The Young and the Relentless

Youth and leadership. Two words that don’t normally go together. On rare occasions, however, you find an athlete who performs equally well on the field and in the clubhouse. Someone who scores when the world is watching and works just as hard when it isn’t. Someone whose age means less to teammates than the number of times he’s gone to battle, made the tackle and composed his squad with vision and tranquility.

For the young guns at Arsenal, that person is now 21-year-old Catalan midfielder Cesc Fabregas. When Arsenal suits up for Champions League today, he’ll be wearing the armband and trying to right a ship that’s momentarily lost its way. Is all lost at Cesc’s side? Not even close. They’ve got the talent to compete against the best in the world. If they regroup together, the second half of the season will outshine everything that went awry in the first.

While all the drama is in England these days, last weekend's action took place in Milan. After beating Juventus, Inter Milan is now three points clear of their cross-town rivals atop Serie A. Inter’s affair was tightly contested and very physical. Could have gone either way. The Rosseneri really should have made up more ground with a win after Pato leveled and Ronaldinho then whipped in an ill free-kick (BTW, who’s hotter, Rooney or Ronny?), but an unlucky handball in the box undid the comeback that should have been. With the Brazilian contingent heating up the AC unit, midwinter in Milan should be where it’s at.

And the U.S. National Team? They’ve got Italy in their future as well. News from South Africa has our American boys pitted against Brazil, Egypt and the former WC champions in Group B of the 2009 Confederations Cup. Tough draw, but it’s just about the best preparation possible for 2010, which they’ll be attending provided that they finish in the top three of the CONCACAF hexagonal.