Continuing to surf on La Gazzetta‘s “Serie A vs. EPL” wave, here are ALL THE PLAYERS from UEFA Champions League’s Arsenal vs. Roma.
Posts Tagged ‘William Gallas’
Arsenal vs. Roma: The PLAYERS
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009Nike: What William Knows
Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Second episode in Nike’s “What [...] Knows” series (once again, if you haven’t been following, the [...] part can be substituted by the player’s first name to make it look cool).
We had “What Wayne Knows” as the pilot episode, this time it’s Arsenal and France center-back William Gallas‘s turn. The Frenchman tells us about the joy of big-pressure games, the importance of winning the first ball, and why his first instinct as a defender is to counter-attack. “After playing for some of the top teams in France and England, the Arsenal man is a past master at shackling the best strikers in Europe” says Nike. Oh, and “he’s far from goal-shy himself” too.
High rez version here.
Nike: “Take It To The Next Level” – Director’s Cut
Sunday, July 6th, 2008
Hey remember Nike’s “Take It To The Next Level” Commercial? That cool first-person ad featuring Wenger, Gallas, Fabregas, C-Ron, Sneijder and van Nistelrooy (among others)? You know, the one directed by Guy Ritchie, that cool dude behind movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch ? (notice I didn’t mention Swept Away… oops, never mind)
Well, turns out that Mr. Ritchie’s just released a “Director’s Cut” version (whatever helps getting his mind off Madonna and her phony British accent, right?), which features one extra minute compared to the official TV version. “More players, more action, more wish-I was-that-guy. Recut, remixed and rewired by Guy Ritchie“, in other words a full 3 minutes of Nike football goodness. Yay!
Ok I’m starting to sound like a marketing whore, so without further ado here’s the video. As usual, the high res version is up at Nikefootball.com.
France’s Euro 2008 Roster – 23 Players, No Cissé or Mexès and Gomis is a Surprise
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
Since it’s May 28 and all the Euro 2008 rosters have been finalized, let’s take a look at Italy’s biggest rivals from Group C. It may be called the “Group of Death”, but I am talking of course about France. Coach Raymond Domenech had already made a “Pre-selection” list of 30 players some weeks ago, eventually cutting down the group to the required 23 imposed by UEFA. Much like World Cup 2006 (which saw the surprise call-ups of Franck Ribéry and Pascal Chimbonda) there were a few surprises in the list, in particular regarding the absentees.
For example, Mickaël Landreau and Djibril Cissé had extensively featured on Les Bleus‘s roster since the World Cup but instead, the French coach chose to privilege and reward the recent form of Steve Mandanda (keeper for Marseille) and Bafetimbi Gomis (striker for St. Etienne). Les Verts‘s forward had surprised everyone this Tuesday, by scoring the two victory goals in France’s friendly encounter vs. Ecuador (one better than the other, the second of which a spectacular scissor-kick). Cissé must be really fuming though, because he hasn’t played in a major tournament since World Cup 2002 (he was suspended in 2004 and injured in 2006).
In defense, the biggest surprise comes from the absence of Julien Escudé, a pillar of FC Sevilla’s and France’s backline in recent years (it seems however that the French center-back “re-awakened” his hernia (pubalgia) problems on Tuesday and was thus excluded for health/fitness reasons), as well as that of for Philippe Mexès (considered by many as one of Serie A’s best defenders this year). The latter just further demonstrates my theory that Domenech has an absolute phobia for anything coming from Italy, biggest case in point being David Trezeguet‘s (20 goals in Serie A this season, one goal behind topscorer Del Piero) absence even from the “Pre-Selection” list. One really has to wonder how on Earth Sebastien Frey didn’t get the cut.
Finally, Jérémy Toulalan and Lassana Diarra were preferred over Mathieu Flamini and Alou Diarra (Flamini just signed for AC Milan… you see how proving my theory just gets easier and easier?), while Hatem Ben Arfa was discarded due to his limited use in Lyon’s line-up this year. French sports newspaper L’Équipe suggests that by choosing 4 main strikers (Henry, Anelka, Benzema, Gomis) in his roster, Raymond Domenech is determined to keep utilizing his tested 4-4-2 formation for the SwissAustria tournament.
Here’s the full list:
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| Number | Goalkeepers: | Club: |
| Nº23 | Grégory Coupet | Lyon |
| Nº16 | Sébastien Frey | Fiorentina |
| Nº1 | Steve Mandanda | Marseille |
| . | ||
| Defenders: | ||
| Nº3 | Eric Abidal | Barcelona |
| Nº2 | Jean-Alain Boumsong | Lyon |
| Nº14 | François Clerc | Lyon |
| Nº13 | Patrice Evra | Man Utd |
| Nº5 | William Gallas | Arsenal |
| Nº19 | Willy Sagnol | Bayern Munich |
| Nº17 | Sébastien Squillaci | Lyon |
| Nº15 | Lilian Thuram | Barcelona |
| . | ||
| Midfielders: | ||
| Nº21 | Lassana Diarra | Portsmouth |
| Nº10 | Sidney Govou | Lyon |
| Nº6 | Claude Makélélé | Chelsea |
| Nº7 | Florent Malouda | Chelsea |
| Nº11 | Samir Nasri | Marseille |
| Nº22 | Franck Ribéry | Bayern Munich |
| Nº4 | Patrick Vieira | Inter |
| . | ||
| Forwards: | ||
| Nº8 | Nicolas Anelka | Chelsea |
| Nº9 | Karim Benzema | Lyon |
| Nº18 | Bafétimbi Gomis | St. Etienne |
| Nº12 | Thierry Henry | Barcelona |
Nike – “Take It To The Next Level” Commercial
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008Ahhh… the time has come! The moment all of us footy enthusiasts have been waiting for: the new Nike soccer commercial. When it comes to the beautiful game, Nike’s marketing department has never failed to impress us; this time they have really pushed the boundaries of creativity, adapting a unique first-person view.
From their “How badly do you want to be a fooballer” campaign and featuring international superstars such as Arsene Wenger, William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas, Marco Materazzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ruud van Nistelrooy (among others), their newest TV commercial is titled “Take It To The Next Level” and it goes a little something like this:
You open your eyes. You see the referee has just finished booking the defender that brought you down. One of your teammates helps you up, and asks if you’re alright. “Can you take it?” he says. “Yeah yeah don’t worry about it” you reply, and carefully place the ball on the free kick spot.
Not even waiting for the referee to blow his whistle, you slam an inswinging shot past the ball straight into the net. GOAAAAAL!! Your teammates jump all over you, you’ve just won the game for your team!
As you exit the field, you spot Arsène Wenger eyeing you from the sidelines. Looks like he’s scouting for some new talent… could you be the next promising youngster heading to Emirates Stadium?
As you enter the door of the training ground, you can’t contain your excitement at receiving your fully personalized Arsenal jersey. The assistant coach points to your spot in the changing room, between shirts nº32 (Theo Walcott) and nº2 (Abou Diaby).
Time for your first match, Arsène is bringing you on against Manchester United!! William Gallas high fives you as he leaves the pitch; a slap on the cheek from the Gunners captain is all the encouragement you need!
It doesn’t take you very long to get right into the heart of the action! Wayne Rooney chests the ball and volleys it towards Cristiano Ronaldo. You somehow try to stop him but you just get pushed to the ground. Boy that’s gonna leave a mark! Before you can even get back up, you see the Portuguese player making a fool of your keeper and scoring with a slamming volley. After his goal, Ronaldo doesn’t miss taunting you for your incompetence, that was embarassing!
Enraged at your first match performance, you’re boiling with energy at your next training session. Push-ups, sit-ups, jumping, running up the stairs, you’re really pumped and ready for action.
After a long spell on the bench, Wenger has decided it’s time to give you a second chance: you’re a starter in Arsenal’s next league game. No time to waste, kick-off and let’s go!!
You pass the ball to Cesc Fàbregas, he gets by a defender then slides the ball to the right wing. With the cross is coming in towards you, you cannot miss it this time! Waiting for the ball to drop, you arm a powerful volley past the opposing keeper!! GOAAAAL!! Fàbregas kisses you and screams like a little girl with excitement.
From the kisses of Fàbregas to that of your girlfriend. You’re transported into a limousine, ready to attend some big fundraising event. It’s a drag, but you know it’s for a good cause and besides, you love the media attention.
As you make your way on the red carpet hundreds of screaming fans ask for your autograph. One crazy chick even wants you to… autograph her breasts? Don’t mind if I do! You’re glad to oblige, under the perplexed eyes of your girlfriend…
Champions’ League day! Arsenal are playing Inter Milan. You’re facing Marco Materazzi, challenging an aerial ball. The Italian defender doesn’t play subtle however, and shoves you aside before heading the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
You can only watch helplessly as the Swede strikes a powerful shot into the top corner, leaving your keeper to pick the ball up in the back of net. Zlatan is laughing at you…
Darn, that Materazzi challenge really left some bruises. As you take your shower after the match, you discover you’ve lost a tooth!
Next week, you’re playing Barcelona. The traditional pre-match handshakes see the Blaugrana players pass by before you…Rafael Márquez, Bojan Krkic, Ronaldinho… then game on!
Receiving a pass, you chest it down and flick it over a defender, before attempting to send it down the right wing… but Marquez intercepts it!! He passes to Ronaldinho, and the pesky Brazilian makes your teammates look like fools… two sombreros in quick succession? Cesc is not happy!
Back to more training, even harder this time!! More running up the stairs… but also team spirit building: you pull down the pants of one of your teammates during practice. Everyone bursts out laughing as the joke recipient chases you angrily. It’s all in good fun though.
Then more running… so much in fact that you end up puking your lunch when you’re done. It was worth the effort though, the Dutch national team manager has monitored your progress and called you up for your first international match vs. Portugal!!
Your heart is pacing at 200 beats per minute as you enter the stadium, right behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Nani. Boy oh boy are you excited! Some pre-match stretching, Ruud van Nistelrooy does a few juggles & flicks, then hands the ball to the referee. The match can begin!!!
Kick off, your team is taking control. Ruud attempts a long-range drive but it’s parried by the keeper. He apologizes for messing up your good pass. Oh look it’s Ronaldo again, only this time you’re not letting him school you.
Your team gets the ball back, Wesley Sneijder‘s in control. One nutmeg to clear a defender, then Wesley passes the ball to you and the road to the goal is clear! You run at full pace towards the net, but a Portugal defender takes your legs away right on the edge of the box. Your mind goes black…
You open your eyes. You see the referee has just finished booking the defender that brought you down. Ruud helps you up. Wesley brings you the ball and asks if you’re taking it. You nod, carefully place the ball on the free kick spot, and start your run…
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Alright I’ll quit teasing you… 
here’s the video (you can find the high res version at Nikefootball.com).
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