Invisiblewall.net: Gilberto Silva News

Source: ITV.com

Karagounis settles dour clash

Panathinaikos midfielder Giorgos Karagounis struck late on to earn his side a 1-0 victory over Dinamo Bucharest in an underwhelming Europa League match in front of an empty Stadion Dinamo.

Dinamo had been ordered to play the match behind closed doors after the crowd trouble that forced the abandonment of their play-off against Liberec earlier in the competition, but the fans did not miss much as both sides struggled for continuity.

The Group F match looked destined to finish goalless until Karagounis fired in a low shot 11 minutes from the end.

Dinamo could have snatched a point when they were awarded a penalty two minutes from the end but substitute Claudiu Niculescu passed up the opportunity by firing wide from 12 yards.

It meant Pana secured their first points of the competition to join Dinamo on three points after two games.

A forgettable first half was 20 minutes old before either team threatened even to shoot. The first chance came from a free-kick but set-piece specialist Karagounis disappointingly floated his effort into the arms of Dinamo goalkeeper Emilian Dolha.

The home side’s first shot did not arrive until the half-hour mark and even then it was speculative as Gabriel Bostina fired well over from 35 yards.

Pana were at least linking some passing phases together and a patient move sent Gilberto Silva clear. The former Arsenal midfielder could have raced a further 20 yards with the ball but he lacked composure and his premature shot dribbled to Dolha.

The visitors should have gone ahead after 54 minutes when Dimitris Salpingidis shot straight at Dolha from 10 yards after some bullocking work from Kostas Katsouranis had teed him up.

Dinamo almost stole an opener when two minutes later Gabriel Torje got behind the Pana defence and hooked a looping shot which hit the crossbar and bounced over, before substitute Ianis Zicu’s effort was correctly chalked off for offside.

The breakthrough finally came with 11 minutes to go following some strong work from substitute Ante Rukavina on the edge of the area. The striker held off a defender and laid off a pass for Karagounis who fired his low shot through a clutch of players and into the bottom-left corner.

Dinamo were gifted a chance to level two minutes from the end when Mattias Bjarsmyr barged Andrei Cristea over in the area and the official stationed behind the by-line awarded a penalty.

Niculescu stepped up to take the spot-kick but slid his effort wide of the left-hand post.

Source: Goal.com

The 24 members of the Selecao have been decided…

Despite the fact that Brazil have already booked their ticket to South Africa, the 1994 World Cup winning captain selected a very strong squad with the majority of his stars.

Midfielders:
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Sandro (Internacional), Lucas (Liverpool), Josue (Wolfsburg), Elano (Galatasaray), Ramires (Benfica), Alex (Spartak Moscow), Kaka (Real Madrid) and Diego Souza (Palmeiras)

Source: Times Online

Giuseppe Meazza, after whom the stadium generally known as the San Siro is named, and Giovanni Ferrari were the first to do it. They appeared for the winning side in two World Cup finals (for Italy in 1934 and 1938). Since then, if my research is reliable, only nine men have equalled the feat, all Brazilians: Gilmar, Nilton and Djalma Santos, Zito, Didi, Vava, Mário Zagalo and Garrincha (1958 and 1962), Pelé (1958 and 1970) and Cafu (1994 and 2002).

Hope can be harboured by Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi and a few others who took part in the win over France in 2006, if, as looks likely, Italy reach South Africa. Thierry Henry, sad to say, cannot join the list even if France qualify; he was an unused substitute against Brazil in 1998. But an old Arsenal colleague could conceivably join the roll of honour, for Gilberto Silva, a veteran of Brazil’s 2002 campaign, is still going strong in a team who will inevitably be ranked among the favourites.

Seven years ago, he was the rock of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s midfield, the solid foundation on which Rivaldo and Ronaldinho could create. Now Gilberto offers Kaká the same reassurance. He will be 33 next month and, as he enters his second season with Panathinaikos, the view that Arsenal have not replaced him lingers.

For them he was the craftiest of holding midfield players, albeit a master of the dark art of tactical fouling in that, unlike Patrick Vieira, he seldom incurred a card. Losing Gilberto and Mathieu Flamini, his intended replacement, was a setback from which Arsenal have still to recover. Alexandre Song, though improving, is not in the same class yet.

Source: The Guardian

Brazil ruthlessly sealed their qualification for the World Cup in South Africa tonight, but Argentina’s fate is looking ever more uncertain after this crushing defeat. Diego Maradona came into this match promising to attack Brazil, yet he could not have anticipated his side’s defence rendering his team’s threat so irrelevant. Argentina were woeful at the back and Brazil barely had to work for their goals.

Maradona sent on his son-in-law, Sergio Aguero, at half-time to support Lionel Messi and Tevez but Brazil were more threatening on the break. Fabiano flashed a shot wide and only a last-ditch tackle stymied Robinho. Then as the game appeared to be trundling to a meek conclusion, Jésus Datolo dragged Argentina back into it. Gilberto Silva and Melo had swarmed over any Argentinian midfielder foolish enough to get near Brazil’s area, but this time Datolo was afforded the time and space to crack in a superb 30-yard effort into the top corner.

At the final whistle Brazil celebrated in a mass huddle, while Maradona could only trudge off the pitch disconsolately, perhaps wondering just how long he has left in what was meant to be his dream job. It’s all turned very sour very quickly.

Source: This amazing article by The Independent

Gilberto Silva: Brazil & Panathinaikos

Usina Luciânia, the town where I grew up, does not exist any more. It’s sad: all that’s left now is the sugar cane factory where my father used to work, 200km from Belo Horizonte.

Back in the 1980s, there was a strike at the factory – the workers were trying to get better wages. The strike wasn’t very well organised and things got out of hand. It turned into a revolt, the workers fighting with police. It was a big, big problem and many people were sacked from their jobs, including my father. So, along with many others, we had to move away. We went to Lagoa da Prata, a town about 5km away. Once we were gone, they started pulling down the houses we’d lived in.

Still, in our village, we were surrounded by friends and family. It was lovely: open and flat. We weren’t very comfortably off but I had everything else. We played football all the time when we were boys. There were other villages nearby that had been built by the sugar cane factory too; and in every village there was some kind of a pitch. Not covered in grass, maybe, but somewhere to play football. We were always barefoot: if we wore our shoes to play football, we’d have no shoes to go to school in!

I remember these hard, plastic balls which really hurt when they hit you. On the street, the surface was very irregular, maybe covered with little stones and on a slope. We had nothing on our feet. I think we learnt to adapt to the ground and to the bounce of all the different balls. I think it made a difference to the way I learnt to play the game.

In Lagoa da Prata, there was a little soccer academy that the owner invited me to join. At about 13 I joined a local club, Lagoa Football Club, and had a job as an apprentice upholsterer. But then we had some problems at home – my mother was very ill – and I thought I would have to stop going so that I could work full time and help pay for things at home, like medicines. When I told the guy who had the academy that I would have to give up in order to find work, he arranged a job for me on a construction site. It was pretty hard physically and, at first, I got tired.

I think every kid in Brazil has the same dream. We all like to think sometimes that perhaps we could be a football player. The America Mineiro club talked about me and another boy who played for our team: “Why not take them for a trial?” I was 16, my friend was a year older, and we went off to Belo Horizonte together to try out. I passed but he didn’t. And that was it. I joined their under-16s.

I found it very hard. It meant moving away from home. My mum was better but I had to go and stay at a hostel with lots of the other young players. Even the football was hard, training twice a day. Our coach, Edson Gaucho, was very tough, very strict and shouted a lot. At 16, the simple joy of the game had finished, and the job had begun.

After I had spent four and a half months at America Mineiro, I ended up going back to Lagoa da Prata and getting a job in a sweet factory. Eventually I returned and, once I did, things just went upwards so quickly, like a plane taking off.

When I look back to where I came from and think about where I am now: how could I have imagined what would happen to me? How could I have imagined I would become a World Cup winner? How can I explain it now? I had people who put the right situations in front of me. I was lucky. I got a second chance and I took it.

From Jamaica Observer via AP

LONDON (AP) – Atletico Madrid beat Panathinaikos 2-0 to stroll into the next round.

Already 3-2 up from the away leg in Athens, Atletico controlled the return in Madrid but were gifted the first goal after only
three minutes.

The Panathinaikos defenders failed to deal with a right-wing cross from Johnny Heitinga and the ball dropped to the unmarked Diego Forlan. His sideways pass struck Loukas Vyntra and deflected into his own net.

After Panathinaikos striker Djibril Cisse was sent off in the 70th, Sergio Aguero added the second for Atletico in the 82nd after a run past two defenders, and completed a 5-2 overall triumph.

Click here to read about Gilberto’s call-up for Brazil’s world cup qualifier against Argentina. From The Star Online.

From: Goal.com

Player Ratings: Panathinaikos 2-3 Atletico Madrid
Atletico took the upper hand in the first leg of their tie with Panathinaikos. Goal.com watched the game and gave each player a mark out of ten…

Gilberto 6.5 – Calm and assured in a position that is not his favourite and he must have been frustrated with his team-mates.

Source: Shanghai Daily

LUIS Fabiano’s first half goal gave Brazil a 1-0 win over Estonia in an international friendly yesterday.

The Sevilla forward scored in the 43rd minute after a rapid attack, giving Estonian goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko no chance with his precise shot.

Brazilians dominated most of the game – a 100th anniversary match of the Estonian Football Association – but the hosts also had several opportunities to equalize.

Estonia’s best scoring chance came in the 22nd minute when Konstantin Vassiljev broke through Brazil’s defense and his powerful shot drew a fine save from Brazil keeper Julio Cesar.

Brazil substitute Diego Tardelli had no better luck in the 85th minute with a long-range shot that flew over the bar.

The Brazilians are preparing for a 2010 World Cup qualifier against South American rival Argentina on Sept 5, while Estonia faces Turkey in a European Group 5 match on the same day.

Brazil lineup:

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Maicon (Daniel Alves, 60), Lucio (Miranda, 68), Luisao, Felipe Melo, Andre Santos, Kleberson (Elano, 38), Gilberto Silva, Luis Fabiano (Nilmar, 66), Kaka (Julio Baptista, 60), Robinho (Diego Tardelli, 60).