After spending about $3.5 billion in buying and paying players and coaches since taking over English Premier League club Chelsea nine years ago, Roman Abramovich is still spending. The Russian billionaire owner has just signed Brazilian international forward ‘Hulk’ from Portuguese club Porto for a cost of approximately $58 million. Both teams have agreed to the transfer and the player just needs to pass a physical before all the paperwork can be put to bed.

It’s believed that Chelsea won’t have any problem paying Hulk’s wages and the 25-year-old will be set to play in August when the new season gets underway. It was reported that Hulk had an escape clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if another team paid 100 million Euros for him (US$123 million). However, Chelsea was the only team to put in a serious bid and Porto was willing to let him go at a 50 per cent discount.

In case you’re wondering, the right winger/striker’s given name is Givanildo Vieira de Souza, but was given his nickname because he looks like actor Lou Ferrigno, who portrayed the Incredible Hulk on television. Abramovich also splashed out close to $50 million a few days earlier when he signed 21-year-old midfielder Eden Hazard from French club Lille. Hazard is a Belgian international attacking midfielder who was also being courted by Manchester City and Manchester United.

But while Chelsea is busy signing more players, the club still doesn’t have a permanent manager in place. Roberto Di Matteo took over during the season on an interim basis after Andre Vilas Boas was fired. Di Matteo then took the club on an incredible ride by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup and taking out German team Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout to be crowned the European Champions League winners.

Chelsea has lost some players since the end of the season though, as striker Didier Drogba announced he was leaving to play in China and the team also released forward Salomon Kalou and fullback Jose Bosingwa. Abramovich has gone down this road before though, when he signed striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool for a few million dollars more than he bought Hulk for. However, Torres has proven to be a bust at Chelsea so far with just 12 goals in 67 games.

Hulk brings a good scoring record with him, but so did Torres. The Brazilian had 57 goals for Porto over the past two seasons in 91 games and set up another 36. It’s believed he will replace Drogba in Chelsea’s lineup, but may play more as a winger while Torres gets another chance to prove his worth by playing as a center forward.

Chelsea attempted to buy hulk last year, but Porto wouldn’t budge on their initial asking price. Porto had the option of keeping him, but he could have walked away for nothing as a free agent at the end of next season. It’s been reported that Hulk’s weekly salary with Chelsea will be close to $200,000 a week.

1 genius against 5 idiots

The Andrea Pirlo exhibition at Euro 2012 began with a drop of the shoulder and an exquisite pass to set up Antonio Di Natale for Italy's opening goal of the tournament.

The Pirlo show opened against Spain, and and it will close against the reigning champions, too—in a final that promises to showcase four of the best passers on the planet.

Pirlo will go into the game as best player in tournament. His beguiling performances as Italy's midfield conductor have set the tone for their progress, and his touch and vision has been unsurpassed. Occasionally he's been otherworldly.

Those who watched Pirlo in action for Juventus last season won't be surprised. The player who left AC Milan  in 2011, after 10 years at the San Siro, was reborn. The "regista" reigned supreme.

Pirlo led Serie A with 13 assists from 37 appearances. He was the fulcrum for a team that went unbeaten in the league all season, and he would ultimately make Milan rue the day they let him walk away.

"I believed I was number one and I believe I have demonstrated it again this season," Pirlo said (Goal.com), after Juve won their first Italian title in nine years.

The 33-year-old carried that swagger and belief into Italy's campaign at Euro 2012. In Italy's opener against Spain, he produced a moment of devastating brilliance. Against Croatia, he curled home a sumptuous free kick. And in the games against the Republic of Ireland, England and Germany that followed, Pirlo took complete control.

Other players have contributed fine individual performances—not least Mario Balotelli against Germany—but there's no question Pirlo's influence has been the defining element of Italy's progress at Euro 2012.

Spain will be plotting a way to stop him in Sunday's final. "Players like Mario Balotelli can make you win a match, and players like Andrea Pirlo can make you win a tournament," said Gerard Pique on the eve of Euro 2012, as per Goal.com. "Pirlo is a great player who is capable of controlling any match."

The question for Spain is whether they deem Pirlo enough of a threat to dedicate a player to stopping him. As BBC footage demonstrated last night, Croatia found success in employing Mario Mandzukic as Pirlo's assigned enforcer in their Group C clash. During the time he was on duty, Pirlo's influence was severely limited.But if Spain don't even start a striker, or if that striker is the attack-minded Cesc Fabregas or Fernando Torresfor that matter, who would get the job?

Sergio Busquets might seem the most obvious candidate, but Pirlo plays so deep it would suck the Barcelona man out of position and create space in behind him.

More likely is that Spain will try to ensure their midfield talent pool sets the agenda. After all, in Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso, the Spanish have three men who can pick a pass pretty well themselves, and have done so to rampant success in recent years.

Xavi wasn't in control against Portugal. A calf injury may be partly to blame, but we haven't seen the best of him at Euro 2012. In truth, we haven't seen the best of Spain's midfield full stop at the tournament.

By the times they've been labored, and only in glimpses have Spain given us the dynamic, imaginative forward play we've come to expect from tiki-taka during their reign. If they slow things down against Italy, Spain will play right into their hands. And Pirlo could have a field day.

That's why we can expect Vicente Del Bosque to up the tempo in the Euro 2012 final. He'll want Spain's midfield pushing on and squeezing the space that Pirlo operates in—to keep Italy's maestro occupied in duties other than cutting his defense to ribbons with arrowed through balls.

Therein lies an obvious danger of course. If Spain do press, they'll be vulnerable to counterattacks, and as Pirlo has shown time and again at Euro 2012, he can spark those in his sleep.

Whatever unfolds on Sunday night, we can be sure the midfield battleground will be integral to the outcome. When you have the likes of Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Xavi, Alonso and Iniesta operating in one space, sparks of inspiration are certain to fly in the final of Euro 2012.

Kiev awaits a battle of the pass masters.

Euro 2012 has been a success in many ways but is still waiting for its first classic match in the knockout stages. If a good tournament wants to be remembered as a great one a lot depends on what happens in the Olympic Stadium here on Sunday and whether the two finalists can conjure up the occasion the competition probably deserves.

Spain against Italy certainly has the potential after what the two teams served up, as a kind of appetiser, when they had a first look at one another during the group stages in Gdansk three weeks ago. Spain demonstrated that night, as they have before and since, that they will almost certainly dominate the possession, but there are legitimate reasons for Italy to deduce that the holders can be at least vaguely susceptible to the right combination of smothering tactics and quick, incisive attacking.

Once, that is, Spain give the ball away, considering this has been the tournament, like no other, when they have out-passed their opponents, more than two to one. Spain have accumulated 3,417 passes so far, compared with 1,530 coming back the other way. It has been a one-way demonstration in the art of greedily keeping the ball, cherishing it as if it were made of bone china.

Cesare Prandelli's side had only 35% of possession in Gdansk but when they did have the ball they did at least pose a number of problems of their own. In fact, Spain's defence of the title could feasibly have begun as dispiritingly as their first match of the last World Cup (a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland). Antonio Di Natale had opened the scoring in Poland and at that point Italy would already have been ahead had Mario Balotelli not passed up a glorious chance. Balotelli dithered, Sergio Ramos had time to make the saving tackle and Cesc Fábregas scored for Spain within four minutes of Di Natale.

Three weeks on, Balotelli looks like a more confident striker coming to the end of the tournament than he did at the start and if that kind of opportunity comes his way again, one senses he will not be so generous this time. Although on second thoughts, don't bet your mortgage on it. The first lesson when it comes to Balotelli is that when things are going well in his life they tend to unravel. Prandelli has managed him excellently, getting the response to dropping him for the group match against the Republic of Ireland, but remember, this is Balotelli. Expect anything is probably the best ploy.

His improvement over the past three weeks, encapsulated in his semi-final goals against Germany, in particular the second (clocked at 75.9mph), does mark him out, however, as the most obvious threat to Spain's hopes of becoming the first nation to win three major football tournaments in succession.

So far there have been only glimpses of the Spanish one-touch, pass-them-into-submission football at its most devastating. For the most part, their keep-ball has been decorative, often in areas of the pitch that will not really hurt the other side. One telling statistic is that they have taken 58 passes in this tournament for every shot. In the previous World Cup, it was 44. At Euro 2008, 33. Opponents have been worn down rather than subjected to chance after chance. Italy have actually played with a commitment to attack that vindicates what many Italians feel about the popular perception of their team as being constructed on defence-minded principles — namely, that it is an unfair stereotype.

Yet Prandelli has also shown an astute tactical awareness and a willingness to change formation that is in complete contrast to, say, the rigid 4-4-2 with which England operated. In Italy's group game against Spain, Daniele De Rossi dropped back into defence in a 3-5-2 formation. He stayed there for the Croatia match but returned to the midfield as Prandelli reverted to a diamond formation, with Andrea Pirlo as its focal point. All indications are that for the final Prandelli will retain the diamond system that has produced Italy's better performances. De Rossi has been so impressive in midfield the manager must realise that it is too much of a loss to move him back.

So often against Spain the opposition manager will base his tactics around stopping the world champions. Prandelli needs to show caution, too, but can afford to be a little more adventurous given the width and penetration his team have shown in their past two games. To win, however, they will need to be clinical in front of goal, as they were against Germany but not as they were against England. Spain are simply too good and too restrictive for their opponents to waste chances.

"We don't expect to be in charge from the first to the last minute," Prandelli said. "We have a lot of respect for them, but we must take advantage of our moments. We will have to be at our top level because they are the best side in the world."

Otherwise this might be one of those rare occasions when Spain have to pay special attention to their opponents. When Manchester United have come up against Pirlo in Milan's colours, the ploy has been to keep Park Ji-sung close to him and not allow him time to dictate the tempo. England and Germany both resisted this option and, ultimately, it was a mistake. If Spain do likewise, Italy are playing with enough confidence to believe they can win this tournament for the first time since 1968.

Bila Malaysia nk g Euro.hmmmm.slurppp

True original football team

Melaka Negeri Bersejarah

Tempat tumpah darah kita

Dijunjung dengan sepenuh jiwa

Untuk maju dan jaya

Rakyat Melaka sudah bersatu padu

Berikrar taat setia

Jujur berkhidmat setiap masa

Melaka Maju Jaya

Ricardo Andrade Quaresma is a Portugal player who played for  Turkish Super Lig, Besiktas and Portugese National Team. His talent is being recognized for incorporating a repertoire of tricks into his style of play, including the rabona and trivela.

Quaresma started his career as football player at Sporting Lisbon where he plays an important role in Sporting’s  triumph in 2001 and 2002 season. The talent of the Portuguese being hyped across Europe and Barcelona was the destination for this skillful player to continue his career. The €6 million was probably one of the worst signing the Catalan side had ever made as Quaresma only made 10 starts appearance, scoring only one goal.He also miss 2004 Under 21- Championship.

In 2004 Barcelona splash a fee of €15 million for Porto playmaker Deco plus Quaresma as exchange part of the transfer fee. In Estadio do Dragao the Portuguese start with a flying colors as he scored in his debuted and netted the winning goals for FC Porto against Benfica in the Portugese Super Cup. He also contributed to Porto's dramatic win against Once Caldas in 2004 FIFA Intercontinental Cup.In 2009 Quaresma looking to revive his career as he loaned to English side Chelsea FC but he only play 4 gmaes while wasted his time watching game from bench.


In 2010, Quaresma signed for Besiktas for €7.3 million from Inter Milan

Cesare Prandelli is a great admirer of Spain's style but insists his side cannot afford to be cowed by their UEFA EURO 2012 final rivals. "We mustn't fear them," he said. "We're here on merit."

Cesare Prandelli recognises that his side must pass a stern examination when they take on Spain in the UEFA EURO 2012 final, but steadfastly believes Italy can emerge triumphant. "We mustn't fear them," he said. "We are here on merit and we will give it everything."

"We are very proud to have come so far" said the 54-year-old, who first expressed birthday wishes to Gioregio Napoletano, the Italian President who turned 86 today. "It makes you especially proud to represent you country, but when you're abroad I think you understand even more keenly than the people back home exactly what it means to fly the flag. Last night we had a game plan in place and the players executed it to perfection. The guys were extraordinary, we had very little time in training but we exploited what little time we had really well."

Though he admitted his players were exhausted after their efforts in reaching Sunday's final in Kyiv, Prandelli was optimistic about Italy's prospects of overcoming a free-flowing Spain side whose playing style he holds in the highest regard. "I'm hoping to prepare the team well even if we only have one day to do it. Just as we did with Germany we need to try to find their weak points and work on them.

"It won't be easy because Spain have been playing together for years, they won the last EURO and World Cup, and they are in the final again. This means they aren't just technically good, but they also have great moral and personal attributes that make them an example to us all. But we are here too. We have grown as the tournament has gone on."

The Azzurri played Spain in their opening match of the campaign, sharing a spirited 1-1 draw with Vicente del Bosque's side. Then, Antonio Di Natale gave them the lead which was quickly cancelled out by Cesc Fàbregas, and Prandelli believes his players have come on in leaps and bounds since that Group C fixture in Gdansk three weeks ago. "We have improved because since then we've been able to work in the field, work on our physical fitness and, psychologically speaking, now we're now a real side.

"We had a great first half against Spain and we must do that again," recalled Prandelli. "We must keep our balance, that's the secret. If we can distribute our resources in the right way then we have a chance. We need to show the right spirit but we must also have the right ideas. But it's not just about keeping our shape, it's also about attitude. We musn't fear them, we are here on merit, and now we have the desire to take it down to the wire and give it everything we have to win."

The 33-year old Azzuri player has been outstanding in Euro 2012.Pirlo who joined Juventus from AC Milan last season, has found his lost form back helping his club win the Seria A title after nine years. With 13 assists, Pirlo brought glory days back to the Turin based club. But his success did not end there as Cesare Prandelli named the former AC Milan playmaker in the 23-man squad for Ukraine-Poland Euro 2012.

Pirlo has also been tipped to win the Ballon d'Or, surpassing both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He has won Serie A title with Juventus this season with astonishing performance in this season.

Pirlo was too good for the likes England as well as favourites Germany. Against England the 33-year old midfielder completed 117 passes, (including extra-time) the most in the tournament. Pirlo's passing ability will be tested by Spain's midfield especially Xavi. Both players have reached the peak in their careers but are also the most influential players in their respective teams.

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