think this ends the year on a high note thanks to 'Renato Claus' who's been a sort of Santa and helped me to reach national level."

Speaking after playing at a Maracanã fund raiser for charitable foundation Fundação Gol de Letra, started and run by ex-Brazil players Raí and Leonardo, Neves was clealy excited. "I'm running home to tell everybody about it”, he told the Jornal dos Sports (Sports Journal)

Faded São Paulo greats Portuguesa have finally made it back into the Brazilian elite after five years trawling the lower depths and wing-back Leonardo and attacking midfielder Diogo have been two of the men whose performances have brought many admirers.

Leonardo is being tracked by several Brazilian greats as well as attracting reported interest from PSG although it's the midfielder who's getting the lion's share of applause from pundits - and also was voted best Série B (Brazilian second division) revelation of 2007.

Diogo ended the season as Portuguesa's top scorer, the midfielder seen as bearing a large amount of the credit for helping raise the Canindé club back into the elite. He commented on the recent rise into the limelight after receiving the FBA (Futebol Brasil Associados) prize.

Right-back Nei is tipped by some for a rapid rise into the big time - if he can play his seleção olímpica cards right, and the Furacão flanker is geared up and eager to get stuck in. “It's a dream come true as every Brazilian footballer aims to wear the Canarinha with pride", he gushed.

“Even though it's a dream chance I have the responsibility to convince Dunga that I've got the right ability, attitude and performance to earn a place in the team”, he explained, adding that he was now fully recovered from an injury that cut a chunk out of his season.

“I have had good performances that have attracted attention, but unfortunately I was interrupted by two months out due to injury. The good news is that I've overcome that and look forward to showing that I am up to the task when it comes to playing for the seleção”, he finished

Fellow Atlético Paranaense man Rhodolfo has also been one of the reasons for Dunga's focus on Curitiba and the centre-back was equally starry-eyed. "It is my first cap and I hope I get a chance to play for the seleção and show Dunga that I should be in China next year", he explained.

The attack from Curitiba club Coritiba was also called up as both Pedro Ken and Keirrison (no spelling mistake) also caught Dunga's eye. 19 year-old Keirrison was the Coxa top scorer in the second division with a dozen goals netted - bringing the striker hot on the heels of Diogo in the FBA votes.

All in all it's a list that's a potential chocolate box of variety for fans to look forward to, perhaps containing some jaw-droppingly sweet revelations that linger and leave us wanting more as well as orange cremes that we'd prefer to feed the dog with, but it's worth bearing in mind that the 9th of December is a day to mark in your diary and, just maybe, see some future stars being born.

Ronaldo delighted with winning AC Milan comeback

Ronaldo was delighted to make a winning comeback for AC Milan in their 2-1 victory at Cagliari yesterday.

The Brazilian came through the 90 minutes unscathed and said at the final whistle: "It was important to win. I returned after a long period out and it went well. It is just the beginning, I am happy.

"Certainly I want to play the matches Milan expects from me. I should soon resume training and playing the way everyone expects me to."

Ronaldo added: "I am available for where the coach wants to play me. My role is as the first striker, but if he wants me to play as a second forward, I will do that."

Asked about the prospect of playing with Kaka and Alexandre Pato in the same Milan team, Ronaldo also said: "I think it will be a problem for the coach having so many good players, not all teams have these 'problems'.

"We all do our best because Milan must always be victorious."

Juventus chief Secco admits Diego interest

Juventus sports director Alessio Secco has admitted their interest in Werder Bremen midfielder Diego.

The Bianconeri are planning to cash in on several fringe players in January to fund a major bid for the Brazil international playmaker.

"He's an excellent player," said Secco. "The Brazilian is very strong and influential on the field."

Edu ready for latest Valencia comeback

Edu has declared he's available to Valencia coach Ronald Koeman.

The Brazilian midfielder is delighted with the way his knee has responded during full-scale training and feels confident of making a successful comeback after a year on the sidelines.

The former Arsenal midfielder said: "I would love to start playing and will try to do my best, but I cannot say whether I am fit enough for an entire game.

"I am OK, I feel comfortable and happy, but it does not depend on me to return to the team. As much as I would love to return, I have to respect the opinion of the coach."