PELE

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that midfielders Anderson and Paul Pogba will miss the remainder of the campaign after suffering an injury. It has been a very disappointing season for Brazilian midfielder Anderson, as he has largely been on the injury table. Paul Pogba recently revealed that he would be joining Juventus after turning down the opportunity to stay with Manchester United. The young midfielder came through the ranks at Manchester United and is recognised as one of the most talented players to come from the youth academy since the arrival of Paul Scholes and David Beckham.

Anderson has been plagued by a number of injury problems in the last couple of seasons. However, the midfielder would certainly say that this season has been the worst both in terms of what Manchester United have achieved on the field and also what he has been able to achieve. United could well end of the season without a trophy, which would be the first time after many years such an event occurs. United currently trail leaders Manchester City by goal difference, but could lose out on the title if City win the final home match against QPR. Sir Alex Ferguson has said that former Liverpool striker Michael Owen could make the difference for United in the final few matches of the campaign.

“Anderson is not going to play again this season and Paul got injured in Monday and he is out for the season. I have said time and time again that Michael is a player who can score important goals if you are struggling in a match. He has had a hard time with injuries. When he gets them it is usually months,” Ferguson said ahead of the Everton match, in which United lost two goal advantage twice.

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Brazilian legend Pele celebrated the centenary year for Brazil club Santos, for whom, he played for more than 20 years. Pele is widely regarded to be the greatest player in the world alongside Argentine Diego Maradona.

Despite being acknowledged to be one of the best, Pele spent almost his entire career with Brazilian club Santos. He moved to another club only in the latter stages of his career before eventually retiring. Pele has won three World Cup titles and has scored more than 1000 goals for Santos. The club are celebrating their centenary year, and the celebrations were high. Pele joined the celebrations by arriving at the stadium in a helicopter.

The 71-year-old made his debut for the club back in 1956 and went on to play for the club until 1974. He then played for New York Cosmos in the United States before eventually retiring a few years later. The Vila Belmiro stadium was a nostalgic mood, but players of the current generation – including Brazilian sensation Neymar – also were present. Alongside Pele, a number of the former players were also present as well. Following the arrival of Pele, Santos became a major club after winning 11 out of the 15 possible Championships while the Brazilian was with the club.

“This moment is a gift from God. All this happiness, this moment of pleasure – it’s not just about me. Many suffered with me – I thank everyone,” said Pele. “Rarely in the history of football can a team have been so closely associated with one player as Santos FC are with Pele,” read a statement on the official website of FIFA, which paid its tributes to the club. It was also revealed that a book and documentary will also be released celebrating the centenary of the Brazilian club.

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FIFA are looking to patch up their differences with the Brazilian football Federation and also the Brazilian government following the controversial remarks made by the FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke. Even though Valcke has apologised for his comments made about the slow progress made by Brazil in the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it is thought that FIFA President Sepp Blatter will be holding a meeting with the Brazilian president in order to patch up the differences. Legendary Brazilian Pele is expected to be part of the meetings, and Sepp Blatter expressed his delight that a player of the status of Pele will be joining the meeting.

Sepp Blatter also said that he will be holding discussions with the Brazilian president in order to determine the work that has been done and also the work that will be done in the future. It is thought that the work being done in the next five months is going to be extremely crucial because it would determine whether Brazil will successfully host the 2013 Confederations cup and subsequently the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This announcement from the President of FIFA comes just days after the resignation of Brazilian football Federation President Ricardo Teixeira, who has left the post after 23 years in charge.

“I am very pleased that the legendary Pele will join us for this important meeting. We will discuss the status of preparations and what needs to be done over the next few months to achieve the common goal of FIFA and the Brazilian government to stage a great FIFA Confederations Cup in June 2013 and a successful 2014 FIFA World Cup,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in a statement recently. Pele joining the discussions now is not surprising because the player had a frosty relationship with the then president Ricardo Teixeira.

Brazilian football icon Pele has said that the current Barcelona set-up will eventually become the blueprint for success at many other clubs. Barcelona follow a unique platform which have helped them to achieve success in all levels which involves making sure that the various youth departments play the same style of football as the first team – allowing players to join the first team with minimum fuss and confusion.

It’s been one of the reasons that Barcelona have been able to successful integrate young players straight into the first XI, and why so many Barac youngsters hit the ground running. This model has become extremely successful in tandem with the pass and attack style of football, which has become synonymous with the Catalan club.

Brazilian football legend Pele believes that other clubs should also adopt the policy followed by Barcelona to not only be successful on the pitch, but also off the pitch as well. Many clubs have been struggling with spiralling debts and one of the main reasons for the huge debts is the transfer fees given to other clubs. In order to be successful, Pele has said that clubs should be able to look at their own youth department.

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Video clip Rating: four / 5

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Brazilian football legend Pele is expected to be one of the high-profile visitors for the final of the 2012 African cup of nations. The final of the 2012 African cup of nations will be taking place on Sunday. It is a match that will witness both Ivory Coast and Zambia locking horns against each other. It is really the final that none would have predicted at the start of the campaign. Many pundits would have predicted the presence of Ivory Coast in the final given that they have been one of the pretournament favourite, but none would have seen the appearance of Zambia at the stage of the competition.

Zambia will be taking pride from the 1993 team, which was entirely lost in a plane crash just outside the region where the final will be taking place. Ivory Coast, on the other hand, will be looking to lay their hands on the trophy that has eluded them for 20 years until now. Despite the presence of Premier league stars like Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré, Ivory Coast have not been able to get their hands on a major trophy up until now. There have been a few occasions where they have come close, but not as close as on this occasion.

Just ahead of the final of the 2012 African cup of nations, there has been rumours that Brazilian legend Pele will be visiting the country in order to see the match. Pele has already been to a central African country, although it was way back in 1974. He was visiting Africa as part of the Brazilian club Santos, who were playing in a friendly against the national team of Gabon. It has been rumoured that the football icon will be visiting Gabon after being personally invited by the Gabon President.

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