European Super Football

Chelsea 2 - 0 Fluminense Chelsea advanced to the Club World Cup final with a composed win over Fluminense Author | Lewis W Stadium | MetLife Stadium Joao Pedro marked his full debut with a brace against the club he supported as a boy.  A closer look at what happened The £55m signing from Brighton opened the scoring after 18 minutes, curling a precise effort beyond Fluminense goalkeeper Fabio after Thiago Silva failed to deal with Pedro Neto’s cross. His second, a thunderous strike that clipped the underside of the bar, came 11 minutes into the second half and effectively ended the contest. Christopher Nkunku might have extended the lead, while at the other end Marc Cucurella was alert to clear Hercules’ goalbound effort and substitute Everaldo drew a strong save. The Brazilian side were left frustrated after referee François Letexier reversed a first-half penalty decision for a handball by Trevoh Chalobah following a VAR review. But once Chelsea had edged ahead, they rarely loo...

It's time to explore another icon of the football world. This time it's Romário. Early career Romário was spotted playing for Olaria, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was first taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama, where once promoted to the senior team, he won two state league titles in 1987 and 1988. This earned his first call-ups to the national team. He quickly came to international attention, becoming the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament. Move to Europe Like all exciting Brazilian attacking players, he was a man who wanted to prove himself in Europe. Shortly after the 1988 Olympics,  he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Eredivisie in 1989, 1991 and 1992. He started to develop a cult following across the continent, and it wasn't long before some of the world's biggest clubs were interested in signing him.  After a lot of deliberation, his next destination was to be Barcelona. The video below explores some of the best...

This player might be Brazilian, but like his friend Ronaldo, his impact across Europe was huge.  Icons: Ronaldo (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Let's explore Rivaldo's fantastic career A brief introduction Rivaldo played mainly as an attacking midfielder. However, he was also used as a second striker and occasionally as a wide midfielder or a winger. He was renowned for his bending free kicks, bicycle kicks, feints, and powerful ball striking from a distance. Rivaldo also had the ability to both score and create goals. In 1999, he won the Ballon d'Or and was named FIFA World Player of the Year. With his huge success, he is one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or. Early career  He started his career in 1991 with Brazilian club Santa Cruz, moving on to spells at Mogi Mirim, a loan spell at Corinthians, and Palmeiras. People across the major European leagues were impressed, and it was inevitable that a move was...

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, commonly known as Ronaldo, is our latest football icon.  He played for some of the world's biggest clubs and was a huge icon during the 1990's and 2000's. A brief introduction to 'The Phenomenon'. Nicknamed The Phenomenon and R9, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, Ronaldo had a huge impact on a generation of forwards and attacking players that followed him. His individual accolades include being named FIFA World Player of the Year three times and winning the Ballon d'Or twice. <More football icons> The start of his career. He started at Cruzeiro and moved to PSV in 1994. He joined Barcelona in 1996 for a then-world record transfer fee, and at 20 years old, he was named the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the youngest recipient of the award. Despite being a fan favourite and developing an affinity with the clu...

It's time to explore some iconic World Cup moments. First up, it's a flashback to the 1998 final Background to the final  The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Brazil finished first in Group A, with two wins and one defeat, after which they beat Chile in the round of 16, Denmark in the quarter-finals and the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals. France finished top of Group C with three wins, before defeating Paraguay in the round of 16, Italy in the quarter-final, and Croatia in the semi-final.  The match itself The final took place in front of 75,000 supporters, with an estimated 1.7 billion watching on television, and was refereed by Said Belqola from Morocco. Before the match, speculation surrounded the fitness of striker Ronaldo, who was originally left out of Brazil's starting line-up, only to be restored to the team before kick-off.  Frnce dominate the early stages ...