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Letter From Berbatov to Sir Alex

Dear Sir Alex,

Thank you. Thank you for making me the player I am today. Thank you for making me the person I’ve always wanted to be. Thank you for giving me the chance to play for Manchester United and the opportunity to serve your club.

At the age of 27, you brought me on board as your costliest signing ever and I vowed to myself that I’d never let you down. Through all these years, you‘ve been there with me, whenever I scored a goal, whenever I got injured or whenever I was going through a rough patch in my career.

My first goals for Manchester United came in a 3-0 away win to Aalborg BK in the Champions League group stage and at Old Trafford, I scored for the first time in United’s colours in a 4-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. From then on, there was no stopping and when Manchester United won the Premier League trophy in May 2009, I was one proud Bulgarian, and daresay the only one to win an English Title.

There was a time in my second season when fans were calling for my head because I wasn’t performing well and the media too had written me off and called me a failure. But when you said that you have faith in me and my abilities; that gave me the necessary boost I needed. In the 33 games I played that season, I netted the ball 12 times and you were happy.

And that was true. The hat-trick against Liverpool proved that there can be only one manager like Sir Alex Ferguson and being a part of his squad is a great honour.

I dedicated that hat-trick to you, and you deserved it. “I always tried to become my best, the boss always believed in me. Today my performance is for him as well, he always pushes me to be the player he wants me to be. It was 2-0, then 2-2 and we were playing Liverpool so the boss was going to be very furious after the game. We scored the third goal; we deserved it more than them. 3-2 for us is a good result –everybody is going to be happy.”

Personal accolades mean nothing when it comes to the trophies I’ve won by being a part of Manchester United. 2 Premier League medals, 1 Football League Cup, 2 FA Community Shields, 1 FIFA Club World Cup and the runner-up UEFA Champions League Medal – list these awards down and you won’t be in any denial of our club being the strongest.

I may not have been the most prolific player in the team, but I know I gave my best to the club I love the most. Yes, disappointment did come in the form of not being selected to start our Champions League final against Barcelona and not getting enough play-time this season, but I know you have your reasons for that.

It difficult to imagine a life without Manchester United; waking up in the morning and not wearing my United colours to come to practice; not kidding around with the boys in the dressing room; not listening to your prep talks during half-time; not going out there on the field and hoping to score. There are too many memories attached to Old Trafford.

But before I can term myself as a ‘Manchester United player’, I am a footballer first. My heart lies in playing the game and serving my team. And with this very heavy heart I would like to tell you to either let me play or let me move out gracefully. It was my dream to get old and tire in the United shirt, but that dream will perhaps remain a dream.

All I can now ask for is to be a part of the team that wins their 20th Premier League trophy and hopefully, that’ll happen this season itself. You’ve been good to me all this while. Allow me to repay the club with whatever little I can in the time I’m here.

Thanking you for everything you’ve done,

Yours sincerely,

Dimitar Berbatov

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Story of Christiano Ronaldo

"I have to thank my old friend Albert Fantrau for my succes. We played together for the same team in the U-18 championship. When Sporting Lisbon's manager came to see us he said that : "Who score's more goals will come in our academy"".

"We won that match 3-0. I scored the first goal then Albert scored the second with a great header. But the third goal was impressive for all of us . Albert was 1 on 1 against the goalkeeper , he skilled the goalkeeper and i was running in front of him. All he has to do was to score but he passed to me and i scored the third goal , so i went to the Sporting Lisbon academy. After the match i met him and i said to him Why ? He said that "You are better than me"

"Many journalists went to Albert's house and asked him if it was a true story. He said yes. He also said that his career as a player after the match ended and now is unemployed.

"But how did you build this house so great, you have a car? You seem like a rich man. You also keep your family. From where did this come from? '

Albert more proudly replied: "It is by Ronaldo! "

Viva Ronaldo

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

West Brom 1 United 2

The champions kicked off the Barclays Premier League season with a hard-fought victory at West Brom, repeating last season's 2-1 success thanks to a strike from Wayne Rooney and an own goal by Steven Reid.

Gallery : Community Shield in Dressing Room

United Gave Noisy Neighbours a 'Footballing Lesson' Says Rooney

Wayne Rooney last night claimed Manchester United gave their noisy ­neighbours a ­“footballing lesson”.
Rooney insisted United’s stirring comeback, capped by Nani’s injury-time winner, put big-spending Manchester City firmly in their place and proved they will be the team to beat again this season.
“This shows who the best team is. All game we ­dominated. The difference the young lads made was outstanding,” said Rooney.
“We never know when a game is finished, we took them apart. The scoreline is deserved. We’re champions and we’re the team to beat. We want to prove that. They are wanting to try and fight us for that title and today I think there was only one team that was going to win.

“We dominated the first half and they had five minutes when they scored two goals from nowhere but we showed our character to come back and win.”
Rooney then later tweeted: “I think today was a footballing lesson. Great win for the champions.” Sir Alex Ferguson famously branded City their “noisy ­neighbours” and once again his champions silenced their great rivals with a stunning fight back from 2-0 down at half time.
Ferguson’s victorious team had an average age of 22 at one point during the second half and the United boss said: “For us, I think it just confirms what I’ve thought.
“I brought Tom ­Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and Mame Diouf back to the club [from being on loan]. They’re good players and the addition of Phil Jones and David de Gea gives us a good future. We’re very confident with this group of young players.”
Ferguson defended new £17million keeper De Gea who was arguably at fault for both of City’s goals.
“Keeper had no chance with the first,” said Ferguson. “The second goal, the ball swerved a bit and just caught the keeper on the wrong foot but he’s no problem.”

Points of Interest from the Community Shield Final

 

 

This Community Shield between Manchester City and Manchester United was eventful, to say the least. It used to be called the Charity Shield, and let's just say that there was no charity in this game.
Micah Richards of City, for example, was not afraid to put himself about, and gave many free-kicks from his position outside the box. Anderson and Edin Dzeko both received yellow cards in the first half for a scuffle on the halfway line.
After the first 20 minutes, two things were made explicit. The first was that United were looking to dominate the game and were not holding back on the tackling front.
Secondly, they were not found wanting pressure-wise, pressing high up against Manchester City and playing one-twos in little space. In the first half, Ashley Young particularly stood out. His distribution and his runs were impeccable and well-timed.
United had all the possession and all the territory, and City were on their back foot. However, in the 38th minute, Joleon Lescott scored a header, putting away a cross from David Silva.
United followed up with more pressure, recovering well from the goal. Things only got worse for United, though, as Edin Dzeko lashed in a long-ranger in the 45th minute. United now went in 2-0 down at halftime.
As soon as play resumed, United looked likely to score and dominated the match yet again. Sure enough, Chris Smalling scored off of a Young free kick. United came in waves after that goal, with lack of defensive regard.They got the equalizer they needed, as Nani finished off a Barcelona-esque team move.
Deep into extra time, United sealed the game with Nani scoring a George Best-esque goal, sidestepping the keeper and finishing after a failed block by Vincent Kompany.

Community Shield: City 2 United 3

Man Utd   3

Smalling (52), Nani (58, 90)

Man City   2

Lescott (38), Dzeko (45)

7 August 2011 Wembley | Attendance: 77,169

New players, same old spirit. Sir Alex Ferguson handed four players competitive debuts at Wembley in the Reds' injury-time Community Shield victory on Sunday, but despite the fresh faces United displayed the same never-say-die attitude that has become the hallmark of the manager's modern teams. 

United: De Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand (Jones 46), Vidic (Evans 46), Evra (Rafael 72); Nani, Carrick (Cleverley 46), Anderson, Young; Rooney, Welbeck (Berbatov 89)Subs not used: Lindegaard, Park, Berbatov