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Raul Gonzalez Blanco is not the best player in Spain, and can be considered the most overrated player in football history…
   'Babystar', 'pichichi', 'idol', wow what a difference a few years of not succeeding make. The Spanish press is calling for his head and the chants are getting to him. Maybe he's slumping? Maybe he is on his way down? Hey, here's a concept, what about him not being all that he was hyped up to be. The jury is still out on him outside of Spanish borders (although Raúl is not even liked in certain areas of Spain, Catalunya for starters.). How can a player be one of the top scorers in Champions League history, all-time leader in his respective national team, two-time Pichichi in La Liga, multiple Champions League winner - and yet be the most overrated player in the football world? Well that is exactly it. Raúl is the most overrated footballer in the world, although his present form has made detractors out of some of the most unconditional of fans. As good as Raúl has been for Spanish football, the jury is still out on him throughout the rest of Europe. Some people might have a great resume, but with absolutely nothing won at the National Team level, you have to start questioning him.
   What do Peja Mijatovic, Clarence Seedorf, Fernando Hierro, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, Guti, Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Nicola Anelka, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Redondo, (hold on let me catch my breath), Christian Panucci, Claude Makelele, Fernando Morientes - would you like me to keep going? - have in common? Well, they are the players that did all the work for Raúl to achieve his faux fame. My point is that if superior talent surrounds a player, how can he not score?
   If a player faces the marking that Raúl did (also consider the defense in La Liga in comparison to other leagues) he has to be somewhat successful. This is true especially now, where he is in a situation where he does not take up the marking that players like Ronaldo and Michael Owen do. Raúl, on his best day, would only be able to carry Ronaldo's bag into the stadium.
   But realise this; his presence is all the more telling of the team's lack of leadership. He was at his most successful when he played with Fernando Hierro and Claude Makelele. Real Madrid's true leaders, which is why they are trophy-less since these two players were let go by the Merengue brass. These two brought stability and grit, two intangibles that are desperately needed in order to be successful. These intangibles that Raúl does not have. When they left, he no longer was the poacher that he once was. Enter Ronaldo… further back he had to play and it started to affect his goal scoring totals.
   At the national team level, he is all the more insignificant. There is no way that he should even be playing. Luis Aragones finally realised this and benched him in favor of an inspired Ivan de la Pena prior to the game against Serbia and Montenegro. When he did step on to the pitch, he showed energy, but was not able to complement a Fernando Torres playing the point. The whole point to what I am saying is that he excels when the spotlight is not on him and solely him. His spine acquires the firmness of a jellyfish in the big games.
   Look, I like the guy, he is the most emblematic player in Spain. For morale he is a good thing, but emblematizing a person will not win you a game. How can the 'best' player on your national team be the sixth or even seventh best player on his own club team (I am being kind to David Beckham, but that is another topic I will prod in the future)? As a matter of fact, forget what I just said. Raúl is the third or fourth best striker on his team… even on his best day.
   Many of his qualities include his goal scoring knack and dribbling, but his deficiencies are starting to come to the forefront because of his slump for over the past year and change.
   Hey I admire the fact that he is the all time leading scorer in Spanish National Team history, but hey, having a monstrous paternity against the Faroe Islands (the team he has scored most against at the national team level with 8). In qualifiers and friendlies (just ask Germany), he is deadly. But, ladies and gentlemen, in reality he is not a player I would want in a big game. What goal is the most memorable one of his in a big game? Probably, Juventus in 1998? What was Raúl's most meaningful goal at the national team level? What about the ones he scored against Germany and Ireland? Well, those were friendlies. Other than that, there is nothing to show for his alleged greatness. He did score against France (actually Gaizka Mendieta scored, Raúl missed the chance to tie the game… can you say choke). In World Cup 2002, injury did not help him perform, but he would not have made a big difference in the grand scheme of things for La Furia in Korea. Even this year, the stakes were high in the Champions League he faded away just like the rest of his team, allowing a wounded Vecchia Signora to move on to the next round. After that, there is nothing that will back him up. All I can tell you is that Michael Owen has taken his spot. If this season's performance does not prove it, based on the goals scored and minutes played, then Florentino Perez, Arrigo Sacchi and Vanderlei Luxemburgo are all as myopic as the most rabid of Madrid fans.
   — Internet

Those who remember ‘Pulp Fiction’ may recall Bruce Willis’ boxer telling his Colombian cab driver ‘I’m American. Our names don’t mean shit, honey’. Here in Brazil it’s exactly the opposite; names strain under the weight of meaning. This little guide will give you all the tools to decipher the majority of repetitive names in Brazilian football.
   1. Prefixes & Suffixes
   These allow for a taste-free bolt-on of maternal and paternal first names, resulting in names of mirror-shattering ugliness.
   Prefixe
   l Ev- Evanilson, Evandro, Evair (Mother’s name = Eva)
   l Ed- Edmilson, Edmar, (Mother’s name = Edna)
   l Od- Odair, Odvan (Mother’s name = Odette)
   l Ro- Romario, Rosinei (Mother’s name = Rosa)
   l El- Elber, Elder, Elano (Mother’s name = Elba) 
   Suffixes
   Size suffixes
   It really does matter. With a two letter suffix plain old Ronaldo can swell up to Ronaldão (Big Ron) – as Madrid fans have seen – or with four letters can shrink to Ronaldinho (Little Ron)
   l -ão Felipão (Big Phil), Betão (Big Bob – ‘Beto’ being short for Roberto), Luis(z)ão (Big Lou).
   l -inho Ricardinho (Little Richard – no kidding), Marcinho (Little Marcio), Marcelinho (Little Marcel), Juninho (Little Junior – about as diminutive as it gets) and Agostinho (Little August)
   Other suffixes
   l -son Adoption of the Anglo-Saxon-Scandinavian form; largely reflecting the British who first brought the game to Brazil. Vary from the traditional Anderson, Jef(f)erson and Robson to the more Brazilian Jobson, Athirson, Gerson, Liedson and Jadson - including the frankly eye-watering Nadson.
   l -(v)aldo Rivaldo, Nivaldo, Vivaldo, Everaldo, Edivaldo Clodoaldo, Reinaldo (Father’s name = Valdo / Waldo)
   l - mar Gilmar, Nilmar, Lucimar (Lucio – Bayern Munich), Jucilmar, Josimar, Itamar, Kalmar (Mother’s name = Maria)
   l -ton Another Anglicism that ranges from the conventional Wellington, Washington and Clay(i)ton to the ludicrous Jefton, Adailton, Welton, Antonieliton (Marítimo, Portugal), Elivélton (Bahia, Brazil)
   l -ey The same as above; Wesley and Sidney from the old school and Warley, Ederley and Jomarley from the special needs school.
   l -ei The phonetical spelling gives that milk-curdling finish to Wanderlei, Derlei, Ueslei, Rosinei and Valnei with the pointlessly unpronounceable Danrlei worthy of special mention.
   l -andro Evandro and Leandro show the father was Sandro.
   l -val Dorival and Sinval use –val instead of –valdo (see above)
   l -air Aldair, Odair (Father’s name = Jair)
   l -gol A gem of pure tackiness, this self-appointed moniker shows you’re a Really Good Striker, Thiagol and Robgol wandering shamelessly into cheeseball territory. 
   2. Regions
   Given the vast territorial spread, the popularity of certain names and regional pride it’s common practice to differentiate players by adding their state of origin to their first name.
   l Carioca The player is from Rio de Janeiro e.g. Marcelinho Carioca (Brasiliense, Brazil)
   l Paulista The player is from São Paulo e.g. Juninho Paulista (Celtic, Scotland)
   l Mineiro The player is from Minas Gerais e.g. Mineiro (São Paulo, Brazil)
   l Gaúcho The player is from Rio Grande do Sul e.g. Ronaldinho Gaúcho (FC Barcelona, Spain)
   l Pernambucano The player is from Pernambuco e.g. Juninho Pernambucano (O. Lyon, France)
   l Cearense The player is from Ceara e.g. Dudu Cearense (Rennes, France) 
   3. Nicknames & Abbreviations
   These often find their way onto the back of shirts, mercifully replacing lumbering full birth names
   l Kaká / Cacá Short for Carlos or Caio. Don’t sniggeringly think this is scatological; there’s no link to faeces at all, but; Tip for the top; if you visit Brazil you can make this slip when ordering a thirst-quenching coconut water. This is a Coco (emphasis on the first syllable), whilst putting the stress on the end literally turns it to shit; Cocô. Important for those who prefer their water unrusty.
   l Deco Short for Andre.
   l T(h)iago Short for Santiago, which in turn is St. James in English. (The Spanish use ‘Santi’ e.g. Santi Cañizares, Valencia’s very own bottle blond)
   l Zé Short for Jose e.g. Zé Maria (Inter, Italy), Zé Roberto (Bayern, Germ.)
   l Mané Short for Manoel
   l Zé Mané combines the two innocuous names above to come up with a synonym for ‘jerk’. As would be expected, very few Jose Manoels use the full abbreviated form in Brazil.
   l Dudu, Didi, Dada, Dede, Dodo Dudu = Eduardo, Dede = Andre (like Deco), Dada (Daniel), Didi (Dirceu), Dodo (Doriva, Dorival)
   l Guga Short for Gustavo
   l Juca Short for João Carlos or Joaquim
   l Nenê Means ‘baby’ or ‘babe’.
   4. Assorted Curiosities
   Anglo-Saxonisms
   Apart from the British railway workers that brought the game over (formalised by a certain Charles Miller), many Americans fled the civil war to establish themselves in rural São Paulo. Although the Yanks lacked the enthusiasm for soccer shown by the Limeys, they did provide names; strangely ‘W’ based:
    Washington, Wellington,· Walker, Williams, Wilson
   The golden age of Liverpool’s arch-rival resulted in the common use of:
   Ev(w)erton e.g. Ewerton, Borrussia· Dortmund, Ger.)
   Thankfully this doesn’t extend to other teams or we’d be dealing with Dunfermline da Silva, Portsmouth Oliveira or even Queens Park Rangers Nazario and Preston North End Ferreira. Phew. 
   The Lord & Epics
   With the kneeling circle of clasped hands after the 2002 World Cup victory the outside world was given a glimpse of Brazil’s devotion or obsession – depending on your point of view. Milan games frequently see Kaká with an ‘I belong to Jesus’ t-shirt, a practice also in vogue with other religious players. Some already show their beliefs in their names:
   Moises, Gabriel, Gideon, Jesus, Santos (The latter could also· be a homage to Pelé, the living God as easily as to the Saints)
   The secular side exhibits clear Greco-Romano influences:
    Hermes, Socrates,· Adonis, Julio Cesar, Marco Aurelio, Cicero, Laerte 
   V or W?
   The German pronunciation is something reflected in the spelling, the ‘W’ being replaced by ‘V’s.
   Valter, Vagner,· Vanderley 
   Creative Spelling
   To add more variety to William (first name), there are wild fluctuations in the use of a single or double ‘L’, ‘N’ or ‘M’ dallying, final ‘S’ confusion as well as the V or W debate:
   William, Williams, Wiliam, Wiliams, Villiam, Villiams,· Willian, Willians
   Dennis suffers fewer mutations:
   Denis,· Dennis, Dennys, Denys 
   Fauna
   Metaphors usually side with more aggressive creatures, although the ‘almost-Pelé’ Mané Garrincha showed greater sensitivity:
   Falcão (hawk) and the· self-explanatory Pitbull e.g. Claudio Pitbull (PSG, France), Garrincha (songbird) 
   Foodstuffs
   Brazilians show their culinary respect by adopting various ingredients as nicknames:
   Feijao· (Beans), Dill (Dill weed), Batata (Spud – very ‘Trainspotting’)
   5. A league of their own
   A select few names dodge classification:
   Tostão (Red Cent), Roberto Dinamite· (Bob Dynamite) and Careca (Baldy) are randomly odd, while Escurinho (Little Dark One), Meia Noite (Midnight) and Petróleo (Gasoline) are all bordering on racism but slightly balanced by Branco (Honky).
   You should now be able to understand those weird names that most Brazilian footballers have and even invent credible names for non-existent players. If you wish to take it a stage further and pronounce real players’ names to the jealous astonishment of your friends, here’s a couple of hints on Brazilian pronunciation. 
   A Couple Of Hints On Brazilian Pronunciation
   l -ão Pronounced ‘Ow!’, e.g. Sow Pow Low = São Paulo. The more nasal the better. Try it with a heavy cold, sinusitis or deviated septum.
   l R / rr Pronounced like an ‘H’ at the start of the word, so the correct sound should be; Homario, Honaldo, Honaldjinho, Hivaldo. The double ‘R’ in the middle of a word receives the same treatment; Brazil’s coach is Pah – hair-ah (Parreira)
   Good luck with your translating and domestic commentary, or simply have a laugh at some of the names and TV commentators appalling mistakes. Oh, and don’t forget that coconut pronunciation.
   — Internet

If there is a batsman in the current Indian cricket team who can walk on water, it’s Virender Sehwag.
   The 26-year-old aggressive opener has been defying logic of late with such charming regularity that his fans have begun to believe in the unbelievable.
   When he edges the ball, it races to the boundary. When he miscues it, he still gets runs. And when he middles it, fielders are left stranded as if the ball has been driven with some supernatural force.
   Sehwag has recently been batting in what in tennis parlance is known as the ‘zone’, where nothing can go wrong for a player.
   Former Australian captain Ian Chappell summed it up nicely when he said Sehwag could change the course of a match with the ease of ‘Moses parting the Red Sea’.
   Who knows it better than Pakistan, who can be forgiven for believing that Sehwag wields a magic wand rather than a bat.
   It all began at Multan last year when Sehwag became the first Indian to smash a triple-century in the opening Test against Pakistan.
   Sehwag meted out the same treatment to Pakistan in the ongoing home series, scoring 173 in the first Test at Mohali and 201 in the third at Bangalore to aggregate 544 runs in three matches at an average of 90.66.
   There was no end to Pakistan’s nightmare as Sehwag hammered a blistering 95-ball 108 in the opening one-dayer at Cochin and followed it up with an explosive 40-ball 74 in the second at Visakhapatnam.
   ‘I’m in the kind of form that does not come often. It’s probably the form of my life,’ said Sehwag, who has so far scored 3,079 runs in 34 Tests at 55.98.
   Sehwag has redefined the role of an opener because he cocks a snook at the coaching manuals. His foot-work and shot selection may not be flawless, but his judgement of line and length is impeccable.
   He always looks like getting out, but it’s only a deception. He raises bowlers’ hopes only to raze them with his ruthless efficiency. Experts say he is not a pure slogger, but a scientific hitter.
   Sehwag is all eye and timing, having an uncanny ability to punish even good deliveries. When on song, it appears rival teams need more than 11 fielders to stop the flow of runs from his bat.
   His amazing pyrotechnics has overshadowed even superstar Sachin Tendulkar, whose uninhibited stroke-play inspired Sehwag when he began his international career in the late 1990s.
   But Sehwag is not merely a Tendulkar clone, arresting attention more than his idol in recent times with breath-taking shots.
   Time was when India were invariably in trouble once Tendulkar got out. But now they have learnt to win matches without the champion batsman, thanks to the emergence of Sehwag.
   He caught the eye with a 69-ball century against New Zealand in a triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka in 2001 and has maintained his reputation of a clean and hard striker of the ball since then.
   Sehwag’s big moment came in South Africa when he cracked a century on his Test debut at Bloemfontein the same year as a middle-order batsman.
   He then solved half of India’s problem of opening the innings, scoring a hundred in only his second Test against England at Trent Bridge in 2002 after being promoted in the batting order.
   He has been opening the innings since then, though his partners keep changing virtually with each Test series.
   Sehwag lives dangerously and keeps fans on the edges of their seats. He was just true to his nature when he reached his triple-century with a six at Multan.
   — AFP