Posts Tagged Ronaldo

Football skills of a different kind

March 28, 2013 at 5:58 AM · Filed under Football ·Tagged , , , , , ,

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So when painting footballers, use footballs. Sounds impossible, but that is exactly what Polish artist Andrew Lenard has done. Taking contemporary art a step further, he ditched the paintbrush for footballs and a few litres of black paint, to portray the faces of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Lenard felt that there was no better way to honor the two top footballers than painting them by kicking footballs doused in paint onto a wall-mounted 2-metre long canvas.

After making the initial marks on the canvas, Lenard picks the ball up to capture the finer details of his subjects.

Although it takes a while to figure out what the football mad artist is painting, he eventually shows that he is no slouch with the football as amazing sketches of the footballers emerge on the canvas.

“I make many types of art and these projects are just my experiments. I make because it’s fun and I like to check out all the new possibilities in art using new media,” says Lenard

Of his unique tribute to the Spanish league stars, Lenard says, “Athletes like Ronaldo and Messi are known worldwide, modern heroes and role models, so it was an obvious choice for me.”

Andrew Lenard’s amazing portrait of Lionel Messi

 

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FIFA World Player of the Year Award Shortlist 2009 : Will it be Michael Essien?

November 1, 2009 at 10:10 PM · Filed under Chelsea, Chelsea FC, Cristiano Ronaldo, FIFA, Football ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John TerryFernando TorresSamuel Eto'oFranck RiberyKaka Real MadridDavid VillaCristiano Ronaldo Real MadridWayne RooneyGianluigi BuffonAndreas IniestaMichael EssienFabianoDeigoXavi HernandesLionel MessiPuyol Zlatan IbrahimovicThierry HenryIker CasillasSteven GerrardMichael BallackDidier DrogbaFrank Lampard

Congratulations to all True Blues out there. Aren’t we having a great year so far?  8 goals in total against Bolton this week, top of the Premier League table and now we have the 5 players on the FIFA World Player Award shortlist. The 23 men (in a completely biased Chelsea first, order) who are in contention for the title of the FIFA World Player2009 are:

Chelsea

John Terry (England),  Frank Lampard (England),  Michael Ballack (German)

Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire) Michael Essien (Ghana)

Barcelona

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden),  Andrés Iniesta (Spain),

Thierry Henry (France),  Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain),

Xavi Hernandez (Spain)

Real Madrid

Iker Casillas (Spain),  Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal),  Kaká (Brazil)

Liverpool

Fernando Torres (Spain),  Steven Gerrard (England)

Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Diego (Brazil)

Inter Milan

Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)

Sevilla

Luis Fabiano (Brazil)

Bayern Munich

Franck Ribéry (France)

Valencia

David Villa (Spain)

Manchester United

Wayne Rooney (England)

According to me, the FIFA World Player should go to  Michael Kojo Essien and its not because he is a Chelsea player but because he is an incredible player. A player whose contribution to Chelsea’s success is often overlooked because of the presence of such superstars in the Chelsea line-up. Essien is a very talented midfielder who creates great chances for the team and is  also very strong in defence. The stunner he scored in the Chelsea-Blackburn game is yet another reminder of what a powerful footballer he is, something which is somtimes  overlooked by the starry-eyed fans mesmerised by the glamour of Michael Ballack,  Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, John Terry and Nicholas Anelka.  An all-rounder and a handful for any team, Essien is the quintessential talented, hard-working, focused player who is an asset to any team that he plays for. While he might not have won the title of Chelsea’s top pin-up boy, which is proudly held by Michael Ballack, Michael Essien has definitely  won the respect of all as Mr. Dependable. He is admired by opposition players and absolutely adored by his Chelsea and Ghana teammates who recognise just how important a part he plays in the team’s success. I know he probably isn’t going to win and  everyone senses that this year is finally going to be  Lionel Messi’s  turn to win it but I think one of these year’s someone is going to have to give Essien this award. Messi is marvelous and it will be great to see him crowned the Best Player in the World but then who knows maybe FIFA will surprise us all.

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Sleepyhead Managers and Star Teams

September 11, 2009 at 10:10 AM · Filed under World Cup, World Cup Qualifiers ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The shocks just keep coming in. Having calmed my nerves with caffeine (oh yes, it works…thought I’d missed that raised eyebrow, did you?) My ‘roving’ eye went to the group standings table and my heart rate went up (wasn’t the caffeine). I blinked a couple of times (would you get off the caffeine theory already!) but there it was… Denmark were 5 points ahead of Portugal. Portugal have got the likes of Carvalho (had to be a Chelsea players first), Bosingwa (and second), Deco (and third!), Simao, Nuno Gomez, Nani, Ronaldo, Maniche. Players absolutely bursting with football magic. How can they be in danger of not qualifying, they should be top of the group!
So, what is coach Carloz not doing right? I would think he knew everything, having learnt from the very best Sir Alex. Also, in my naievity I assumed that the country coaches didn’t really need to be as good as the club coaches because, they got to pick from players with so much experience. I have changed my view since Fabio Capello worked miracles with the England National Team. To lead such accomplished players has to be even harder because you have to win their respect and boy, it don’t come cheap. Also, I think since players all their lives have been told what to do; they like it that way. They like a coach who tells them what to do ahead of each game and during the half-time break. A coach who has a plan he is convinced will work and asks them to play their part in executing it. The bottom line is that the players appreciate and respect being directed like other proffessionals in any other profession. Take actors for example. ‘Good’ actors always appreciate a director who knows what he is doing and tells them exactly what he wants them to do. Fabio Capello has definitely achieved that with the England squad, which in my opinion, is the hardest lot of players to win over. May be Queroz is taking too laid-back an approach to management, expecting his phenomemally talented lot of players to just do what comes naturally to them. But talent also needs direction. May be he is being too lazy or may be he is one of those who just doesn’t get it.
He needs to take a feather out of the cap of  managers of countries like Ireland and Denmark and Norway who don’t have such talent-loaded teams but manage to get super performances out of average players.  Another manager who could really sit up and pay attention is France’s no.1 romantic… no, not President Sarkozy, okay no.2 romantic Raymond Domenech, who if it’s possible, has an even stronger team than Queiroz, a ‘super-star-studded’ team as compared to Queiroz’s mere ‘star-studded’ team. But, on a serious note, come on you guys, do whatever it is, fix whatever needs to be fixed, because you got some players that deserve to be in South Africa and they got fans who deserve the pleasure of seeing their favorites battle it out for their countries. South Africa is simmering up and getting ready to sparkle!

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