Nice post to read Anfo. Thanks for sharing.
Nice post to read Anfo. Thanks for sharing.
Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"
Nice post Anfo.
Would make a great movie ( similar to The Blindside.)
Good luck to Zeph, hope he can make the transition.
It's better to die on our feet than live on our knees.
They could've given him a pair of Bulldog Shorts
Based on the true story of Michael Oher a homeless African American teenager in the States, Dad was murdered and Mum was a crack addict, is adopted by wealthy white couple and eventually becomes one of the top football prospects in the country.
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer...d-side/trailer
No Rudy, but not to bad.
It's better to die on our feet than live on our knees.
Looks a little like Leeroy Loggins in his day.
Sorry Anfo, I hate bursting bubbles and was hoping someone else would have done it by now, but the bolded part of the story of Bebe, while being the popular cult version, is not actually true. Bebe never played the World Homeless Games despite popular belief -- the legend probably grew from the fact that he did live in a shelter for a while as a kid (not an uncommon story for a lot of professional footballers) and played in the European Street Football (as in the football is played on the street, not for street kids) competition when he was 12 and scored 4 or 5 goals (not exactly 60).
Also, he came through the junior system in Portugal playing for one of the best amateur clubs in the country which also acts as a feeder club for some of the bigger professional clubs, and has represented Portugal at both under-19 and under-21 level, so it's not quite true that he has only had '18 months of coaching' (I guess any more than any 19 year olds who get into the system at 14 or 15).
It's a nice story, but when you consider a world class player like Rafael Van Der Vaart went to Spurs for around 6 million pounds, Sir Alex isn't going to pay 7 million pounds for a guy with no background in the game (he basically just paid Bebe's release clause to Vitoria). Carlos Quieroz acted as de facto head scout for years when working as Sir Alex's right-hand man, and would have had a huge hand in a lot of previous transfers (especially Nani and Ronaldo), so Ferguson's faith in Quieroz's opinion would be pretty high.
Bebe has been pretty well known to junior football watchers -- Benfica and Porto have been watching him for a while, and Quieroz knows about Bebe from his junior scouting contacts in Portugal when he was coaching Real Madrid, who had some interest as well.
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, isn't that right Lantern.
I've been forced to look into this story a little bit more and while some of the things you posted were true some where also not true. I have read about a dozen articles on his kid and all but one says that he did kick 40 goals in 6 games in the street football competition in Bosnia in 2008 and was going to be a last minute inclusion in the homeless games but decided against it as it would have been unfair for another player to be pulled out in the last minute.
I did read that up until 2 months before Utd signed him he was still living in a shelter and he had been at that shelter since he was 12. Bebe only turned 20 a few months ago so the fact he played twice for Portugal in the U19's is not a surprise.
Bebe came through the ametuer system so he did not come through any youth programs and i read a quote from his coach at Estrela Amadora who said "he’s come through street football. These days players tend to come up through clubs’ youth teams but he doesn’t have any of that training. “He’s an old-style player. He learned what he knows in the street and he has a natural creativity which is a bit irreverent and sets him apart.”
Utd might have paid so much for him because i read that Real Madrid, Benfica and 2 other big clubs were preparing to put in offers. Ferguson did say that he had never seen him play and the buy was an impulse one.
Those rats tails are a bit special.
The way Rocket was speaking about him on the news tonight suggests they might stay as well, saying he might have a cult following amongst fans, they were certaintly flapping around by the small footage being shown in a drill at WO today.
Rocket also called him the Z-man.
He looks like Pippi Longstocking.
You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus