Sunday, May 9, 2010

Joga Bonito 2010 YMCA Indoor Soccer Champs!


Chicago & Evanston. Monday April 26, 2010

The Soccer Times

Hello soccer fans!

Amazing soccer weekend, wasnt it? I promise that today is all about the YMCA indoor soccer league! No news from other leagues. Although, did you see Manchester United vs Totteham final minutes? Sorry. Couldnt hold it in!

Anyways, I gave you an update about the quarter finals before. The only one missing was the one between Chupacabras vs YMCA. Now, this YMCA team looked promising with a couple of very good players but it looks like they lacked the leadership that will keep them organized. They didnt even show up for the quarter finals! Chupacabras won by forfeit because YMCA didnt have enough players. Chupacabras moves on to meet Willard Warriors in the semi final. It was an entertaining game but I must say that the Warriors dominated the game. Second place in regular season standings Willard Warriors defeats Chupacabras 3-0!

Semi Final Review: Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United
So the first semi final was Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United. The score during the regular season was 7-1 in Joga Bonito's favor but there is always a big difference about a regular season game and a playoff game even if it is with the same teams. We knew this was not going to be that easy for JB. Goalie Mauricio, Pablo and Ernesto were a little late to the game. Anthony was sick and Antonio was injured. Coach Carlos had to call help from the Joga Bonito reserve team and they sent non other than Alicinha to step in for a few minutes! She did a great job! Captain Carlos had to goalkeep for a few minutes too until Mauricio arrived.

Joga Bonito started the game well with their signature passing. However, it was taking JB some time to find the net. Finally 10 minutes before the end of the first half, Rolando intercepted a bad pass from FKU, dribbled around a defender and scored! JB wins 1-0. Two minutes later, Ernesto scores for JB in a beautiful play involving Ernesto intercepting a ball giving it to Pablo who gave it to Rolando who gave it back to Ernesto. It was a nice goal! JB wins 2-0. Just 3 minutes before half time, Keith recovers a ball from the opponent, gives it to Ernesto who gives a one touch pass to Carlos. The Captain takes a hard shot that the goalie saves but cannot control and fortunately Ernesto is close enough to complete the finish! Half time score: JB 3 vs FKU 0.

The second half was very rough with no goals for most of it. Almost 6 minutes before the end of the game, Mauricio throws the ball to Rolando who is in the center of the court. Rolando sees he has a lot of pressure from the opponent and gives a one touch pass back to Keith to relief that pressure. Keith sees Captain Carlos on the left wing unmarked and gives him a beautiful pass. Carlos controls the ball and sees Rolando running on the other side calling him. Captain Carlos rolls a nice horizontal through pass to Rolando who finishes in an amazing one time shot! JB 4 vs FKU 0! Finally, almost 30 seconds before the end of the game, the ball is bouncing all over the place in JB's PK area and it accidentally touches Shand's hand. The ref calls a PK! That's a harsh call in my opinion! Shand never intended to touch the ball with the hand, the ball just bounced on her had. She had her arm down all the time! Anyway, Fish Keg's goalie takes the PK and succeeds. Final score: JB 4 vs Fish Keg 1! Wow! What a semi final!

2010 Indoor Soccer YMCA FINAL GAME: Joga Bonito vs Willard Warriors Review
In the first few minuted, WW showed that they were not going to be dominated by JB. WW had a couple of chances showing that they are just as good. However, Captain Carlos shocked them in 4th minuted when he took a shot from the left side that finished in the net and scored the first goal of the game. JB wins 1-0. Apparently, WW were not expecting that and were a little discouraged because 2 minutes later, Rolando takes another shot and scores! JB wins 2-0. After these quick goals, everyone thought that this was going to be a piece of cake for JB. Wrong! One minuted after JB's second goal, WW takes a shot which Mauricio saves, but then the WW striker takes the rebound which hits Mauricio in the mouth!

Goalkeeper Mau is down and is asking for medical attention, but the ref does not stop the game! Everyone can hear Captain Carlos yelling at the ref that the goalie is down, but the ref ignores him and continues the game. It was very quick and another WW striker takes the shot while Mau is down and scores! I think this was a harsh call by the ref! Anyway, the score is now 2-1 in JB's favor. But that is not the bad news, the bad news is that Mauricio is out holding his lip and saying that his braces got inside his lip! Mauricio could not goalkeep anymore! You can see how Coach Carlos was not expecting that at all! The medical staff had to take Mau off the stadium and to the hospital! Fortunately, Mau is better now, but sadly he could not finish the game.

Captain Carlos has no other options but to suit up and put his gloves on. You can see he doesnt like that at all but he is willing to sacrifice for his team. The game becomes intense with this 2-1 score for the next several minutes. Fortunately, 12 minutes before the end of the the first half, second goalie Carlos saves an easy shot and then throws the ball to Rolando who receives in the midfield. Rolando tries to elude an opponent and barely gives a nice pass to Keith who returns the ball to Rolando in a nice triangular one touch pass. Then, Rolando gives back the ball to Keith in another triangular one touch pass and Keith slides sending the ball to Ernesto who scores! In my opinion this was one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament! Very nice passing! First half is over and the score is 3-1 in favor of Joga Bonito.

The second half was a different story where JB had to defend like crazy! Willard Warriors were determined to tie the game. Five minutes into the second half, WW is able to get the ball in the area and in a moment of confusion scored their second goal! The score is now 3-2 and the game turns intense again! About ten minutes before the end of the game, Ernesto finds the net again and put JB at 4-2! Five minutes before the end, WW takes a shot low and right which Captain Carlos dives and saves! JB thought that WW would give up in the last couple of minutes, but they didnt. One minute and a half before the end, WW's striker hustles and is able to sneak in the ball pass Keith and Carlos! The score is now 4-3 with 1 minute left!. JB is desperately trying to defend and kill time. They are able to run down the clock and win the final 4-3!!! Wow! INTENSE FINAL! Congrats to JB!

We caught up with Captain Carlos and Coach Carlos (who by the way there are rumors that they are the same person!), "This is the happiest day of my career! I am very proud of all my players! They gave an outstanding performance! This trophy belongs to them!"

Captain Carlos was nearly in tears when US international super star Keith gave him a gift from the entire team: an ADIDAS AdiPure black and white ball signed by the entire crew plus the stats of the tournament!

From all our huge staff in The Soccer Times, we want to deeply congratulate Joga Bonito for an amazing tournament and FINAL. We cannot wait to see them next season 2011!!!

JB Top Scorers

Rolando 21 (Regular) + 7 (Playoffs) = 28
Ernesto 9 (Regular) + 5 (Playoffs) = 14
Tony 6 (Reg) + 3 (Playoffs) = 9
Antonio 8 (Reg)
Carlos 5 (Reg) + 3 (Playoffs) = 8
Keith 4
Pablo 4
Lovejoy 3
Alex 2
Shand 1
Byron 1
Own 1
Total 62 (Regular) + 21 (Plyaoffs) = 83!!!

2010 Award Ceremony
Friday April 30 at 8pm
Lou Malanati's
6649 North Lincoln Avenue
Lincolnwood, IL‎ - (847) 673-0800‎
Pizza and drinks sponsored by The Soccer Times!

Come and join us to celebrate with Joga Bonito!

Interesting Statistics
- Let's start with the only bad news, JB allowed more goals than last season. In 2009, they allowed 6 goals. In 2010, they allowed 16.

- Now, lets' move to the good and amazing news, I am excited to announce that Joga Bonito has won 22 YMCA indoor soccer official games in a row! JB is unstoppable!.

- JB has broken their own record for most goals scored in the YMCA tournament. In 2009, they scored 77 goals. In 2010, they scored 83! The second team in the league that scored most goals was YMCA and they scored only 34 goals! Can you believe it?

- International Honduran super star Roland Paz has broken his own record for scoring the most goals! In 2009, he scored 25 goals. In 2010, he scored 28 goals and he did it with his injured knee!!! This guy is a monster! He scored about 34% of Joga Bonito's goals.

- Finally, it is interesting to point out that this was the first YMCA tournament where the referee decided to use the official FUTSAL ball. Joga Bonito was loving it! They are forever grateful to the YMCA and the referee from bringing the balls from Brazil!


Conclusion
Thanks for reading! Send me your comments or I will think you just delete all my articles! Dont forget to check my blog and my facebook page!

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/


Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
Water Boy

Joga Bonito!

Chicago & Evanston IL USA
Monday April 19, 2010

The Soccer Times

Hello my fellow soccer fans!

Tons of soccer fun this weekend! Weather was beautiful outside. I played saturday outside and didnt want to stop playing!

Spanish La Liga is getting exciting again. Barcelona tied 0-0 away at neighbors Espaniol. Very rough game for Guardiola's boys. Madrid played a sloppy game at home against Valencia but they pulled the 2-0 win. So this 2 horse race is a 1 point difference now! What do you think? 5 games more to go. I dont know. Anything can happen! Is Higuain with 23 goals going to catch up to Messi 26 goals?

The premier league is on fire! Man United won the derby away to Man City 1-0. With a Scholes goal on the 92nd minute! Can you believe it? And Tottenham at home defeated the mighty Chelsea 2-0. Arsenal did a major "D'oh!" against Wigan. They were winning 2-0 and lost 3-2! Say what?! So it looks like this is a 2 horse race now with a 1 point difference too. Only 3 games to go! Do you think Drogba will catch up to Rooney as top scorer? Drogba has 25 and Rooney has 26!

Seria A is also coming to an intense finale! Inter defeated Juve 2-0 at home but Roma also won away 2-1 against Lazio! So Roma is back as leader but Inter is only 1 point behind. Milan lost away against Sampdoria in the last minute! So disappointing! Oh well, it looks like also a 2 horse race. Only 4 games to go!

Junior Tu Papa defeated Santa Fe at home 2-0! As of now they are in the plaoffs, they need to keep winning and remain in the top 4 to get in!

But who cares, right? Let's talk about the best league in the universe: the YMCA indoor soccer league!

JB vs People's Republic Game Review
We all were expecting a boring game between the best and the worst, right? Wrong! People's Republic showed that they cannot be underestimated! They showed that they have a heart to fight all the way! They gave JB some nice competition and this was a fun game to watch! I must say that their goalkeeper is probably one of the best in the tournament. This guy saved like 30 shots yesterday! And these were no easy shots! I mean, JB threw everything at this guy, and he was saving everything! Well, not everything.

JB started slow and they thought this was going to be an easy game. The score board was 0-0 for the first 15 mins. Finally, Pablo had a nice assist to Rolando which opened the score and gave JB a nice relief. Rolando scored once again before the first half and the score was 2-0 at half time. Coach Carlos asked everyone to calm down and encouraged everyone to remain patient and organized.

PR shocked everyone when they scored their first goal and put the board at 1-2. I think PR was even more surprised that JB. JB remained patient and kept most of the ball posession. Finally, Keith broke the silence with an amazing third goal for JB! The score was 3-1 now. Later on, Captain Carlos snuck the fourth and gave an extra relief to the team: 4-1. Yet, PR will not give up! Their attack was underestimated by JB and the squeezed their second goal: 2-4! Captain Carlos asked everyone to remain calm. It is amazing how JB never panic. They always recover most of the ball posession and keep trying to score more. Carlos, Rolando, Antonio, Pablo and Ernesto had some amazing shots that their goalie stopped. Finally, one of Pablo's amazing shots ended in the net giving JB the 5-2. Perhaps the most amazing goal was the next one where I think every single player in JB touched the ball. It was a combination of short triangular passes and Captain Carlos just pushed it in giving JB the 6-2. Lastly, Rolando scored a couple of more that gave JB the final 8-2! Congrats!

We were able to catch up with Coach Carlos for comment: "I am very proud of my players. They remained calm and kep playing their game. They knew that the goals would come eventually. We had most of the posession. We made a couple of mistakes in the back. We need to tighten the mark when we are on defense for the playoffs. Overall, I thought we did outstanding!"

Man of the Match: Keith Veneziano!
Keith always shows up when the team needs him the most. And his goal yesterday gave JB such a relief because JB was only winning by 2-1 when Keith scored the third one. He is always giving his best in the back defending but once in a while you will hear him yell: YES! YES! YES! And that means that he is ready for his teammates to give him THE pass to kill. Congrats to Keith for an amazing game!

We are excited to announce that JB has completed an 8 game winning streak against every single team in the YMCA! If you add the 11 games that they won last season this means that JB has a total of 19 games undefeated!!! That is very impressive! However, JB should not relax because the YMCA playoffs are this coming weekend. JB will play against the winner between the 8th and 9th place on saturday April 24 at 6pm. If they win, then they will play Sunday the semi final at 5pm. If they win, then the final will be at 7pm. We wish JB all the best!

Standings:
Po Team Played Won Draw Loss GF GA GD Pts
1 Joga Bonito 8 8 0 0 62 12 50 24
2 Warriors 8 5 2 1 21 11 10 17
3 Buckeyballs 8 4 2 2 20 13 7 14
4 YMCA 8 4 1 3 34 23 11 13
5 Chupacabra 8 3 3 2 25 22 3 12
6 Fish Keg 8 3 2 3 21 25 -4 11
7 Rotary United 8 2 1 5 24 46 -22 7
8 Team Lee 8 1 1 6 19 43 -24 4
9 Peoples Rep 8 0 0 8 7 39 -32 0

Last Results:
Ninth week - April 18
Time Team 1 Score Team 2 Score
4pm Team Lee 0 Buckeyballs 1 Lee forfeits
5pm YMCA 0 Willard Warriors 1 YMCA forfeits
6pm Rotary United 6 Fish Keg United 6
7pm Joga Bonito 8 People's Republic 2
Bye - Chupacabra

Next Fixtures
Playoffs - Saturday April 24

Time Team 1 Score Team 2 Score Match

1 3pm Team Lee (8) People's Republic (9) Pre

2 4pm Buckyballs (3) Fish Keg United (6) Quarter
3 5pm Warriors (2) Rotary United (7) Quarter
4 6pm Joga Bonito (1) Winner 1 Quarter

Playoffs - Sunday April 25

5 4pm YMCA (4) Chupacabra (5) Quarter

6 5pm Winner 2 Winner 4 Semi
7 6pm Winner 3 Winner 5 Semi

8 7pm Winner 6 Winner 7 Final


JB Top Scorers:
Scorers Regular
Rolando 21
Ernesto 9
Antonio 8
Tony 6
Carlos 5
Keith 4
Pablo 4
Lovejoy 3
Shand 1
Byron 1
Total 62


Next game for JB: Quarter Final Saturday April 24 at 6pm
Joga Bonito will have to play the quarter final against the winner between the 8th place which is Team Lee and the 9th place which is People's Republic. On paper, this should be an easy game for JB. However, we know that some of the super stars like Pablo and Keith will not be there. Still, JB has enough talent to win this game and move on to the semi final on Sunday.

We wish Joga Bonito the best of the best!

Interesting Stats

- Rolando has already broken his own record of most goals for the regular season. Last 2009 season he scored 18 goals before the playoffs and 25 total for the tournament. This season 2010 he has scored 21 just before the playoffs! This guy is unstoppable! Do you think he will break his 25 goal record?

- Joga Bonito scored 61 goals before the playoffs last 2009 season and 77 total for the tournament. Rolando and Pablo scored 60% of those 77 goals last season. This 2010 season Joga Bonito has already broken their own record. They have scored 62 goals before the playoffs. However, Pablo has only scored 4 so far. Yet probably he has the most assists for Joga Bonito. This means that other players like Ernesto, Antonio, Tony, Keith, Lovejoy and Shand have stepped up to score goals to help Joga Bonito break the goals in favor record! Will they surpass their 77 record for the tournament?

- Unfortunately, Joga Bonito has not been very impressive defensively as last season. However, I dont think that JB's defense is weaker. I think that their opponents have improved. Last season 2009, Joga Bonito only allowed 4 goals in the regular season before the playoffs. This season 2010, they have already allowed 12 goals! We talked to Coach Carlos for comment: "Yes, it is true that we have been sloppy defensively at times. I think that the correct way to approach this problem is for every single player including the attackers to understand that when we dont have the ball we must recover it right away. Sometimes attackers think that they dont have to defend because it is not in their title. This is far from the truth! When we dont have the ball, it means that we are ALL in defensive mode!"

- Finally, as mentioned before, JB continues their winning streak with 19 undefeated games! Amazing!

Conclusion

Thank you for reading! Please send me your comments or I might think you are just ignoring me! Check out the video and pics on my Facebook page and blog.

Also, you can catch the Joga Bonito vs Chupacabras 10 min video on YouTube. Just go to the YouTube website and type: joga bonito ymca. It should be the first one on the list.

You should also see some video footage of JB vs People's Republic on my FaceBook page!

Here is the YMCA link for schedule and standings:

http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=prog.type&id=830

Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
Water Boy
and even Camera Man!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Chicago & Evanston, IL, USA
Tuesday April 13, 2010
The Soccer Times

Hello my fellow soccer fans!

Amazing soccer weekend! Sorry for the delay. Just came back from Barcelona. Got a change to hang out with my buddy Leo. You might know him better by the name of MESSI! I was asking him if he would be interested in playing for Joga Bonito. He told me that he is dying to play for Joga Bonito but at the moment it seems impossible since Joga Bonito has so many talented players! He doesnt want to sit on the bench!

Doesn't Barcelona FC just blow your mind? What an incredible performance against Real Madrid!

Oh boy! Man United dropped the ball this weekend! I dont see them recovering, do you? Very tough without Rooney! Looks like Chelsea will win the FA Cup and the Premier League after all. Well, at least something, after that disappointing early exit from Champions.

I dont even want to talk about my beloved Milan. They make me so ANGRY! Inter dropped 2 points against Fiore! And Milan couldnt defeat Catania! AAArgggh! Well, at least they came back to tie the game 2-2 after a rough first half loosing 0-2 at home. Roma won and is leader for the first time in years! I am just sick of watching Inter take the scudetto, aren't you?

Junior Tu Papa is fighting to get in the playoffs!

Anyhow, who cares? Right? Let's talk about the most important game of the weekend: Joga Bonito vs YMCA!!!

Joga Bonito vs YMCA game review
Remember, how I said that this was going to be the game of the season? Well, I was wrong. I was looking forward to see the good players from YMCA that I talked about and they never showed up! So disapppointing. It could have been an amazing game. Well, at least it was an amazing game from JB! They took care of business winning 9-2!

JB's manager Carlos Quintero was a little nervous at the beginning since he found out from the medical staff that a couple of key players were not fit to play. Colombia international super star goalie was not feeling well, so Manager Carlos asked Captain Carlos to goalkeep for the game. "Carlos had some real nice saves," Coach Carlos said, "I am very proud of him!"

Also, Peru international super star Anthony Gamboa was unavailable due to a foot injury. There was a rumor that Pablo and Antonio were a little late to the game due to sleeping in just like Jozy Altidore at Hull City! We assumed that they will face serious consequences from Coach Carlos. However, it was clarified that Coach Carlos allowed them to come late due to family reasons. Later we found out that it was Pablo's birthday and the boys were partying like it was 1999!

So, no boys, no problem. The girls took care of business! Dynamic Duo Emily Shand and Emily Lovejoy had an amazing game and defended like there was no tomorrow! Rolando and Ernesto were deadly in the front scoring several goals. Rolando scored a couple of goals. Ernie had a hat trick! Amazing! JB had a couple of mistakes allowing a the goals but other than that, they played a great game scoring tons of goals! Defenders Antonio and Keith played very well too and even scored some goals! Congrats!

Lastly, I am excited to announce that with this win JB has locked the first position! The first position is very important because it will give JB the opportunity to play against a weak team such as the 8th place for the first game in the playoff (quarter final). Also, it gives JB a nicer schedule since they dont have to play two games in a row. Dont forget PLAYOFFS are SUNDAY APRIL 25. Joga Bonito's schedule will probably be 5pm quarter final (against the 8th place), 7pm semi final (against 3rd place or 5th place) and 9pm final.

Man of the Match: Pablo David!
Pablo had a rough start in the tournament. He is finding a nice form just in time for the playoffs! He scored an amzing goal yesterday in the top right corner of the opponents goal! He celebrated his birthday with a couple of goals and 1 assist. Congrats!

Standings
1 Joga Bonito 21
2 Warriors 14
3 YMCA 13
4 Chupacabra 12
5 Buckeyballs 11
6 Fish Keg 10
7 Team Lee 4
8 Rotary 6
9 Peoples Rep 0

Last Results
Eigth week - April 11
4pm Chupacabra 1 vs Willard Warriors 1
5pm Team Lee 2 vs Fish Keg United 6
6pm Joga Bonito 9 vs YMCA 2
7pm Peoples Rep 0 vs Rotary United 1
Bye - Buckeyballs

Next fixtures
Ninth week - April 18
4pm Team Lee vs Buckeyballs
5pm YMCA vs Willard Warriors
6pm Rotary United vs Fish Keg United
7pm Joga Bonito vs People's Republic
Bye - Chupacabra

JB Top Scorers
Rolando 17
Ernesto 9
Antonio 8
Tony 6
Carlos 3
Lovejoy 3
Keith 3
Pablo 3
Shand 1
Byron 1
Total 54

Next game: JB vs People's Republic Sunday April 18 @ 7pm
Well, this is our last regular season game before the playoffs. I would like to say this People's Republic team will give JB an amazing game, but I would be lying. This team is probably the worst in the tournament. Sorry, I know that sounds cruel. But I am a journalist and journalists never lie, right? We are here to keep it real! People's Republic is an interesting team for a couple of reasons. One, they have like 20 people in their roster. That's not an exageration. They can easily make 2 or 3 teams with their roster. When teams sub out they usually replace 2 or 3 players max. When the captain of People's Republic yells "SUB!", the entire team is replaced! Well, ok, the goalie maybe stays, but everyone else is out! Two, their average age is probably like 40 years old. No, I am not exagerating. Maybe they have 1 or 2 guys under 30, but everyone else is way older! Anyway, I am not trying to make fun of this team. So please dont laugh. I am just writing facts. They have not won one single game. They have not even tied a game! Anyway, hopefully, JB will take it easy on them. And hopefully, we can find one team that will give JB a nice competition! As of now, I really dont see any team defeating JB. Maybe next season. Dont forget PLAYOFFS are SUNDAY APRIL 25. Joga Bonito's schedule will probably be 5pm quarter final, 7pm semi final and 9pm final.

Thank you for reading! Please send me your comments or I might think you are just ignoring me! Check out the video and pics on my Facebook page and blog.

Also, you can catch the Joga Bonito vs Chupacabras 10 min video on YouTube. Just go to the YouTube website and type: joga bonito ymca. It should be the first one on the list.

Here is the YMCA link for schedule and standings:

http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=prog.type&id=830

Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
Water Boy
and even Camera Man!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Chicago & Evanston, IL, USA
Monday March 29, 2010
The Soccer Times

Hello my fellow soccer fans! It was a very exciting soccer weekend for me! How about you?

Ibra scored again! About time! Barcelona struggled but they won! However, Real Madrid didnt stay back. They struggled too. They began loosing 1-0 against Atletico Madrid but were able to turn the game around and won 3-2. Standings are : Real madrid 74, Barcelona 74, Valencia 53.

Chelsea demolished Aston Villa 7-1! Can you believe it? Are these professional defenders for real? Manchester United took care of Bolton 4-0 and away from home! On the other hand, Arsenal dropped the ball at the last minute and let the opponents tie the game 1-1. Bummer for them! Standings are: Manchester United 72, Chelsea 71, Arsenal 68.

And I am not going to even talk about Milan. They make me so angry! Ronaldinho and Pirlo were out due to suspension. Pato is out due to injury. Inzaghi scored but they let Lazio tie the game! When are they going to win at home? And they needed a win since Roma defeated Inter 2-1 in Rome! Now Milan dropped third and Roma climbed second. It makes me sad :(
Standings are: Inter 63, Roma 62, Milan 60

Junior Tu Papa won 2-0. Woo Hoo! But Medellin killed Envigado 7-1 and Tolima won so Junior dropped to fourth :( Standings are: Real Cartagena 21, Medellin 18, Tolima 18 and Junio 18

But who cares anyway, right? Let's talk about Joga Bonito!

Joga Bonito vs Team Lee game review
I think this was the only game where JB just cruised from the very beginning. I think JB was winning 5-0 in the first 15 mins. JB did make a silly mistake and Team Lee found the net once. JB stepped it up and the first half was 8-1. The second half was like watching a Barcelona play against some kids. And Joga Bonito wasnt even playing up to their full potential. You could see that some of them where just having fun and passing the ball around. Well, Team Lee did not know what to do and they lost 1-14. Yikes! Poor guys. I think everyone scored except Mauricio, the goalkeeper! Everyone played amazing!

Man of the Match: Ernesto Pumarejo!
2008 Joga Bonito's MVP showed us yesterday why he is one of the best! Maybe he is more encouraged now that his girlfriend is coming to watch him! :)
He scored 3 of th 14 goals yesterday and he game some nice assists. Congratulations!

Standings
Position Team Played Won Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 Joga Bonito 6 6 0 0 45 8 37 18
3 YMCA 6 4 1 1 32 13 19 13
2 Warriors 6 4 1 1 19 10 9 13
4 Buckeyballs 7 3 2 2 19 13 6 11
5 Chupacabra 7 3 2 2 24 21 3 11
6 Fish Keg 6 2 1 3 9 17 -8 7
8 Team Lee 6 1 1 4 17 36 -19 4
7 Rotary Utd 6 1 0 5 17 40 -23 3
9 Republic 6 0 0 6 5 30 -25 0

Last Results
Seventh week - March 28
Time Team 1 Score Team 2 Score
4pm Chupacabra 1 Fish Keg United 1
5pm Joga Bonito 14 Team Lee 1
6pm Peoples Rep 0 YMCA 10
7pm Buckeyballs 1 Willard Warriors 1
Bye - Rotary United

Next fixtures
Eigth week - April 11

4pm Chupacabra vs Willard Warriors
5pm Team Lee vs Fish Keg United
6pm Joga Bonito vs YMCA
7pm Peoples Repup vs Rotary United
Bye - Buckeyballs



JB Top Scorers:
Rolando 15
Antonio 7
Tony 6
Ernesto 6
Carlos 3
Lovejoy 3
Keith 2
Pablo 1
Shand 1
Byron 1

Next Game: JB vs YMCA April 11 @ 6pm
Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that the next game will be the match of the tournament! I was able to watch this YMCA team yesterday. It seems that they started the tournament with the wrong foot. But it looks like they have added a couple of guys who really know what they are doing. Their key player is a young thin guy who is fast and has a deadly left shot! Joga Bonito needs to be very careful about this guy. YMCA destroyed People's Republic 10-0 yesterday. I truly believe that this is THE GAME that you DO NOT want to miss. As you can see from the standings, YMCA has already climbed to the second position. I can safely say that my prediction for the YMCA final will be Joga Bonito vs YMCA. We are very excited to find a worthy opponent for Joga Bonito! Please remember that this coming Sunday is Easter so there are NO games!

Thank you for reading! Please send me your comments or I might think you are just ignoring me! Check out the video and pics on my Facebook page and blog.

Also, you can catch the Joga Bonito vs Chupacabras 10 min video on YouTube. Just go to the YouTube website and type: joga bonito ymca. It should be the first one on the list.

Here is the YMCA link for schedule and standings:

http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=prog.type&id=830

Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
Water Boy
and even Camera Man!

Thursday, March 25, 2010


Chicago & Evanston, IL, USA
Monday March 22, 2010
The Soccer Times

Hello my fellow soccer fans! I am excited to be back behind the typewriter again and tell you all about our favorite soccer team: Joga Bonito! But first, anybody excited about other teams and leagues?

How about that Messi? The guy must be from another planet for real! How can he do all that stuff? He takes on opponents like if they were little children! La Liga is getting exciting! Well, I mean the fight between Barcelona and Real Madrid, because the other teams are so far behind that no one really talks about them anyway.

And how about that Rooney? He is on fire! Will he be the best player this year? What do you think? And what happened to Chelsea? Cant take care of Blackburn? Come on!

And what the heck happened with Milan? The make me so angry! Inter dropped 2 points and this was the weekend where Milan could take the lead and they blew it! I think Ronaldinho did his part. He is playing excellent. The other guys have to step up!

And dont even ask what happened to my beloved hometown Atletico Junior from Barranquilla, Colombia. It was humiliation at home against Real Cartagena. I dont even want to talk about it anymore. Teofilo come back please!

Anyway, enough talk about uimportant leagues, lets discuss about the best league in the universe: the YMCA indoor soccer league!

Joga Bonito vs Chupacabras game review
We were very excited to see that Joga Bonito TV hired the amazing and beautiful Alicia Quintero to video record the game! She did an amazing job and you can see some of her talent on my Facebook page.

Honduras international super star Rolando Paz was out of town. We missed some of Rolando's amazing skills but JB took care of business even without Rolando!

We were sad to find out that US international soccer super star Emily Shand was out of town for the week. Fortunately, Emily Lovejoy's friend Carly came to help us out and she did a outstanding job!

We received the shocking news that Colombian international super star goalkeeper Mauricio Pumarejo was not in town either. What is going on? However, never fear, Captain Carlos Quintero is always here! Carlos grabbed his goalie gloves and protected the goal like his life depended on it!

JB had most of the posession in the game as always. Yet, they had a hard time scoring. We must admit that Chupacabras had some good defense and goalkeeping. Fortunately, Peruvian international super star Anthony Gamboa found a nice assist by Colombian international super star Pablo David and JB found the net! Tony found scored again before half time and JB looked very nice. The second half started rough as Chupacabras found the net very early in a very strange corner kick where the ball was bouncing all over the place. Finally, Pablo made another beautiful assist and Keith scored on an empty net. JB won 3-1!!! Congrats!

Man of the Match: Anthony Gamboa
This guy does everything! He defends, he scores, he assists. What doesnt he do? He keeps amazing us every game and yesterday he showed his top form scoring 2 goals. Outstanding!

Standings
1 Joga Bonito 15
2 Warriors 12
3 YMCA 10
4 Buckeyballs 10
5 Chupacabra 10
6 Fish Keg 6
7 Rotary United 3
8 Team Lee 4
9 Peoples Rep 0


Last Results
Sixth week - March 21
Time
4pm Buckeyballs 4 vs Fish Keg United 1
5pm Joga Bonito 3 vs Chupacabra 1
6pm People's Rep 1 vs Team Lee 5
7pm Rotary United 3 vs YMCA 5
Bye - Chupacabra

Next fixture
Seventh week - March 28
Time
4pm Chupacabra vs Fish Keg United
5pm Joga Bonito vs Team Lee
6pm Peoples Rep vs YMCA
7pm Buckeyballs vs Willard Warriors
Bye - Rotary United

JB Top Scorers
Scorers Regular
Rolando 10
Tony 5
Antonio 4
Ernesto 3
Carlos 2
Keith 2
Lovejoy 2
Pablo 1
Shand 1
Byron 1
Total 31

Next Game: JB vs Team Lee Sunday March 28 at 5pm
This is going to be a very good game because Team Lee is fighting relegation! I'm just kidding. There is no relegation at the YMCA. But anyway, Team Leed doesnt look very good on paper but who knows, hopefully they will surprise us!

Thank you for reading! Please send me your comments or I might think you are just ignoring me! Check out the video and pics on my Facebook page and blog.

Here is the YMCA link for schedule and standings:

http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=prog.type&id=830

Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
Water Boy
and even Camera Man!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United review

Chicago and Evanston, IL
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Soccer Times

Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United review
Amazing game yestersday Joga Bonito! First half was very tough again for JB. They had most of possesion but could not finish. Captain Carlos Quintero seemed very frustrated by his wide or saved shots. Indeed, JB had some mean powerful shots by Rolando, Pablo, Antonio, Carlos and Tony that were all blocked by the keeper. JB was able to score a couple of goals before half time but Fish Keg never gave up and score one themselves. Half time score: 2-1 in favor of JB. Again, the second half was a completely different story with complete possesion from JB. Final score: 7-1 in favor of JB!

Apparently, JB always gets in the groove during the second half. We saw some amazing passing abilities by all the players. We must congratulate Emily Shand because her game was outstanding and she gave JB the relief of the third goal. Again, Carlos & Pablo's shots were all blocked by the keeper. They both looked very frustrated!

We were able to catch Captain Carlos for comment, "Yeah, I must admit that I was and am very frustrated because it seems that I cannot find the net as much as I want to. I also feel bad for my teammate Pablo who works so hard to score for the team. Scoring is his blood so it must be a little discouraging for him not to find the net. However, he is an amazing player and very important for this team. We both need to be patient and keep helping the team succeed. Goals will come eventually."

It was an odd game yesterday because most of the goal scorers like Carlos, Pablo, Ernesto and didnt score. Most of the goals came from the defenders Antonio, Tony, Emily Lovejoy and Emily Shand! We think this shows how JB is such an amazing and balanced team. All the players have fascinating talent!



Man of the Match: Antonio Escalante!
Colombia international Antonio Escalante gave us some beautiful soccer yesterday! It seems that he was inspired by an unexpected guest yesterday: his girlfriend! He scored 2 amazing goals which solidified JB's victory plus he participated in many important plays. Felicidades!



Standings
1 Joga Bonito 12pts
2 Willard Warriors 9
3 Buckeyballs 7
4 Chupacabra 7
5 YMCA 4
6 Fish Keg United 3
7 Rotary United 3
8 Team Lee 1
9 Peoples Republic 0


Last results

Fourth week - Sunday March 7
4pm YMCA 8 vs Chupacabra 2
5pm Rotary United 3 vs Buckeyballs 7
6pm Peoples Republic 1 vs Willard Warriors 6
7pm Joga Bonito 7 vs Fish Keg United 1
Bye - Team Lee



Next fixtures

Fifth week - Sunday March 14
4pm Peoples Republic vs Fish Keg United
5pm Rotary United vs Willard Warriors
6pm YMCA vs Buckeyballs
7pm Team Lee vs Chuapacabra
Bye - Joga Bonito

Sixth week - Sunday March 21
4pm Buckeyballs vs Fish Keg United
5pm Joga Bonito vs Chupacabra
6pm People's Republic vs Team Lee
7pm Rotary United vs YMCA



Joga Bonito's next game: Sunday March 21 5pm against Chupacabra
Unfortunately, we will not be able to see Joga Bonito this coming weekend since they have a bye weekend. We will have to wait until Sunday March 21 at 5pm to see them again. But the wait will be worth it because they are facing non other than last season's runner's up: Chupacabra! If you remember from the final last season, Chupacabra gave JB some decent competition. The final score was 5-2 in favor of JB obviously since they are the defending champs. We are looking forward to this game. The shocking result this past weekend was to see Chupacabra humiliated by Team YMCA 8-2. I was able to speak with Chupacabra's key player Hans and he said the following, "We seemed very sure of the win and the opponent took us by surprise. Also, they recruited better players that I have never seen before!" If this is true, then we are looking forward to see JB play against Team YMCA! It will be a fantastic game!



JB Top Scorers
1. Rolando 10
2. Antonio 4
3. Tony 3
4. Ernesto 3
5. Lovejoy 2
6. Carlos 2
7. Pablo 1
8. Shand 1
9. Keith 1

Here is the YMCA link for schedule and standings:

http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=prog.type&id=830

Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
Water Boy
and even Camera Man!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Joga Bonito vs Rotary United review

Chicago and Evanston, IL
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Soccer Times

Sorry for the delay on my article my fellow soccer followers. After watching Joga Bonito's game I had to fly out of town. Just came back from Milan, Italy. I was interviewing Ronaldinho and asking him about the possibility of coming to play for Joga Bonito. He said that there are too many talented players in Joga Bonito and he doesnt want to sit on the bench!

Joga Bonito vs Rotary United review:
If you remember from last season, Joga Bonito had a field day with Rotary United. This was the only game that JB was able to play with the futsal ball last season. And they had fun! They humiliated Rotary United 16-1 last season. JB loves that futsal ball.

The first half of the match this season was very surprising for JB. They began the game well scoring and leading 1-0. However, Rotary United's keyplayer was able to get a breakaway and tie the game with a beautiful shot. The game was tied 1-1 for a while and you could see JB frustrated. Finally, JB was able to score: 2-1. Rotary United fought tooth and nail and JB was not able to find the net anymore for the first half. The score remained 2-1 at half time! Coach Carlos Quintero was very frustrated. He asked his players to organize themselves and give accurate passes. He told them that the goal will come when they had possession. JB players received the message well.

The second half was a completely different story. You can see how it takes some time for JB to connect but when they do, they are mortal! JB dominated the second half. Rotary United began to show their weakness. And the party began. Emily Lovejoy scored the goal of the match giving JB the 3-1 lead. Everyone jumped and celebrated with her because it was such a relief. The 4-1 came later. Then 5-1 and 6-1. Everyone start having so much fun: 7-1, 8-1, 9-1. At this point it was just a practice game for them: 10-1, 11-1 and could have been even more. I think JB held back out of respect for Rotary United! Most of the team scored: Rolando 2, Ernesto 2, Antonio 2, Carlos 2, Pablo 1, Keith 1 and Emily 1!

After the match, Coach Carlos Quintero reactions, "It was a rough first half. But I knew that we were the better team. We just needed to organize ourselves and keep possession. My players are fantastic! Emily's goal was delightful! It was so beautiful because it was a collective effort."

Man of the Match: Emily Lovejoy

It was very difficul to select the "Man of the Match" this week because everyone was playing extremely well especially in the second half. I want to select the beautiful and talented USA international Emily Lovejoy because her score that put Joga Bonito 3-1 was arguably the most exciting part of the game! The opponent was holding Joga Bonito 2-1 for a while and JB was very frustrated. Emily's goal gave JB players that extra relief that they could overcome this opponent if they connect. Besides, the goal was a beautiful display of passing from several players. I must say that some of the credit goes to Colombian international Antonio Escalante for leading the practice of this play that lead to the goal!

Last results:
Third week – February 28
4pm Joga Bonito 11 vs Rotary United 1
5pm YMCA 2 vs Fish Keg United 3
6pm Team Lee 0 vs Willard Warriors 6
7pm Chupacabra 2 vs Buckeyballs 2
Bye – Peoples Republic

Next fixtures:
Fourth week – March 7
4pm YMCA vs Chupacabra
5pm Rotary United vs Buckeyballs
6pm Peoples Republic vs Willard Warriors
7pm Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United
Bye – Team Lee

Next game: Sunday March 7 at 7pm against Fish Keg United!
Fish Keg United is one of those new teams in this season. On paper, JB should dominate this game, but on the field who knows?! Fish Keg just won their last game 3-2 against YMCA so they might be inspired to give JB good competition. Unfortunately, we just found out that US international Keith Veneziano will not make the roster this coming Sunday because he was called for international duty against none other than the Netherlands this Wednesday! He will not make it back in time for the game. Regardless, JB should have plenty of talent to take care of business this Sunday!


Standings:
1. Joga Bonito 9pts
2. Chupacabra 7pts
3. Willard Warriors 6pts
4. Buckeyballs 4pts
5. Fish Keg United 3pts
6. Rotary United 3pts
7. YMCA 1pt
8. Team Lee 1pt
9.Peoples Republic 0pts

Top Scorers:
1. Rolando 8
2. Ernesto 3
3. Tony 2
4. Antonio 2
5. Carlos 2
6. Emily Lovejoy 1
7. Keith 1
8. Pablo 1 (What?)

http://www.mcgawymca.org/index.cfm?fa=prog.type&id=830

Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
And even Water Boy!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Chicago and Evanston, IL
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Soccer Times
Joga Bonito's full squad was back!
Yes, we are very glad to announce that Joga Bonito's full squad was present yesterday! This is very rare! Some are still injured but were able to play and enjoy. We were very happy to see that Coach Carlos Quintero decided to include Captain Carlos Quintero back in the roster despite his rib injury. Carlos started on the bench but was able to enjoy some minutes playing. "I am feeling much better thanks," said an enthusiastic Captain Carlos who has not been able to play in 3 weeks, "I thought I was going to wait much longer, but the medical staff said I was ready to start playing a few minutes. I am so excited because I cannot live without playing soccer!"
Joga Bonito vs Buckeyballs
If you remember from previous seasons, Buckyballs has been one of the teams that gives good competition to Joga Bonito. I believe Buckyballs has defeated Joga Bonito twice in past seasons. Last season, was a different story. Joga Bonito dominated the game defeating them 5-1. With this history in mind, this was going to be a good game to watch. Joga Bonito struck first by the foot of Rolando assisted by Pablo. It seemed an easy game for them: 1-0. However, Buckyballs key player gave us a nice long shot that tied the game: 1-1. Just before half time, Pablo gave another nice pass to Rolando and he scores! 2-1. Coach Carlos Quintero was frustrated because he felt like we are working to hard and this was an easier game. Needed more accurate passing, more communication. Joga Bonito dominated most of the second half but could not find the net. Finally, Captain Carlos assisted Rolando again and he scores to make it 3-1. Shots from everyone were blocked by the keeper or went wide. Buckyballs had very few shots. Carlos made a nice pull and went around a defender and was able to find Rolando again. Rolando scores to make it 4-1. And the end Goalie Mauricio had a blooper that will surely end up on YouTube one of this days were he had an easy ball but then again he didnt: 4-2. We all made fun of our dear Mauricio and then gave him a pad on the back. No big deal. Game over. Joga Bonito wins 4-2!
Man of the match: Rolando
Rolando keeps impressing by scoring 4 more goals even with an injured knee. Captain Carlos & Pablo were able to make a couple of assists each. However, you could see both of them were very frustrated about not finding the net. We were very delighted to watch nice passing from the rest of the squad. Especially, we are very impressed by the ladies in the team. Emily Shand and Emily Lovejoy are the only two female players in the team. But dont be fool. On the field, they are mean outstanding soccer players!
Other results:
Rotary United 6 vs Team Lee 4
People's Republic 2 vs Chupacabra 3
Joga Bonito 4 vs Buckeyballs 2
Willard Warriors 2 vs Fish Keg United 1
Bye - YMCA
Next game: Sunday Feb 28 at 4pm against Rotary United!
Not quite sure what to make this opponent just yet. They got humiliated the first game by Chupacabras 11-3. However, they won yesterday 6-4 against Team Lee. So who knows? They might be a good opponent for Joga Bonito. By the way, I was able to see Chupacabras game against Peoples Republic 3-2. I wanted to see Chupacabras because after destroying Rotary United 11-3, I thought that they recruited better players since last tournament. Remember that Chupacabras was defeated by Joga Bonito 5-2 in the final last season. However, from what I saw, it is the same team as last season. I didnt see any new faces that can make a difference. To be quite honest, I have seen most of the other teams. I just dont see the talent that Joga Bonito has. If Joga Bonito is connected, very few teams can give them a good competition. Hopefully, I am mistaken. I want to see good competition for Joga Bonito!
Follow my blog at:
http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/
Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager or Coach
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
And even Water Boy!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Joga Bonito's promising start!

Chicago and Evanston, IL
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Soccer Times

Joga Bonito's promising start!
Ladies and gentlemen, Joga Bonito is back! We were concern finding out just before the game that Honduras international striker Rolando Paz and USA international Keith Veneziano both had knee injuries and wore knee braces before the game.

The good news came when we all found out that the Brazilian referee brough brand new FUTSAL balls from Brazil! Joga Bonito's players, specially captain Carlos, were so happy! Coach Carlos had been asking the YMCA football federation to officially play with futsal balls only. It took 3 years but now it is a reality! Joga Bonito is much more comfortable with the official futsal balls. Truly, it is ridiculous to play indoor soccer with outdoor balls!

Joga Bonito had a rough start and all seemed surprised when Willard Warriors opened the score leading 1-0. However, it did not take long for Joga Bonito to tie the game and even turn it around 2-1. Just before half time Joga Bonito added a two goal cushion making it 3-1 with a beautiful goal from Peru international Anthony Gamboa. But due to a misunderstanding in a corner kick Willard Warriors scored their second goal! The game turned interesting 3-2 in favor of Joga Bonito. The second half was a completely different story. Joga Bonito organized themselves and began displaying their signature game. It was so much fun to watch Joga Bonito passing the ball just like Barcelona FC. Joga Bonito dominated the second half completely and scored 3 more goals finishing the game 6-2! We all stood in awe and applauding their beautiful game.

Manager Carlos Quintero gave praise to their players after the game, "I am so proud of all my players. This is probably one of the toughest teams in the tournament. My players played fantastic! They played as a team." We were very impressed with Colombia international Pablo David who could not score but set up many of the beautiful plays during the game. The man of the match was Peru international Anthony Gamboa who had a rocky start playing defense but slowly added himself to the attack and scoreed 2 fantastic goals. Number One Goalie Mauricio save some nice shots. The Shand sisters also played an outstanding game. Ernesto has become an important midfielder scoring 1 goal yesterday. Keith was solid rock on the back and added a nice surprise attack once in a while. Finally, Rolando as always, despite injury, very impressive holding the ball and functioning as a playmaker and even scoring 2 goals. Truly, this is a very promising team. Looking forward to the rest of the tournament!

Other results:
Buckyballs (Team Andres) 3 vs People's Republic 0
Rotary United 3 vs Chupacabra 11
Team YMCA 5 vs Team Lee 5
Bye - J Barney

Next game: Sunday Feb 21 at 6pm against Buckeyballs (Team Andres)!
Well, we were wrong! The Buckeyballs are back! They disguised themselves with the name Team Andres but now they are officially using their old name Buckeyballs. We were able to watch the entire game they played against People's Republic. It was interesting to see this game for two reasons. One, People's Republic is back with their entire army! I am not kidding and I am not exaggerating. They had like 15 subs!!! Two, the Buckeyballs had zero subs when they started. It seems that they were missing some key players. Still, they have 2 interesting players that Joga Bonito needs to neutralize. Joga Bonito vs Buckeyballs. You do not want to miss it!


Follow my blog at:

http://carlosjquintero.blogspot.com/

Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
And even Water Boy!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

2010 YMCA Indoor Soccer Tournament starts this Sunday February 14: Joga Bonito, 2009 Champs, play Willard Warriors at 4pm!!!

Chicago and Evanston, IL
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Soccer Times

Finally the 2010 season has arrived!

We are excited to be back in action! The YMCA indoor soccer tournament is starting this Sunday February 12. Joga Bonito, 2009 Champions, will play the first game against Willard Warriors who finished third in the standings and who were eliminated by Joga Bonito in the semi finals last season.

Willard Warriors
If this team is as good as last season, Joga Bonito is going to have a rough game this sunday. Willard Warriors were the only team who could really defende Joga Bonito's fierce strikers. Joga Bonito defeated Willard Warriors during the regular 2009 season 1-0 only! Both teams met again during a fantastic semi final and Joga Bonito defeated them 2-0. This Warriors team has an amazing defense! They are composed by Northwestern students who have much experience in the game.

The Usual Suspects
The complete 2010 schedule has been attached to this article. It looks like we will see familiar faces during this season: People's Republic, Rotary United, Chupacabra, and Team YMCA. The new kids in town are Team Andres, Team Lee and J Barney. Strangely enough looks like Buckyballs or Celtic Knot did not sign up this time. Hopefully, we will see some good competition!

Joga Bonito
The 2009 Champs will play at 4pm this sunday Feb 14 with their previous Adidas royal blue France jersey. They will also bring a white away jersey just in case. We are excited to announce that all the former players will come back! There were rumors about big teams like Manchester United was interested in Colombian international Pablo David but both parties could not come to an agreement before the transfer window was shut. The bad news come when we find out the Colombian international Carlos Quintero has been rulled out this Sunday game due to a rib fracture injury. Joga Bonito's medical staff has declared that it might take at least 2 more weeks to recover. The good news comes when we see the rest of the impressive roster! Joga Bonito has enough talented players that can get the job done even when one of their key players is out.

Here is the roster:
Carlos Quintero #10 - Captain and Playmaker (Colombia)
Pablo David #11 - Striker (Colombia)
Rolando Paz - Striker (Honduras)
Emily Lovejoy - Defense (USA)
Ernesto Pumarejo #9 - Midfielder (Colombia)
Anthony Gamboa #7 - Defense (Peru)
Emily Shand - Defense (USA)
Antonio Escalante #8 - Defense (Colombia)
Keith Veneziano #2 - Defense (USA)
Mauricio Pumarejo #1 - Goalkeeper (Colombia)

Here is the schedule for Joga Bonito:
2/14 Willard Warriors 4pm
2/21 Team Andres 6pm
2/28 Rotary United 4pm
3/7 J Barney 7pm
3/14 Bye (No game)
3/21 Chupacabra 5pm
3/28 Team Lee 5pm
4/11 YMCA Team 6pm
4/18 People's Republic 7pm

Fox Soccer Channel and ESPN were fighting for the rights to transmit Joga Bonito games. But we, The Soccer News, are proud to announce that we have come to an agreement with Joga Bonito's management staff and you will be able to see all the news right here in your favorite media: The Soccer News! You can check each post on my blog.


Carlos Quintero
Joga Bonito Owner
El Presidente
Manager
Captain
Second Goalkeeper
Chauffer
Soccer Times Reporter
And even Water Boy