Young Talent – Douglas Costa

Last summer Douglas Costa became a big star on the YouTube talent circuit, he was touted as the next Ronaldinho. He had been linked heavily to Manchester Utd as an “obvious” replacement to Cristiano Ronaldo.

In the end, rumours about his attitude and problems in his private life contributed to Alex Ferguson passing on the opportunity and instead signing up Obertan.  He had also been linked with moves to Real Madrid and Juventus in August 2009.

At Gremio he only played a handful of games during his 2 year tenure, however he appeared to be a bright, skilful player with a good footballing brain with awareness of his and his teammates positioning on the pitch.

He has also featured often for the Brazil U20 team, both at the World Cup in Egypt last year and at the 2009 U20 South American Championships playing a part in their path to the final and victory respectively.

Against Fulham on Thursday night, he came on for fellow Brazilian Jadson with Fulham, somewhat fortuitously, 2-1 up. He looked very bright and skilful with plenty of pace. I was particularly pleased to see him attacking Stephen Kelly and not being afraid of trying a trick or two at this level.

He pushed the full back and offered plenty of support to Luis Adriano up front when the ball was on the opposing wing. He had much hunger and was constantly demanding the ball when free and in space.

His January transfer to Shaktar (€6m) seems the perfect move for a young talent such as Douglas, the Ukranian side play a slick, to feet brand of passing football that will suit his style and the quality of other Brazilian players at the club will not only push his abilities but also ensure that he settles well in a country far far away from his native land.  I look forward to seeing more from him in the future.

Links: -

http://www.douglascosta.com.br/default.asp

Uefa Cup Final 2009 - Preview

On Wednesday 20th May 2009 we will witness the last ever final of the Uefa Cup as we know it. The successor to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which ran between 1955 and 1971, the Uefa cup was traditionally a competition for the runners up in a nation’s league however since merging with the Cup Winner’s Cup in 1999 it also invites the winners of certain domestic trophies to take part in the competition. In England these are the League and FA cup.

This year’s finalists Werder Bremen and Shakhtar Donetsk have not had an easy ride to the final and they have had to earn their plaudits as any finalist should.

Both sides have progressed via elimination from the group phase of the Champions League. Shakhtar faced Spurs, CSKA Moscow, Marseille and Dynamo Kyiv en-route and Werder took on the might of A.C. Milan, St. Etienne, Udinese and Hamburg.

Shakhtar have had a tendency to leave things late in the majority of their games in the competition this year, scoring only 2 of their 12 goals in the first half. Both coming against Marseille in the Quarter finals. Perhaps this is an indication of a good fitness routine being maintained throughout the Ukrainian winter break (December-March) and the freshness that comes with such a break.

Bremen on the other hand have had a disappointing season in the Bundesliga, currently sitting in 10th place and can only achieve a 7th place finish at best. This will leave them without any European football next season a situation that I’m sure they will do their best to counter. They have always been a very attacking side and this is very evident given their goal tally, 64 in the league and 15 in the Uefa Cup, however they have been blighted by their leaky defence letting in a bucketful of goals. Conceding over 2 goals in every tie in the competition this season.

Winning the trophy should help ensure that they enjoy the benefits of a European campaign. Shakhtar will not have this worry on their mind as they sit comfortably in second place in the Ukrainian Premier League and will enter the qualifying rounds for the Champions League and should at least guarantee them a place in the Group phase of the Europa League.

A more illustrious reason for both sides to go hammer and tong on Wednesday evening is that neither side has won the competition in their history. Bremen have won the Cup Winner’s Cup in 1992 but for Shakhtar this is their first appearance at the final of any competition at this level and a win would be a great achievement for them.

I think that despite Bremen’s attacking prowess, they are coming to the end of a long and arduous season, they have leaked goals and Shakhtar while nowhere near as potent up front as the Germans will be in their stride after the freshening winter break and their league form at the moment has been spotless. I will have to go for a 2-1 Shakhtar victory in normal time.