One of my absolute favorite (non-Spanish) footballers has to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Most of us know him from his many teams that he;s played in;  Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, and now PSG. He is such an incredible player. Sure, Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world, and Lionel Messi is the second best, but in my opinion, Zlatan is the third best player in the world, if not at least top five.

I started watching AC Milan last season because of him. No matter what club he’s playing for, or if he’s playing for his national team (Sweden), he’s always very enteratining to watch. I’m sure most of you have seen his goal against England a while back. It was one of the best goals that I had ever seen.

Besides the fact that he’s just an amazing footballer, he is also pretty good looking. See for yourself!

the good days when he played for AC Milan

The second week of the group stages are officially over as some pretty big clubs took to the pitch on the world’s biggest stage. Perhaps the biggest headline in today’s match-ups was that of Real Madrid and the-one -and-only Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese international stole all recognition as he knocked in his second hat trick in two matches. Real Madrid played CL rivals Ajax once again in the Group of Death, beating them 4-1. Ajax’s only goal came from Niklas Moisander in the 56′.

The king of hat trick Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 42′, 79′ and the 81′ but it was the Frenchman Karim Benzema who scored the Goal of the Match (and I’ll say the day too,) after a stunning chilean, or bicycle kick, just after the second half kick-off assisted by Kaka.

Los Blancos sit atop their group with 6 points and will face league rivals FC Barcelona Sunday at Camp Nou for the first El Clásico of the season. Hopefully this CL match will light the fire under the boys so they can come on top of Barça once again.

http://youtu.be/CBMy7rWUeQA

Looks like Arsenal are one step closer to securing their spot in the knockout stage after winning 3-1 against Olympiakos. After a defeat by Chelsea in the Premier League last weekend, the Gunners looked refreshed on the pitch.

The goal scorers were Gervinho, Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey while Kostas Mitroglou scored the lone goal for his side. The second half was fast-paced as many opportunities arose for the Gunners.

I have to give a Flop of the Match award to Olivier Giroud who has not yet been the key player for Arsenal as others expected. Only time will tell with him and perhaps on Saturday when Arsenal face West Ham, could we see something more from him.

Dynamo Kiev 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb

FC Porto 1-0 PSG

Schalke 04 2-2 Montpellier

Anderlecht 0-3 Málaga

Manchester City 1-1 Borussia Dortmund

Photo courtesy of Real Madrid C.F.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Now as you sit waiting the long, dreadful wait for the Men’s Olympic final between Mexico and Brazil Saturday or the epic clash for gold against the USWNT and Japan tomorrow, today is filled with more transfer rumors and new signings. So sit back, relax and enjoy today’s DKA!

La Liga

Fernando Llorente reportedly told his club, Athletic Bilbao, that he wants to leave to play Champions League football. So far Serie A club Juventus wants to make a  €20 million offer for the man known as El Rey Léon (The Lion King.) Llorente still has 12 months left on his contract and refuses to sign an extension according to Basque TV station ETB. Llorente is a World Cup winner but only scored 30 goals last season which happened to be his poorest season in terms of fitness having lost both the Europa and Copa del Rey finals and failing to play with Spain in the Euro final this year.

Looks like Llorente’s teammate Javi Martinez also wants out of Bilbao – he’s looking to move to Bayern Munich. According to the 23-year-old’s agent, Bayern are still interested in signing the midfielder but admits the transfer fee is holding them back.

Joselu, the promising striker built from Real Madrid Castilla, has signed a contract until the summer of 2016 with Bundesliga’s Hoffenheim. The 22 year-old scored 26 goals last season helping the club get promoted to the Segunda Division.

English Premier League

Welcome to Emirates Santi!! That’s right Gooners, Arsenal signed Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla from Málaga for  £15 million!! Cazorla helped his former club reach the 4th spot in the La Liga standings and will be making his Arsenal debut on Sunday in a friendly against Cologne. Santi will join the newest Gunner signings, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud.

Serie A

Villarreal’s Cristian Zapata will be spending the 2012-2013 campaign at San Siro. The former Udinese defender had a medical finished on Tuesday in Milan and will sign his one-year loan with AC Milan later today.  After the one-year loan the deal will become permanent at the end of the season.

U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd and Defender/Captain Christie Rampone get in the Old Glory Spirit for the Opening Ceremonies. Photo via @CarliLloyd on Twitter.

We’re all about the Olympics today, as the women’s tournament resumes today. World Champion Japan faced Sweden in a rematch of the World Cup semifinal, Brazil is currently taking on New Zealand, and at noon EST we’ll be treated to the U.S. vs Colombia, another World Cup group stage rematch. Looks like North Korea will remain in the Games, after threatening to pull out following the South Korean flag debacle, as they take on France later this afternoon, and Team Great Britain will face first-time Olympic participants, Cameroon. 

While the women’s tournament has gone pretty much as expected so far, the opening matches of the men’s tournament weren’t without shockers. Following in the footsteps of their female counterparts, Japan stunned Spain and Brazil didn’t quite live up to the billing as yet another gold medal favorite.

More on today’s news and Olympic matchups below, and don’t forget to scroll down for a few non-Olympic tidbits!

2012 London Olympics

The U.S. Women’s National Team was unable to attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics last night, due to playing their opening matches in Glasgow, Scotland, but that didn’t stop them from dressing up Ralph Lauren-style to show off their USA spirit!

U.S.A. center-midfielder Shannon Boxx has been ruled out of today’s match against Colombia due to the hamstring she injured in the first half of the U.S.’s win over France on Wednesday. Boxx is listed as day-to-day and hopes to get back on the field later in the tournament. In the meantime, Carli Lloyd, who scored the game-winner against France, will start in Boxx’s place. Undeterred by losing her starting role for the Olympics, Lloyd has been training harder than ever and is ready for anything, whether she’s scoring goals or “crunching people.”

Did you miss the opening matches of the men’s group stage on Thursday? If so, you probably missed the biggest shocker of the tournament so far, with Japan defeating the World and Euro Champions, Spain, 1-0.

“I was sobbing at the end of the game,” match-winner Otsu told Japanese media after his close-range goal helped Japan beat Spain for the first time at any level.

“We are here to win the gold medal,” added the German-based midfielder, who was tweeting “Please! Please!” from the bench in the second half after being withdrawn with a bruised ankle.

“Japan shock the world!” screamed the Sankei Sports, while the Mainichi Daily’s headline ran “Otsu sinks unbeatable Armada” and the win was a hot topic on Friday’s television talk shows.

Brazil versus Egypt was a tale of two halves, writes NBC’s Jeff Kassouf, and Brazil certainly didn’t look like the favorites to win it all on Thursday.

Japan’s Women’s National Team played to a scoreless draw against Sweden in their second Group F match this morning. After a slow start, Japan turned up the heat in the second half, firing at Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindahl, but Lindahl was able to come up with some big saves to keep her team in it.

Today is U.S. Women’s National Team defender Ali Krieger‘s birthday, and even though Ali isn’t on the Olympic roster, still recovering from ACL surgery, we want to wish her a very happy birthday! We hope to see you back on the pitch soon, Ali!

World Football Challenge

Okay, it’s not all about the Olympics today. The World Football Challenge continues with a matchup between Chelsea and AC Milan tonight in the final match of Chelsea’s U.S. tour. Chelsea will look to get back to its winning ways, after drawing against PSG and losing 3-2 to the MLS All Stars.

Serie A

Michael Bradley has only been with Roma for a few weeks, but he’s already starting to find success, with a goal and an assist so far in pre-season.

His coach, Zdenak Zeman, is not surprised at Bradley’s early showing. “We knew what his abilities were when we went after him,” says the veteran Czech manager, “and he is showing his quality with team now.”

Bradley is playing in his accustomed central midfield role for the Giallorossi, sometimes sitting deep as a holding midfielder in front of the backline, sometimes ranging forward and joining the attack. Against Liverpool on Wednesday at Fenway, he was in the latter role. Last night against LaSelecta it was the former. Bradley patrolled the area in front of Gabriel Heinze, Nicolas Burdisso, Alessio Romagnoli, and Rodrigo Taddei, winning balls, breaking up attacks, and presenting a passing option as his team built out of the back.

His box-to-box versatility will serve him well in his quest for playing time this season, and he’s happy with his first two weeks with the team.

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitetr for more commentary and news from today’s Olympic matches, MLS, and more!

We’re going to do a quickie, MLS heavy DKA today.  There’s been tons going on! For a new signing for the Crew, New York Red Bulls negotiating and more! And don’t worry, we’ve got some EPL news for you too. Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

Chris Birchall is back in MLS! After the L.A. Galaxy released the Trinidad and Tobago international, his future in the league was very uncertain and he even moved back to England as he waited out the lull. But it was announced yesterday he would be back and in a Columbus Crew jersey! As a Crew fan, I have to say I’m very excited about this signing! Chris is strong in the midfield and can create great plays up front! Can’t wait to see you in that black and gold, Chris!

The work of MLS’ disciplinary committee continues. This time it’s suspending Seattle player Leo González one game and fining him for a stepping on the leg of Philly Union defender Sheanon Williams.  Other recent action taken included granting an appeal to New England Revolution’s Fernando Cardenas’s red-card suspension.

Twitter exploded a bit this morning with the news that representatives from New York Red Bulls were in Milan to discuss bringing Zambrotta and Nesta to MLS. There hasn’t been anything officially released from the Red Bulls, but we’ll keep our eyes out!

English Premier League

Liverpool got a little revenge today for the loss in the FA Cup this weekend. They whooped Chelsea 4-1 today at Anfield.

I hate to hear about teams getting regulated. Maybe I’m just a soft-hearted person, but I feel for all the Blackburn players and fans after their loss this weekend regulated the team from the Premier League. And letters leaked from the club owners suggest they were worried about such an event back in December. One such letter from the club’s deputy chief executive Paul Hunt stated:

“Publicly I have been asked to support the manager and I always have as I personally like Steve. I have supported him from the start and have been desperate for him to do well. However, I am now of the opinion that it isn’t working and he is ready to go. He has lost the crowd and as a result of this evening’s game has lost the dressing room as well – the players no longer want to play for him. It is a shame and disappointing but we must act now to save the club. The board should be asked their opinion in who should be the new manager.”

Canadian rivalry is taught at a young age.

It’s the weekend! For today’s DKA, we’ve got tons for you, from all the matches you’ll wanna catch this weekend, to the new Canadian rivalry in MLS and Newcastle United’s sudden run in EPL. Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

English Premier League

There are many that would be surprised to learn that Newcastle United  are fifth in the Premier League. Yup, that’s right. Their rise on the table is partly thanks to striker Papiss Demba Cisse, who has a total of nine goals. His brace this week help but Newcastle two points behind Tottenham.  Quite the feat!

Here are your list of EPL games this weekend!
Sunderland v. Tottenham
Norwich City v. Everton
Bolton v. Fulham
Chelsea v. Wigan
Liverpool v. Aston Villa
West Brom v. Blackburn
Stoke v. Wolves
Manchester United v. QPR
Arsenal v. Manchester City

Major League Soccer

The L.A. Galaxy have had a rough start to the season. But they’re hoping to turn the swing back in their favor this weekend against Sporting K.C. They’ll have a little help though in the return of captain Landon Donovan. However, they had to leave David Beckham back in LA. We’ll just have to see what having Donovan back can do for the Galaxy.

Everyone loves a good rivalry right? With the inclusion of Montreal in the fold of MLS teams now, it brings one timeless Canadian rivalry to the league: Toronto v. Montreal. Need to brush up on the battle of Canadian teams? Check out this article. And watch the two face off today at noon ET.

Need your MLS fix this weekend? Here’s the matches!
Montreal v. Toronto
Columbus v. New York
Sporting KC v. LA Galaxy
San Jose v. Vancouver
D.C. United v. Seattle
Real Salt Lake v. Colorado
Portland v. Chivas USA

La Liga

I heard an interesting argument yesterday on World Football Daily’s Friday broadcast. The topic was the question of which league in the world is the best, or sporting the best football. Usually you would hear replies of EPL immediately, or the German Bundesliga. However, this season the Spanish La Liga is boasting a pretty damn good season too. Especially with their teams dominating in European competition. The Bleacher Report takes an interesting look at La Liga, with the apt title “La Liga Proving That Spanish Football Is More Than Just a Pretty Face.” What do you think? EPL? La Liga? Bundesliga? Serie A? Let us know!

La Liga isn’t just popular in Spain or throughout Europe. It’s become pretty prominent in other continents as well, including Africa.

Serie A

AC Milan might still be a little shook up over their Champion’s League loss this week against Barcelona. But they will have some good news going into this weekend’s game, as Antonio Cassano, who suffered a stroke on a flight from Rome in October has been cleared fit and available for selection against Fiorentina.

Michael Bradley became the second American ever to score in Serie A as he notched the opening goal in Chievo Verona’s 3-2 win against Catania. Congrats to MB90!!

Wake up footballers!  It’s Wednesday, aka “Hump Day”, so grab your cup o’ Joe and get all the latest soccer headlines right here.

Some truly spectacular news from the Barcelona camp: Magical Messi is at it again.  Read on to find out how he continues to pile on the evidence as to why he may be the greatest (and youngest) player of all time. Today’s news also includes a tablespoon of Champions League, an exciting teaspoon of news from the US Women, a dash of MLS, a sprinkle of La Liga and a pinch of EPL.  So read on, have your fill and Happy Hump Day!

Lionel Messi

Surely Madrid and AC Milan fans will grumble, but it is almost inarguable that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer on the planet and possibly ever.  The Barcelona striker, who almost looks like a one-man team, can score at will and we’ve never seen anything quite like it.  In just one match — yesterday’s Champions League game against AC Milan — Messi alone created three goals, scored two, tied a 50-year old European Cup record, became the youngest man to hit the 50-goal mark in Champions League and was responsible for a win that propelled Barcelona to the Champions League semifinals.  Wow!

 Champions League

Benefica prepare themselves to battle Chelsea in a second leg tie at Stamford Bridge today that will send one of the teams on to the Champions League semifinals. Tune in to the match today on Fox Soccer Channel at 2:45pm ET.

Also at 2:45pm ET today, catch Apoel Nicosia, who will meet up with Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabéu in the final match to determine the fourth and final team to make it to the semifinal CL round.

US Women’s National Team

In a three-team exhibition Kirin Cup tournament, the US Women’s National Team powered past Brazil 3 -0 with goals by  Carli Lloyd, Shannon Boxx and Amy Rodriguez.  While the US are ranked No 1, Brazil, ranked No. 4,  played without their five-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Marta.  Japan was the third team in the tournament and are ranked No. 4.

Major League Soccer

Don’t miss tonight’s match-up as Real Salt Lake host the Montreal Impact at 9pm.

  La Liga

Barcelona have announced that their former striker, Samuel Eto’o has withdrawn a lawsuit asking for $4 million in unpaid dues from his transfer to AC Milan in 2010.  I guess we can all rest easy now knowing this has finally been put to bed…

English Premier League

Frustration and awe are two words that come to mind when I think of Mario Balotelli.  I am sure Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini can add many more to my list.  The tumultuous relationship between manager and striker continues to brew but Mancini claims the Italian maverick has great potential and his behavior will become more professional as he matures.  Ok Roberto, but you’ve been saying that for two years now….

Good morning football fans!  Don’t worry if you missed any of the exciting Champions League or FA Cup tournament matches from yesterday.  Get over the mid-week hump by checking out recaps of last night’s pivotal matches and previews of what should be a captivating second day in a row of first leg Champions League quarterfinal matches.  It’s sure to get your Wednesday off and running like a double shot of an espresso.

Champions League

A second half goal from Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou wrapped up the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal over Benfica 1-0.  Both teams will meet again April 4 to determine who advances.

Cypriot underdog APOEL Nicosia fell to Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of Champions League quarterfinals thanks to a goal by Kaka and a Karim Benzema brace.  APOEL, who is being dubbed the Cinderella team of the tournament, held onto a scoreless draw until the 75th minute.  The two teams meet again in early April.

Today’s Fixtures

Today’s AC Milan v Barcelona match should be an exciting one to catch.  Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Barca last year for Milan due to problems getting along with Pep Guardiola and fellow Barcelona players.  He is looking forward to proving a point in today’s match up.  For a preview of what to expect when AC Milan host Barcelona, look here.

Coming off seven club defeats in a row and plagued with injuries, Marseille has a challenge on their hands as they meet in form Bayern Munich today in today’s first leg of Champions League quarterfinal.

FA Cup

Tottenham looked the better side as they breezed past Bolton 3-1 yesterday.  Spurs now move on to face their London rival’s Chelsea in the FA semifinals.  Hats off to Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, who had a tremendous game until he was beat three times in the final 20 minutes of the match.  Prior to the start, White Hart Lane paused for a moment of silence remembering Bolton midfielder, Fabrice Muamba.  Muamba suffered a heart attack last week, causing the first attempt at this pairing to be suspended until last night.  While recovering in the hospital, it was reported that Muamba was well enough to sit up and watch the match from his bed.  I’m sorry there weren’t better results for Fabrice, especially as I am not a fan of Tottenham.

The other half of the FA Cup equation involved Sunderland, who hosted Everton last night.  Although the Toffees were the superior team on the pitch and should have scored a number of times, the two goals they did get past the keeper helped them advance to the semi finals.  Next, Everton will face their Merseyside rivals Liverpool at Wembley.  That will surely be a great match to catch as well.

Forget about March Madness, we’ve got Messi Madness.  The man who seems to be able to score hat tricks at will has now surpassed Barcelona’s all-time goal scoring record with a whopping 234 career goals.  Also in today’s news we give you an update on Muamba’s condition, today’s schedule for some exciting table-shaking EPL matches, and much more.  Happy Hump Day soccer fans.  Here’s your daily dose of football news:

La Liga

The big news today is the accomplishment of Lionel Messi.  The 24-year old Argentinian scored a hat trick in yesterday’s match giving him a total of 234 goals in his career with Barcelona and 54 in all competitions this season.  The Spanish champions’ won 5-3 over Granada but the real accomplishment goes to Messi.  And with weeks left in the season to score more goals, will anyone ever be able to surpass his record?

English Premier League

Fabrice Muamba continues to rest comfortably and remains in the hospital after suffering a heart attack on Saturday during the FA Cup tie at Tottenham.  We will keep you updated on his progress here on Aerys Soccer.

While the Aston Villa v Bolton match was postponed due to their respect for their Bolton teammate Fabrice Muamba, the Blackburn v Sunderland went on as scheduled.  Blackburn stay adrift of relegation by pulling out a 2-0 win thanks to goals by Junior Hoilett and Yakubu.

There are some very exciting and well-anticipated matches scheduled this afternoon which could likely juggle things around on the very tight upper half of the EPL table:

Manchester City host Chelsea

Tottenham host Stoke City

Everton host Arsenal

QPR host Liverpool

Chelsea manager Roberto Mancini has announced that Carlos Tevez may not make an appearance in today’s big match against Chelsea.  Mancini would like to see the Argentinian cry baby make three to four substitute appearances before he is ready for a full 90 minutes.

Veteran EPL players Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United and Frank Lampard of Chelsea are on the short list as possible signings for Chinese team Guizhou Renhe.  The Chinese Super League is expected to spend big money this summer to improve their clubs.  Renhe is following in the footsteps of Shanghai Shenhua, who signed Nicolas Anelka this past January.

Rumors claim Roberto Di Matteo conspired against former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas in order to get him sacked and take over his job.  Di Matteo, the interim coach for Chelsea, denies the claims.  The Italian has led the Blues to four wins in four matches.

FA Cup

Understandably, the FA have decided to change the date of the FA Cup final match.  The match was originally scheduled to be played on the 23rd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death.  Liverpool will meet either Everton or Sunderland in the final, now scheduled for April 14.

Champions League

UEFA have announced that the 2014 Champions League final will be played at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. 

Serie A

Juventus advances to the Italian Cup Final after drawing 2-2 with AC Milan yesterday.  An extra time goal by Mirko Vucinic pushed Juventus on as the two-game series ended in a score of 4-3.

That’s right, it’s Thursday and that means it’s almost the weekend! Personally, I cannot wait. While the Champion’s League’s games this week were exciting, I can’t wait for MLS First Kick! But what’s great about this Thursday? It’s International Women’s Day, a day the ladies of Aerys Soccer can get behind! In today’s DKA, we have Timmy Howard extending his contract with Everton, Balotelli saying he needs to grow up (Gasp!), the situation with the Glasgow Rangers and FIFA’s tribute to the 101st IWD.

English Premier League

So Arsenal gave AC Milan a hell of a run for their money in the Champion’s League, but they weren’t able to pull it off in the end. Now, really all the Gunners have is a top four finish in the EPL to see them back in the CL again next year. Can they do it? Ol’ Arsene seems to think so.

Good news for you Toffee fans out there; Everton announced today that goalkeeper Tim Howard signed a new long-term deal today. The new contract will keep Timmy in a Toffee’s jersey until 2016. Congrats, Tim!

Mario Balotelli needs to grow up. Seriously, he said so himself. The Italian striker was fined recently by Manchester City for breaking curfew to attend a strip club, and he admitted in an interview that he needs to mature and listen to City boss Roberto Mancini. No, really?

La Liga

Barcelona will be without defender Gerard Pique this weekend as the Spanish federation denied his appeal to a red-card he received during Barca’s match against Sporting Gijon. Pique was shown a straight red card during the match and said afterward he believed the ref “pre-meditated” the decision. Some are saying the decision was too harsh, but Pique is still facing the one-game ban.

Serie A

Juventus were looking to draw level with AC Milan at the top of Serie A last weekend, but ended up being lucking to come away with a draw. Thanks to a tough Bologna team, Juventus came away with only a point after the 1-1 final. It’s been an interesting season in Italy; who do you think will come out on top?

Major League Soccer

MLS fans, you’re pretty lucky you’re league has gotten where it is. Ten years ago, the future didn’t look so bright for commissioner Don Garber and the handful of American teams. It’s definitely a different landscape now though, isn’t it?

So, apparently New York Red Bulls Luke Rodgers had trouble with his VISA? This may not be news to you, but the Red Bulls released a statement about the player today, stating Luke had “met with the United States Consulate in London and the outcome was positive, as he took a step forward in his visa approval process to return to the country.” Hmmm. Seems like the reaction from NYRB fans is mixed. What do you guys think?

Scottish League

As if things could not get worse for the Glasgow Rangers, the fear now is if the team goes into liquidation, the consequences could be disastrous. Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan said as much recently when speaking to the federation, who is conducting their own inquiry into the administration of the club. Thoughts are with Rangers fans as this is absolutely gut-wrenching for them.

Champion’s League

Okay, okay, we get it. Messi is an effin’ football genius. Don’t believe me? Check out his FIVE goals from yesterday’s Barca win in the Champion’s League.

CONCACAF Champion’s League

MLS hasn’t kicked off yet, but the CCL has! LA got by with the help of Landon Donovan and Seattle notched a great win. Check out all the CCL news here!

International Women’s Day

Finally, in honor of the 101st International Women’s Day, FIFA posted this article about “The Feminine Face of Football.” Give it a read and go celebrate Women’s Day!