AGUERO SPLITS

Earlier this year Sergio Aguero split from his wife Giannina who actually is Maradona’s daughter and even though they enjoyed 4 years of marriage and a son named: Benjamin, the Manchester City player had other things in mind.

In October, Diego Maradona turned 53 years old and in the day of his birthday he took a hit out on his former son-in-law.

“He’s a wimp, who I don’t even want to name,” Maradona told Argentine radio.

“I spoke to Benjamin on Skype two days ago and he said to me: ‘Grandpa if I don’t see you, happy birthday’. I began to cry.”

Despite having problems in his personal life, Sergio Aguero continues being one of the more influential players for Manchester City as he is their main goal scoring player.

His success with City has led to him being awarded with the Barclays Player of the Month in October. He started the month in a great fashion by scoring a goal against Everton and the following week scoring 2 goals and creating the assist for David Silva’s goal as Manchester City battled against West Ham.

He concluded the month by netting against Chelsea despite losing 2-1. All of those feats helped the Argentine earn the Barclays award and does not show any signs of slowing down or stopping in any way.

His partnership with Alvaro Negredo and David Silva make the team become one the most efficient not only in the Premier League but in Europe as they hope to make a challenge for the Champions League.

There is no doubt that the move that Manchester City made for the former Athletic Madrid was one of their best signings ever.

CITY AIM HIGH

Despite winning the league and the FA Cup in the last three years, Manchester city have been very poor in the Champions league. They have been knocked out at the group stages in the last two seasons, which have also been the first time they have been in this competition.

As a result of their poor performance in Europe, manager Roberto Mancini lost his job at the end of last season. He has been replaced by South American Manuel Pellegrini, who has a reputation for doing well in Europe. He has managed to guide relatively unknown teams like Villarreal and Malaga to the latter stages of the competition.

In Mancini’s defence, City had one of the toughest groups in the last two seasons. This time around, it is no different because they will be in the group along with the holders of the competition – Bayern Munich. CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen are the other teams in the competition. City will be beginning their campaign with an away match against Viktoria Plzen, who are making their debut in the Champions league. Striker Sergio Aguero thinks that the team will be able to finally do well in this competition because of the signings they have made in the summer.

“The Champions League sometimes allows semi-surprises. Dortmund were finalists last year and Chelsea in 2012 – they were good teams and tactically well-organised but were certainly not considered the best at the beginning. We have Bayern again, but we also play CSKA and Viktoria. Get past the first stage and, with luck, you can get to the final,” said Aguero. City have spent close to £ 100 million in strengthening the team after the departures of Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli in the last six months.
However, they have started their league campaign with indifferent form.

AGUERO SIGNS

Manchester City only recently managed to get star striker Sergio Aguero to sign a one-year extension to his already existing contract. As a result, the Argentine still has two years left on his deal with the Premier league outfit.

However, City could be set for a bid from Real Madrid, who have held a long-standing interest in the player from his days at its rivals Atletico Madrid. Real were unable to sign him back in those days due to the 24-year-old playing for Atletico Madrid. Now, they will be able to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu without facing any backlash from the fans.

City have already lost two major strikers in the form of Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez over the course of six months to AC Milan and Juventus respectively. It will be interesting to see if they will entertain any bid from the Spanish club that would see them be extremely vulnerable up front. Even now, they have only two major strikers in the form of Edin Dzeko and Aguero. They have been linked with the likes of Radamel Falcao and Edinson Cavani, but failed to get both of them. Most recently, they are believed to have been looking at Sevilla striker Negredo.

If Real Madrid lose Argentine ace Gonzalo Higuain before the end of this transfer window, then it could see the Spanish club making an official offer for Aguero. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti only has two major strikers in his squad – Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain.

Ancelotti, though, can resort to using Cristiano Ronaldo as the main striker. Yet, they were very much interested in signing a new striker if they lose Higuain. Arsenal, Juventus, and Napoli are interested in the services of the 25-year-old, who could cost around £ 25 million and is widely expected to leave the Santiago Bernebeu out.

AGUERO WILL STAY ON

Manchester City have managed to convince Sergio Aguero to extend his contract with the former Premier league champions amidst reported interest from Spanish club Real Madrid.

Aguero has been on the transfer targets of Real Madrid for a long time, but they have not made a move for the 24-year-old due to his connections with Atletico Madrid. However, he has spent the last two seasons at Manchester City and Real Madrid reckon that it is a good time to sign the striker.

The striker has been a huge success at the Etihad stadium since his £ 38 million move from Atletico Madrid. His biggest contribution for the team came at the end of the 2011-12 season when his injury time goal helped Manchester City win the league title for the first time in 44 years. The 24-year-old signed a five-year contract when he originally arrived from Atletico Madrid. Now, he has signed a one-year extension to the existing deal. Hence, he will remain at the club until 2017.

Aguero has said that he is extremely delighted to sign the contract extension because he is extremely happy at the club. He is hoping that there are several more moments like the league victory and FA Cup success to come in the future.
“I’m very happy at City and I feel very appreciated. It’s been barely two years since I’ve arrived and sometimes I feel like I’ve been here for all my life. I have a fantastic relationship with the fans. That always reminds me of our title and that goal against QPR. Now I am looking forward to next season and pushing hard to win the title again,” said Aguero on the official website of the club. The striker has 47 goals in the 88 matches as he has played for City.

REASONS TO BE CAUTIOUS

The Brighton manager Gus Poyet has revealed that he has reasons to be cautious ahead of the match with Crystal Palace in the championship.

Brighton will be taking on Crystal Palace knowing that they need to be at their best in order to maintain the push for the play-offs positions. The team are just one place below the play-off position, but there are several teams involved in the fight for the promotion. Brighton managed to put together a great run of form only a few weeks ago. However, they come into the Crystal Palace match without a victory in the last three.

This includes two back-to-back defeats at the hands of Bolton and Barnsley. Crystal Palace are one of the most attacking teams in the league. This has been pointed out by the Brighton manager, who has said that his opponent Ian Holloway is someone who likes playing attacking football. He also prefers utilising a lot of forwards in his team. Hence, the defenders need to be extremely alert in order to get three points from this home fixture. Crystal Palace managed a thumping 3-0 win over Brighton when the two sides met each other earlier in the season. Poyet has also said that he tried his best to bring a striker on loan during the January transfer window.

“Ian Holloway likes to play many, many forwards. You need to manage that situation and take advantage of their weaknesses. You need to be smart, organised and take your chances. They have been winning games in the last two or three weeks and not totally deserving to win. Their keeper [Julian] Speroni has been outstanding and has been one of their key players, and we know Glenn Murray has been scoring for fun,” said Poyet ahead of the match with Crystal Palace.

Soccer Safari online review

Football-themed slots need to offer something really out of the ordinary if they are to get noticed, because there are just so many of them.

This is because slots themselves are the most popular form of online casino gaming, while football is the most popular sport in many parts of the world – making games that combine the two a natural option for developers. One football slot that has succeeded thanks to its quirkiness, amongst other things, is Soccer Safari. So just what do lovers of football and gaming get from this particular slot?

Well to start with, it is a non-progressive five-reel video slot with 30 pay lines, and it offers fans of online casino gaming a pretty decent maximum cash jackpot of $8000 equivalent. It also includes most of the other features that online casino fans have come to expect from modern slots, like wild and scatter symbols and a free spins feature that can increase their payout, but the actual premise behind Soccer Safari is quite unlike virtually any other slot.

It is an amusing idea that centres on a goofy group of animals competing in a World Cup-style tournament deep in the African jungle, and the video graphics offered by the slot really bring this premise to life.

This is enhanced by the screen display of a huge football arena, and the character of the elephant performs the role of commentator on the football action. Download here to also find a great football-based bonus game, that requires the player to take shots from different angles, continuing until you either score three times, one of the shots is saved by the lion in goal or you miss the target completely.

This all makes it great for football fans who want to combine their love of the game with a laugh and the chance to win a bit of money, and together this makes it a guaranteed winner. Furthermore, the idea behind it is so funny and unusual that, even if you aren’t much of a football fan, you are still likely to find playing Soccer Safari a lot of fun.

LESSONS LEARNT

Football betting is a great way to stay involved in the sport and support your favourite team. Of course, it helps to do a little research first, especially if you are not very familiar with the coach and players.

Sometimes you just want to support your team, and that is fine; but sometimes you will want to have a more intelligent flutter, and in that case, reading up a bit about the team’s latest successes might be a worthwhile activity. More than anything, though, you will want to have fun.

When you start betting on football, you should try to heed certain football related words of advice. First of all, football bets can be complex so learn the terminology and how to place a football bet and, most important, learn how the odds work. The very basic football bets – and the ones that beginners should start out with – are on the results of a match and on the number of goals.

You can go online and find sites that are happy to explain football punting to you. Also, if you’re a football fan already, say, of the Premier League, then stick to Premier League bets; there’s no need to look around the globe for a side to bet on when your favourite team is in your “back yard.”

WINDWARDS HELD BY MALIBU

In Saturday’s non-league battle, the visiting Malibu Sharks soccer squad scored a close 1-0 triumph over the Windward Wildcats.

The Sharks (4-2) will now prepare for their battle against Pacifica (Oxnard, CA). The Tritons come into the non-league battle with a 1-1 record. In their last battle, Pacifica St. Bonaventure (Ventura, CA), 2-2, in a non-league battle.

The Wildcats (1-1) will now prepare for their battle against Paraclete (Lancaster, CA). The Spirits come into the non-league battle with a 1-3 record.

MORE THAN JUST SOCCER

The Windward Soccer Club Volcanoes do more than kick around a ball: The players have just completed two weekends kick-starting Kailua into a cleaner, healthier place to live.

“To fulfill our commitment for the grant from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, we had to give back to the community,” explained Karen Igarashi, the club’s chief fundraiser and soccer mom.“The children decided on what they wanted to do.”

The $5,000 grant, the foundation’s first-ever award from its Windward Youth Activities Fund, goes toward the HYSA club’s soccer training equipment for 10 teams of 140 players, ranging in age from 6 to 13.

LOVE SIGNS FOR REAL SALT LAKE

HYSA would like to congratulate two former Hawaii Youth Soccer Association members and veteran’s of HYSA’s Olympic Development Program.
Nick Love, a 2007 Punahou School graduate, from Kaneohe Hawaii, was selected in the 3rd round of the MLS Supplemental Draft, by Real Salt Lake. Love attended Gonzaga University in Washington.

Love helped lead his Windward Soccer Club & Kailua FC teams to 4 US Youth Soccer Far West Regionals after winning the Hawaii State Cup while also participating in the HYSA Olympic Development Program.

Kekoa Osorio, a 2007 Kamehameha Schools- Kapalama graduate, from Kapolei Hawaii was selected in the 2nd round of the MLS Supplemental Draft by FC Dallas.
Osorio attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas and will be reunited with his college coach, the great Shellas Hyndman. Osorio led his Real Hawaii FC ’89 Boys to 7 Hawaii State Cup Championships and participated in the Far West Regionals each time.
Osorio was also a decorated member of HYSA ODP, being selected to the USYS Region IV ODP Teams from 2003 to 2006. Kekoa was also selected to the US Soccer U18 Men’s National Team in 2006.