Futbol: Últimas noticias de Hoy

John Obi Mikel of Nigeria and Lionel Messi of Argentina were both at the world youth championship (FIFA U-20) in Netherlands in 2005, where they both shone like a Million Stars, to the delight of soccer fans the world over.

Both players played as creative/attacking midfielders for their countries at the youth championship. Argentina eventually defeated Nigeria by 2-1 at the final to win the trophy; and Lionel Messi emerged the world’s best player, while John Obi Mikel was voted second best player at the U-20 level.

Five years after, the gulf between the two players has widened so much that one begins to wonder what has happened. The Argentine went to FC Barcelona thereafter and developed his skills further to the point of wining several domestic titles, 2 champions’ league titles, 1 club world cup, 1 Olympics gold medal, European footballer of the year, world footballer of the year, etc.

But the Nigerian made the mistake of his career by allowing his father to influence him in choosing to go to Chelsea FC of England. The only achievement he can boast of till date include a few FA cups, Carling cups and community shield cup. He just won his first league title with Chelsea this year.

What went wrong?

Lionel Messi carefully chose a club side that allowed him to develop further, and brought out the best in him. John Obi Mikel, on the other hand refused a bid from Manchester United that would have enabled him maintain his position as an attacking midfielder and develop his skills further. Instead, he chose to go to Chelsea FC because of the money involved. On getting to Chelsea, Coach Jose Maurinho turned him into a defensive midfielder, and his skills nosedived. During the period he has stayed in Chelsea, Man U has won 3 league titles, 1 club world cup, 1 champions’ league title, etc. Today, he regrets his decision: he would have won 3 league titles, 1 champions’ league, 1 club world cup, several FA cups and Carling cups by now with Man U. He would have also had the opportunity to shine better than he is doing right now and perhaps be close to Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in terms of skill. But today, he is not in the top 50 players’ list. What an Irony!

In choosing a career, one should not consider only the monetary aspect; one should think of one’s opportunity to develop further, and when the place you intend to develop your career does not guarantee you that chance, you should look elsewhere.

Besides, you should not allow anybody to influence you when it comes to choosing your career. You know what you want; why don’t you go for that which would give you satisfaction? If you make any mistakes from the onset, you may end up regretting for life.

Who does not know Lionel Messi? Miracles in the world of Argentine football this star could glint, though arguably somewhat dimmed in the period 2013-2014. The appearance of stars who often called Leo is somewhat decreased throughout 2013-204. He only packed 41 goals throughout the season, the lowest record since 2008-2009.

He even failed to deliver Argentina to the 2014 World Cup champions after the German bent 1-0. In order to improve performance on the ground, this footballer changes lifestyle and diet. With the help of his friend, fellow Argentine Martin Demichelis, Messi met with Italian nutritionist Giuliano Poser.

The meeting agreed earlier this year, Messi routinely visited Poser and got a good nutrition recipe. «After the World Cup, something has changed for him, Messi knows what to change, he has the humility to make a change in his professional career since January, he looks stronger,» Poser said. Investigate a calibration, one of the causes of decreased appearance Messi due to his hobby eating pizza.

Barcelona attacker was also experiencing weight gain due to lifestyle and eating patterns that are less attention. In order to improve performance, Messi decided to reduce the consumption of animal-containing menu. Well, since following the direction of Poser, in a relatively fast time, proved his appearance changed drastically.

Physical rapidly changing his fitness fit throughout the game. «He changed his diet, did not eat processed foods and replaced them with foods rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre contained in grains, fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil,» Poser said as quoted La Gazzetta Dello Sport. Apparently, not just Messi who became a client Poser.

Manchester City striker, Sergio Aguero, also adopted the diet advocated by Poser. «We (Aguero and Messi) are undergoing a normal nutritional examination to check the condition of the body, he recommends food to improve our physicality, I am happy because it is important to look at the body and know what I want,» Aguero said.

No one denied the fact that Lionel Messi is the best footballer at the moment. Behind the performance that good, FC Barcelona star has a good diet.

In order to perform well on the pitch, Messi runs a diet program. There are some foods that must be consumed every day, but some are forbidden.

Dietician Messi, Giuliano Poser, revealed that sugar became one of the strikers petty striker with the nickname La Pulga it.

«Sugar is the worst thing for muscles,» Poser told Mundo Deportivo.

According to Poser, sugar contains many calories that can damage the body’s metabolism and interfere with muscle development. The more Messi away from sugar, the better.

In the meantime, there are 4 mandatory meals on Messi’s diet menu list. Is that?

«Water, good quality olive oil, grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables that are not contaminated by pesticides, therefore can cause massive damage to the body,» Poser said.

«My method is unquestionable – everyone can see how Messi looks from week to week,» Pose said.

A healthy and balanced diet leads Messi to the top of his career. At the age of 28 years now, the captain of the Argentina national team has already bagged 7 La Liga titles, 4 Champions League and 5 Ballon d’Or trophy.

Only one event that has not been conquered Messi, namely the World Cup.

As a defender Carles Puyol remains somewhat in the shadow of players such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o or Lionel Messi, but with his energy, stamina and focus, he remains a favourite in the Nou Camp and is an essential member of the current line-up. Considered to be one of the best defenders in the world, Carles Puyol is also the first Catalan captain to have held the Champions League Cup aloft after the team defeated Arsenal in May 2006, the competition in which he was awarded Defender of the Year.

As team captain since the 2003-2004 season after Phillip Cocu left Barcelona for PSV Eindhoven, Puyol’s stocky build with legs built like tree trunks and a trademark head of curly locks all belie his speed and agility on the pitch and once he removes his shirt he reveals a ripped torso that is the product of many hours of hard training, impressively fee of any sign of body fat.

In fact Puyol’s dedication is such that he objects to being left out of a single match selection, even if it is for a rest period when the team is playing a number of matches is a short space of time and he has been noted to attend training sessions where he was specifically given a rest day.

Born in La Pobla de Segur, which is located in the interior of Catalonia, on April 13 1978, as a boy Carles Puyol played for the local side. He was signed for the FC Barcelona B team in 1996 at the age of 17 and made is first team debut in 1999 under Louis Van Gaal, when visiting Barcelona beat Valladolid 2-0.

Currently playing in the centre-back position, Puyol first played for Barcelona in the right back position when he was promoted from the B team. His original position as a boy was in goal, but when shoulder injuries prevented him from continuing he began to play as a striker, perhaps contributing to his attacking mentality today – you can only imagine what he would have been like as a goalkeeper given his absolute determination to stop the ball as a defender, but what is sure is that he would have played hard, perhaps contributing to his injuries.

Although he plays in the Spanish selection, which he has also captained on occasion, Carles Puyol is a Barcelona diehard through and through and it is difficult to imagine him playing for any other club when his contract expires in 2010, whatever offer was on the table. While Messi has been brought up at Barcelona – and there is no doubt about his current dedication to the club – it remains to be seen whether he could be lured away, but players such as Ronaldinho and Eto’o, whatever their brilliance, can only ever be considered hired hands.

The reigning African highest goal scorer of all time in the nations’ cup history Samuel Eto’o Phils yesterday added yet another profile to his unassailable record after helping his country Cameroon to qualify for the quarter finals in the ongoing competition in Angola. He scored his side’s equalizer in the 1st minute of the second half after the Cartridge Eagles of Tunisia went into the lead in the first half. The match eventually ended 2-2 to ensure that the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Chipolopolo of Zambia moved on into the quarter finals.

Samuel Eto’o had earlier scored in their second match against Zambia to increase his goal tally to 17, but with his goal against Tunisia yesterday he now has 18 goals. Before his emergence on the African nations’ cup scene the highest goals record stood at 14 goals which was set and held by Laurent Poko of Cote d’ivoire. But at Ghana 2008 nations’ cup this record was broken by Eto’o. I remember I did predict that he was likely to break his own record this year, and he has just done that: with 18 goals in his kitty it would remain an uphill task for anybody seeking to equal and break this record. This young man came into soccer limelight in Nigeria/Ghana 2000 nations’ cup and ever since he has not stopped scoring great and thrilling goals.

I can almost hear you ask what is so special about this guy; Let me just answer that away. He parades a very intimidating record – three time African footballer of the year award winner, 2 nations’ cup trophies (Nigeria/Ghana 2000 and Mali 2002), all time highest goal scorer in African nations’ cup history (18 goals), Olympics Gold medalist at Sydney 2000 Olympics, two time UEFA champions with FC Barcelona of Spain (2006 and 2009), UEFA Super Cup winner, several domestic and FA titles with FC Barcelona, etc. He has really achieved much as far as African football is concerned.

Age is one advantage on the side of this player and if he endures like his counterpart Roger Miller, he might just still be there in 3 or more editions of the competition; and if he does, what would that translate into? He would score more goals of course: he might just get to score 30 goals which would make it more difficult for any player to equal or break considering how long it took to break the record set by Laurent Poko. The likes of Rasheed Yekini of Nigeria and Joel Tiehi of Cote d’ivoire had tried to break this record but the highest they could do was get close to it. Eto’o has no doubt proven to be force to reckon with in Africa football whose record is yet to be equaled by any of the players from the continent. George Weah won the African footballer, European footballer and FIFA world footballer of the year awards, and also UEFA champions league but compare that with the above-listed records by Eto’o and decide for yourself who you think is Africa’s greatest footballer of all time.

Bojan Krkic has been breaking records all his footballing life.

Almost since his birth in Lleida in 1990, to a Spanish mother and a Serbian father who had played for Red Star Belgrade, Bojan has been a prodigy. He joined Barcelona in 1999 and made unprecedented progress through the youth ranks until he joined the senior squad in 2006 – 2007 season: not before he’d scored 960 goals in his seven seasons at youth level, though!

The youngest ever Barcelona first team goalscorer – 17 years, 1 month 22 days, to be exact about it – against Villareal in October 2007; the youngest player for Barca in the Champions’ League, the month before, and a Spanish Under 21 international at 16 – all these landmarks Bojan has taken in his stride. He’s also helped Spain win the European Under 21 Championship in 2007 and was part of the team which finished second in the World Under 17 Cup the same year.

So what is it about Bojan that makes him so special?

Well, he is, firstly, very quick and has that priceless ability of seeming to be just as fast when he’s running with the ball as without it. More than this, however, is that ‘splinter of ice’ in his instinct that makes sure he never panics in front of goal; he is totally assured. He seems to pass the ball into the net with complete tranquillity. Despite being carefully nurtured by Frank Rijkaard during 2007/08 season, Bojan still managed to score 10 league goals, in only 14 starts.

Spain, understandably, have been especially keen to involve Bojan with the national squad – as much to ensure that Serbia don’t snap him up as anything else. He was selected for the squad for a friendly against France in February, 2008 and was going to be given his first cap and become Spain’s youngest ever full international until he fell sick on the eve of the game. The player himself then asked to be left out of the European Championships squad, claiming exhaustion, and so the conspiracy theorists in the Spanish media were out in force. However, he did make his full debut in September, 2008 in a World Cup qualifying tie against Armenia – thus cementing his future with the Spanish team.

The management and the fans at Barcelona clearly think the world of Bojan Krkic and continue to utilise his talents sparingly. Of course, that’s relatively easy in a team containing the attacking talents that Barcelona has, but, nevertheless, Bojan is showing that he could well develop into one of the great goalscorers for both club and country. He certainly has all the attributes and has met every challenge offered to him so far in his short career.