Soccer Roundup (9/9/2012): The Weekly Boot

Photo courtesy of goal.blogs.nytimes.com. Dempsey (left) and Messi (right). Two greats, together in pursuit.

By Ben Liebing

Let’s start with the little man, Lionel Messi:

It’s only fair that we start with the best, and end with the rest. Having been the butt of criticism over the past several years that he performs miraculously with his club team, but bombs while playing for his own country, Lionel Messi did just a bit to quiet the naysayers down.

This weekend, while playing a World Cup qualifier against rival South American country Paraguay, the “little man” from Argentina netted yet another feat of footballing genius. By now commonly regarded as the best player in the world, and by some (Argentinians, and myself) regarded as the best player of all time, Messi this weekend showed the international community once again what all the hype is about.

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Soccer Roundup (9/2/2012): The Weekly Boot

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured above) as usual played an instrumental role in leading Real Madrid to victory at the Supercopa.

By Ben Liebing

Ben Liebing is a Cincinnati native with a passion for the world, and the world’s sport. While living overseas, the infectious soccer culture that infects the planet outside of America got a hold of his fanhood. He was exposed to the “beautiful game” and hasn’t looked back. When Ben says “football,” he means soccer…by which he means football. But you get it.

This week in the world of the sport that most of the world refers to as football (a ballgame actually played with feet, not hands and conical pigskins), but which Americans term SOCCER…

THE SPANISH SUPERCUP:

Much to my dismay, Real Madrid walked away with the cup after getting the better of  FC Barcelona in the 2^nd leg of the aggregate match, which was at the Bernebau in Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo was in fine form – especially as he scored early by taking a long ball at midfield, flicking it forward over his head with his heel, and grounding one past Victor Valdez, the keeper for Barça. It was one of those plays you see only from the very best in the world; and from them, maybe only a handful of times per season. Well done CR7.

“Death of Gillette?”

This summer truly seems to be marking the end of an era.  A definite changing of the guard.  And with the end of this era, could possibly come the end or a new beginning for the major personal hygiene brand within P&G called Gillette.  For those of you who do not remember.  Gillette has had some major commercials over the years.  These commercials have featured mega stars such as Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, and Thierry Henry.  Many have come to associate Gillette with “greatness.”  And rightfully so, with the likes of superstars like Woods, Federer, and Henry as the major ambassadors of the brand, until recently. 

These 3 major Gillette ambassadors (Federer, Henry, Woods) are no longer the mega stars that they once were. It could be the end of an era for Gillette and the sporting world.

Tiger Woods is now the most well-known homewrecker in the world.  He is almost as recognizable for his sexual exploits as he is for his amazing golf accomplishments, which include 14 Major Titles.  Last week he shot an abysmal 18 strokes over par earning the worst finish of his career at Bridgestone and will need a top 16 finish next weekend to even hope to make the Ryder Cup team.  Can he come back in a similar fashion to the way Kobe Bryant did after his similar type of marital issues?  Roger Federer has now fallen to his lowest ranking in nearly 7 years (#3).  He also has been unable to make the semifinals in his 2 Grand Slam appearances this summer (French Open and Wimbledon).  Federer is now 29, which is close to dinosaur age on the ATP.  Thierry Henry has been under a microscope of speculation since his “hand ball heard around the world” to help France survive a very tough contest against Ireland in November.  This highly disputed match helped clinch a birth in this past summer’s World Cup.  And we all know how the World Cup went for France this year as the team due to inner turmoil thoroughly embarrassed the proud country.  Henry has since retired from international competition and recently signed with the New York Red Bulls of the MLS.  

So as you can tell, these Gillette ambassadors have struggled as of late.  Should they stop using or representing the Gillette product?  Should Gillette stop using them for their promotional ads?  Could Derek Jeter be the next major Gillette star to fail? I mean he is getting married in November, which will mark the end of a completely different type of era.  All I know is, these 3 superstars are no longer the superstars of yesteryear.  Times are changing.  It is definitely the end of an era.  

Who will be the next big superstars?  Should Gillette possibly start utilizing Lebron James, Rafael Nadal, Lionel Messi as their big time ad men?  

Maybe Federer, Woods, and Henry should start using the Schick  Quattro.  

Stay tuned for the next edition of TheSportsKraze.  

-TheSportsKraze

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