Santos Welcomes Newcomer

After months of speculation and wild rumors, a deal has finally been stuck between Brazilian striker Robinho and his current club, Manchester City. Although the striker has made attempts to hide his unhappiness at the English club in the past, the January transfer window clearly seemed far too tempting not to act.

Robinho will finish out the season with his childhood club Santos, located on the east coast of Brazil.

So what does this mean for Manchester City now that Robinho is gone? Well, fortunately, it won't change much. A major reason for the Brazilian's departure was the inconsistency of his playing time at City. With Brazil in the World Cup this summer, Robinho is looking to secure as much playing time as possible to ensure his fitness and readiness for the competition.

As such, with talent like Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrick Vieira currently leading the team, Robinho was only promised a start every other game by current coach Robert Mancini. This clearly indicates that the striker was not seen as a necessary asset to the team (which is stupid because he is quite skilled). City, who sit in 7th place with a record of 10-3-8, had better hope they improve their status lest they start to regret letting Robinho go.

Robinho will be with Santos from ow until August 4.

Ronaldo Breaks a Nose, Handed Two-Match Ban

Madrid's resident diva has been handed a two-ban match after breaking the nose of Malaga defender Patrick Mtiliga during their match on the 24th. Ronaldo will now miss his side's games against Deportivo la Coruna this weekend, as well as the game against Espanyol next weekend.

While breaking Mtiliga's nose was completely unnecessary, Ronaldo did act out of pure frustration. Mtiliga was pulling Ronaldo's shirt and grabbing at his arms. A player of CR9's caliber is constantly being targeted by the other team- either they try to injure him to take him out of the game or resort to kick his ankles/grabbing his shirt to get the ball away.

I am in no way trying to justify Ronaldo's actions- taking a swing at a defender who's obviously failing at their job to keep the Portuguese striker out of Malaga's box- I'm just saying that it's got to be frustrating to be constantly attacked. He probably thought he'd get special treatment for being who he is (which he didn't), and now he has to pay the consequences.

A link to a video of the play is here.

Robinho Is Set to Leave Manchester City (Finally)

Robinho has been going back and forth for months about his feelings for his current club, Manchester City. No one has ever really been able to keep straight whether he wants to leave or stay put.

Well, the Brazilian striker has finally vocalized his thoughts, in pretty blatant terms. Robinho wants to leave England before the transfer window closes in order to play for Santos, a Brazilian club, on loan for the remainder of the season.

Robinho is unhappy with his current situation at Man City, where he rarely sees the field. This is not a spot he would like to be in, trying to prepare for the World Cup from the bench.

Playing on loan for Santos would fully prepare the striker for this summer's competitions. He played with the club until transferred to Real Madrid in 2007.

Hopefully this move will help Robinho this summer. After that, one can only speculate as to where he'll end up for next season.

Of Course They Did

Barcelona added yet another record to their name this weekend after their 3-0 defeat of Valladolid. The Catalan giants became one of five other teams to remain undefeated in La Liga in the first half of a season (19 games). Their official record as of Saturday is 15-4-0.

The only other teams to also go undefeated in 19 games are Real Madrid, Espanyol, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad.

Side note: another record of note is Messi's 100th goal with Barcelona, which came last weekend against Sevilla.

Two goals in two minutes gave Barcelona a strong lead over Valladolid, with a gorgeous side volley in the box from Xavi assisted by Dani Alves (20') and a long strike from Alves (22'). King Messi added his contribution in the 54th minute when he tapped in a perfect cross right on the penalty spot.

I didn't get to watch the game, which severely disappoints me (I miss too many games when I'm at school), but I've heard and read that this was a very well-played game by Barca.

Even just looking at the goals one can tell Barcelona was completely on their game. Xavi, although hailed for keeping the game controlled, exhibited his natural ability to perfectly connect with other players. Dani Alves, who always takes the longer-distance free kicks, showed why he's the man to do it with his perfectly placed long-distance goal. Messi, lethal from any distance inside the box, also proved his worth when he connected with Ibrahimovic's cross.

One can only hope that Barcelona can continue this streak of non-losses throughout La Liga and the Champions League.

Guardiola Agrees to One Year Contract Extension

After what seemed like (and probably was) months of speculation and pressure from both the fans and administration, Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola finally renewed his contract, keeping him with the Spanish superpower until the end of the 2011 season.

However, Guardiola himself has conceded himself that his time at the club is limited, despite the overwhelming success that has met him in the course of only a season and a half at the club.

"I know that sooner or later I will cease to be the coach of Barca and I have to enjoy the time I have here to the maximum," he said during a press conference.

"A coach of Barca can't be here for life just because I think you have to sign for short periods during which the coach has to earn things, with the players, with the fans," he added.

Regardless of Guardiola's coaching philosophy, Barcelona has anchored him down to the club for at least another season. The man is destined to go down in history as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

So far, under Guardiola, Barcelona has won 67 of 95 matches, six tournaments, and scored an average of 2.4 goals per game, according to soccernet.com. The "Pep Team" has lost only 9 of their 95 matches to date.

That's a pretty impressive record, if I do say so myself. Anywhere this man decides to go after Barcelona is going to be wildly successful. It's like everything he touches turns to gold.

Atletico Madrid Steamrolls to the Quarterfinals

The thrashing might have been at the expense of a second-league team, but many a Goliath has fallen at the hands of a David. Such was the case today, as Atletico Madrid eliminated Recreativo Huelva from the Copa del Rey with a 5-1 victory.

Two minutes was all it took for Atletico to extend their lead to two, with goals from Simao (22') and Aguero (24'). In the 39th minute Ujfalusi extended the lead to three for his side. The second half did not fare much better for Recre- Troest gave Atletico an own goal in the 62nd minue and although Carmona cut Atletico's lead to three in the 71st minute, Simao struck again in the 83rd and capped off the scoring with five for his side.

Even more impressive than the win was that for 19 minutes Atletico Madrid played with one less player, as Paulo Assuncao was sent off with two yellow cards in the 72nd minute. It seems that Quique Flores is starting to uncover the team that has been so hellish in La Liga in past seasons.

Although they're probably too far behind to hope for a top four finish, if Atletico continues its current success with minimal slip ups, a strong top ten finish is definitely possible. They're right now in 11th place, three points behind Villarreal.

'Pool Gets Maxi for Free, Continues to Lose

If Maxi Rodriguez was looking to escape the losing streak that gripped Atletico Madrid during his time there this season, he sure as hell didn't pick the right team to transfer to. The 29-year-old midfielder finalized a free transfer to Liverpool several days ago, just in time to help his new team lose (again) to Reading, eliminating them from the FA Cup.

Despite having (miraculously) won their last four Premier League games, Liverpool dropped today's game against Reading, a team not even in the Premier League! Even better- Reading is floating just above the relegation zone in the English League Championship, which is the league below the Premier League. That's like the US Men's National Team losing to a second-rate high school soccer team.

I did not watch the game, which probably resembled more of a train wreck than a professional soccer game, and I'm quite glad I didn't. Coach Rafa Benitez's prize possessions, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, both left the game due to injuries. Torres limped off with an apparent knee injury after 29 minutes while Gerrard never returned to the pitch after halftime.

Liverpool's goal resulted from an own goal compliments of Ryan Bertrand, who deflected in a shot from Gerrard right before the half. Gylfi Sigurdsson leveled for Reading from the penalty spot in the 90th, and after five minutes of extra time Reading pulled ahead with a spot-on header from Shane Long.

Liverpool can how join the ranks of sides humiliated by grossly under-qualified opponents, along with Real Madrid's Copa del Rey defeat to Alcorcon and Barcelona's Champion's league defeat to FK Rubin Kazan.

These defeats, which have been plaguing 'Pool since the beginning of the season, can not continue. This is supposed to be the same team that was a very serious contender for the Premier League title last season before some hiccups in their schedule handed it over to Manchester United. I, personally, have to blame the coaching staff. Rafa Benitez has to go. He is clearly not capable of handling a club like Liverpool anymore, and I'm baffled that he has not been let go yet. Mark Hughes was let go while Manchester City were just outside the top 4, while Liverpool is balancing precariously in 7th place in the League.

New management is a must, and the sooner the club owners realize this, the better off the rest of the season will be for the Reds.

Sevilla Eliminates Barcelona from Copa del Rey

Everyone said it would be impossible for Barcelona to repeat their treble win from last year, and Barcelona has proven them right (damn them!). Today, even after defeating Sevilla 1-0 in the second round of their Copa del Rey meeting, the Catalan giants still only tied 2-2 on aggregate. Sevilla won in tiebreakers, having scored two away goals on Barcelona during their last meeting.

The former Copa del Rey champions were summarily eliminated from a competition for the first time since April 2008, when Manchester United knocked them out of the semi-finals of the Champions League. Saving the game for Sevilla was goalie Andre Palop, who denied all but one shot from Barcelona, and even that did not help the Catalans reach the quarterfinals.

Coach Pep Guardiola spoke frankly during a press conference following the game, expressing his anguish over the elimination and that fact that his team could only strive for success in La Liga and the Champions League from now on.

"We are out and it hurts to be eliminated from this competition. It is not good news, even if people will say we can now concentrate on La Liga and the Champions League. In sport we are not taught how to lose and this has affected us," Guardiola said.

Barcelona has been performing fairly well lately- they still rule La Liga and are still in the Champions League, but hopefully this elimination will be a wake up call to them that all of the talent in the world (and they do have all of the talent in the world) can not guarantee them a win every single time.

Right now the team seems to be in a rut, and Pep and the players have to somehow reinvigorate the passion that led them to win six titles in a year. There is no limit to what this team is capable of, but they desperately need to recreate the drive that led them to the point of invincibility they achieved coming into the 2009-2010 season.

Tenerife Falls Despite Sluggish Start By Barcelona

Anyone watching Barcelona take on 16th place Tenerife yesterday might agree that, were it not for the excellent goalkeeping of Barcelona's Victor Valdes and blatant misses by Tenerife's Nino and Luna, the score of the yesterdays game would not have been 5-0 in favor of Barcelona.

The absence of Gerard Pique, who did not even make the roster due to injury, was sorely missed in the Barcelona backfield yesterday, especially during the beginning of the first half. Rafa Marquez, not seeing very many minutes this season seemed quite lost in his position, failing to pick up loose marks left by Puyol and Dani Alves.

However, the defense can not take all of the blame for the sloppy beginning to yesterday game. Barcelona's best defense lies in their astounding ability to control ball control, rarely letting the opponent having more than a few touches on the ball. Yesterday, at least before Messi's goal, Barcelona's passing game could only be described at mediocre at best. It took several minutes and several close misses by the Tenerife strikers before Barcelona was even able to get the ball out of its defensive half.

The saving grace came, once again, from Senor Messi, who connected with Bojan in the 36th minute to provide the wakeup call that Barcelona needed to regain their grasp on the game. After his goal Barcelona seemed to awaken from the sluggish play that gripped them for the 35 minutes before the goal happened, and Tenerife never stood a chance.

Twice more Bojan would assist Messi for a goal, once in the 46th minute, and again in the 75th with a slick side pass that slipped right past Tenerife goalkeeper Aragoneses. Messi in turn placed a free kick perfectly for Puyol, who made the score 2-0 in the 44th minute.

Luna provided an own goal in the 85th that capped off the score at 5-0, but again, Barcelona was very lucky it did not have to come from behind to claim the three points from this weekend.

Atletico Madrid Wins Second Straight in La Liga!

No team has disappointed me this year than Atletico Madrid. They had an awesome run the last couple of years, and now all of the sudden this season they were hanging out in the relegation zone for the better half of the beginning of the season. With so much talent on that team- Kun Aguero, Diego Forlan, Maxi Rodriguez- there is no reason for them to be in 11th place with only 20 points.

Their new coach, Quique Flores, has certainly improved the team since being hired several games ago, and Atletico is now in a semi-respectable 11th place. Atletico just won their second consecutive game of the season, defeating Valladolid 4-0. Jose Jurado (16'), Diego Forlan (32'), Reyes (58'), and Kun Aguero (89') provided the goals for the win.

They now boast a record of 5-7-5, with a -1 goal differential so far.

There has been much speculation about Kun Aguero, Atletico's star striker, leaving for a big Premier League team, mainly Chelsea, who's shown the most interest. Aguero has, as of late, denied any rumors of his departure from Atletico, promising to help see his team to a more successful second half of their season. With the January transfer window open, anything goes.

Best of luck to Atletico- hopefully they can keep the winning streak up through May.

Three Dead After Togo Bus Attacked in Angola

Three people affiliated with the Togo national team were shot and killed yesterday when a rebel group attacked the team's bus with machine guns after it crossed the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo into Angola.

Assistant coach Abalo Amelete, spokesman Stanislas Ocloo, and the driver of the bus have all been pronounced dead. Kodjovi Obilale, the Togo goalie, was originally pronounced dead by teammate Jonathan Ayite, but that statement has since been retracted by Obilale's club team president and head coach.

Seven other members of the team were injured in the attack.

Togo were on their way by bus to participate in the African Cup of Nations, but have since withdrawn from the tournament, which has come under heavy criticism due to lack of security that led to the attack on the Togo national team. No other teams have been reported to have withdrawn from the tournament as of late, with Angola promising to severely increase security surrounding the tournament and teams.

This attack also brings into harsh light how much security Africa as a continent will have to provide this June when the entire world convenes in South Africa for the World Cup. If the African Cup of Nations tournament is in danger, then surely the World Cup, the biggest tournament in the world, will have to provide security exponentially greater than that of the African Cup of Nations.

Several countries are calling for the tournament to be called off after Togo withdrew, but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is refusing as of late, promising better security for all teams involved.

Barcelona Falls to Sevilla in Copa del Rey Meeting

It took 28 games and five months, but it finally happened. FC Barcelona met defeat at the hands of Sevilla FC during their 'Final Sixteen' match in Barcelona yesterday. With both sides fielding teams of mostly second-string players, the game was definitely up in the air.

A surprising addition to the Barcelona side was Gabi Milito, playing his first game with Barcelona in a year and a half. The Argentinian was definitely not up to par with the rest of his team's defenders, but his presence on the field is a huge step toward his redevelopment as a player.

Sevilla midfielder Capel scored in the 60th minute, giving his side a lead that Barcelona would level. Ibrahimovic, coming off the bench in the second half to take the place of Pedro, met the back of the net in he 74th minute, but the joy of a tie was short-lived. Seldom-used defender Chygrynskiy conceded a penalty kick for Sevilla that again gave them the lead a minute later. Alvaro Negredo took the kick, capping the win for Sevilla.

As previously stated, this was Barcelona's first loss all season. They are still undefeated in La Liga and the Champions' League cometitions, and they can still knock Sevilla out of the Copa del Rey on goals, should they score more than two goals in Sevilla in two weeks time.

The loss does, unfortunately, cast into harsh light the difference in talent between the first and second string at Barcelona, In my personal opinion, a strong team needs to have a second string that can come off of the bench and be just as strong as the first string. Although the presence of Messi, Iniesta, and Dani Alves improved the quality of the match exponentially, there were too many lost balls and missed passes on the part of Barca. In fact, Iniesta, showing much of his pre-injury flair, was the saving grace of the game.

An improved second string, which means more concentration from Bojan Krkic, less flamboyant fouling from Chygrynskiy, and more experience for Thiago, is necessary if Barcelona wants to use their second string and continue winning.

Barca Youngster Demands More Minutes

Jeffren Suarez, a bench-warming striker for FC Barcelona, is asking for more playing time from manager Pep Guardiola, or he will seriously consider leaving the club. It's actually more Efren Suarez, the striker's father, who is asking for more playing time, confident that his son is more than capable of making an impact on the field with the regular starters.

The senior Suarez is stressing that whether or not Jeffren stays with Barcelona is not a matter of money, but a matter of principle- the elder Suarez believes his son deserves more minutes with Barcelona for the amount of time striker has been with the club (he played with the B team from 2006-2008 and was called up to the senior team for the beginning of the 2008 season).

Now, I understand that a parent only wants the best for their child. Efren believes that Jeffren deserves more minutes on the field because he thinks his son can handle the pressure, and possesses the skills to make an impact on the field. Here's the problem though- there is a set of 15 or 16 players that just produced the best year for FC Barcelona in history, and Jeffren was not a part of that set. Sure, he might be quite good. He could be the best 20-year-old soccer player the world has ever seen. The problem is that now Barcelona has standards to uphold, and the only way to uphold them is to keep with the team that brought them the monumental success of 2009.

Right now the best thing for Jeffren to do might just be to leave. If he wants to progress as a player, he has to be on a team where he's guaranteed playing time and forget about the status or prominence of the team. If he's really as good as his father says, he'll have big league teams chasing after him in no time.

Barcelona, Real Madrid Held In Mid-Table Matches

The new year has not been kind so far to the team who won six (yes, six) competitions in 2009 alone. Barcelona failed to overcome Villarreal, despite being given an early lead by striker Pedro (7'). Six minutes after halftime David Fuster leveled for Villarreal on a poorly defended volley that slipped past Victor Valdes and his defense.

The absence of Messi, who was not even named in the roster, definitely took a toll on Barca. Although they monopolized possession throughout the game, they were unable to capitalize on their possession. Nonetheless, they remain undefeated after 16 games, and two points ahead of Real Madrid.

Indeed, Real Madrid has not greeted the new year with smiles either after being held to a scoreless draw against mid-table Osasuna. Real was missing several of their starters, including Kaka, out from injury. However, they did have Higuain, Ronaldo, and Xabi Alonso playing all 90 minutes.

Both teams remain in their respective positions in La Liga table (Barcelona in first with 40 points, Real Madrid in second with 38), although Real Madrid could have usurped the first place position from Barcelona had they capitalized on the Catalan giants' loss yesterday.

Meanwhile, third-place Valencia trails Real Madrid by six points, helped by their win over Espanyol yesterday. David Villa and David Silva must continue to connect and score goals if their team wants to pose any sort of threat to the two frontrunners.

La Liga continues next weekend, with Barcelona meeting 16th-place Tenerife and Real Madrid taking on 4th-place Mallorca.

Welcome!

This is Golden Goal, my everything soccer blog. I love soccer, and I love sharing my thoughts about it in hopes of creating conversation and debate. So I figured the best way to do this would be to create a blog and put my thoughts for everyone to see. I'll be doing game previews and recaps, breaking news, transfers, injury updates- basically anything that happens in the soccer world on a daily basis. I post several times a day, starting today. Leave comments, let me know if there are club teams/national teams/players/coaches you want to hear more about, and I'll do my best to listen. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you like what you see.