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Front runner

BLOG_TH — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:40:34 GMT

All eyes were on Rooney and Fabiano. But Brazil's newest star in the making never turns down an opportunity to shine.

With a point to prove, Nilmar attacked England’s back line on Saturday and showed the game-changing pace that will cause destruction in South Africa.

Speeding through the defence, Nilmar arrived first and angled a precise header past the keeper to take victory for Brazil.

Brazil’s forwards will set alight the South African stage. Nilmar wants to be one of them.

Peerless Pato

BLOG_TH — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:17:44 GMT

Games don’t come much bigger. That’s why they call it ‘Europe’s derby’. If you can make the difference on this stage, you know you’ve got greatness flowing through your veins.

Over to you Pato.

As the Rossoneri went toe-to-toe with their old rivals in Spain last night, the red-hot Brazilian scored twice. A tap-in to take the lead. And a searing volley two minutes from time to seal the historic win.

Just 20 years old. And getting better every day.

SEE PATO'S PAGE

Two minutes

BLOG_TH — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:22:02 GMT

In what was to be a routine match against Malawi, the Elephants left their biggest names on the bench and found themselves down 1-0 in the 63rd minute.

Enter Didier Drogba.

Two minutes on the pitch and the Ivorian superstar equalized, sending his homeland into the finals for the second successive time.

Two minutes.

Make the Difference.

Bendtner vs. Zlatan

BLOG_TH — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:31:21 GMT

Often football is most beautiful in its simplicity.

Sweden are 3 points behind Denmark. Win, and they could earn automatic qualification to South Africa.

Anything else sees them toughing it out in the play-offs. And that’s forgetting what happens in the other games.

Simple. Direct. Uncomplicated.

So both sides need goals. And each has a world-class striker poised to fire his team into the tournament. It’s Bendtner vs. Zlatan.

Get ready.

Arshavin vs. Özil

BLOG_TH — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:12:18 GMT

When the difference between automatic qualification for 2010 and scrapping it out in the play-offs is just one single point, a moment of genius is needed.

Two nations. Two born entertainers. Two moments of game-changing brilliance waiting to happen.

One spot to play for. It’s on.

Speed kills

BLOG_TH — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:04:08 GMT

Strikers are judged on goals.

But on Sunday, Drogba demonstrated the importance of every area of a centre forward’s game.

His electric pace and storming power laid on the two goals that gave his team all three points and left them standing at the top of the league.

Ronaldo rewrites history

BLOG_TH — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:32:04 GMT

Didn’t take him long.

After just four games in the white of Madrid, Cristiano has stamped his name in the club’s record books. Last night he became the first player ever to score in all of his first four games for the club.

Who knows what he’ll do in the next 34.

Strike fastest

BLOG_TH — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:00:04 GMT

Great players can Make the Difference almost immediately.

Within two minutes on Saturday, Ibrahimovic pulled off an audacious flick with the outside of his boot to spark a 5-2 rout of Atletico Madrid.

Zlatan doesn’t do tap-ins.

Business as usual

BLOG_TH — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:57:11 GMT

When all eyes are on you, what do you do?

If you’re Cristiano Ronaldo, you do what you’ve always done.

Just 27 minutes into his European debut, he fired in a trademark free kick. Then added another in the second half.

Same again next time?

Dead ball – buried

BLOG_TH — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:19:18 GMT

Sometimes you get a whole game. Sometimes a cameo. But when Ribery came on for Bayern, he took centre stage.

His inch-perfect free-kick put the German champions 3 up, kick-starting a 5-1 drubbing. Some players only need a second to make the difference.

Arshavin At The Wheel

BLOG_TH — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:25:46 GMT

Sometimes the difference maker in a game doesn’t show up on the score sheet, but he always appears in the memories of those who bear witness to his artistry. In Russia’s 3-1 victory against Wales on Wednesday, Andrei Arshavin did both, displaying his footballing brilliance in the offensive half of the field the entire match and collecting the decisive assist for the first goal. Riding the Arsenal midfielder’s relentless attack, his nation is well positioned for an invitation to South Africa.

There is no part of a match Arshavin cannot dominate. The road for any team to South Africa is strewn with obstacles, but for Russia, as long as their biggest star is driving, there always appears to be a path to victory.

Stamp your name on the team sheet

BLOG_TH — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:22:35 GMT

When everyone’s fighting for your position, there’s only one response – go on the pitch and make it yours.

Aaron Lennon showed last night he can be the difference on England’s right flank. An explosive run to earn the penalty, an inch-perfect cross for the second, fiendishly quick feet for the third, going agonisingly close to his first international goal.

In 80 glorious minutes, Lennon showed how to terrorize a left back, and make the right wing his own.

From Being the Difference, to Making the Difference

BLOG_TH — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:37:17 GMT

Last November, Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner was wearing his Pink Mercurial Vapors when he scored the decisive goal in their match against Dynamo Kiev. A substitution that was the Difference in the 88th minute, securing their advance into the Quarter Finals of Europe's elite competition.

Bendtner, who also plays for the Danish National Team, has a hearty resolve off the pitch, as well.

This weekend, Nicklas and Team Rynkeby – a cycling team that supports Børnecancerfonden, a charitable foundation for children diagnosed with cancer – will auction his Pink Mercurial Vapors on eBay. All proceeds will go directly to this organization.

Nicklas and his Arsenal teammates have visited child cancer patients throughout England several times, and he quickly became an advocate for this cause.

“Our visits have touched me deeply. It is so hard for the whole family when children are affected by a disease like this. Therefore, it is also incredibly admirable, when organizations such as Børnecancerfonden takes on the responsibility for helping children with cancer,” says Bendtner.

Ronaldo’s Rebirth

BLOG_TH — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:25:38 GMT

All hands on deck and all eyes on one man. Every football fan in the world had a thought to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Spanish debut, and it would be understandable for even the consensus world player of the year to be a bit nervous. But if you tuned in for failure, you don’t know this coolest of competitors.

In the 35th minute, with the eyes of the world upon him, Ronaldo stepped to the penalty spot. A deep breadth, a swipe of a sleeve to catch the sweat from his face. Then no hesitation. A bullet barely caught on camera whizzed across the grass and passed the outstretched arms of a goal keeper who even guessed correctly, diving exactly where the ball had been. Past tense, had been. There was no stopping Ronaldo’s perfect penalty strike, and given the moment, perfect can’t pay it due justice.

Call it a rebirth or second life or the continuation of career, Ronaldo appears ready to write the next chapter. Taking deep breaths, wiping the sweat from our brows, we’ll all be watching, watching history.

Three and easy

BLOG_TH — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:50:30 GMT

Three minutes. That’s all Arshavin took to Make the Difference last night. Bursting off the bench, he slotted home his first goal of the season to send Arsenal marching into the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition.