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Beautiful.  It is the word eternally connected with the sport of football, especially the Brazilian style of the game.

The Jogo Bonito, or Beautiful Game, is what is always expected from the men in yellow, blue, and white. Lately, however, the grace has been fading. The game has become all about effectiveness, speed, and power.

Even Brazilian coach Dunga has turned his back on those great Brazilian teams of 1970, 1982, 1994, and 2002 by turning his squad into a counter-attacking, speed-oriented machine.  

But then there is Kaka. His game, like his appearance, is different from that of other great Brazilians who have come and gone.  His footwork is not as flashy, his attitude is more calm, and his lifestyle is not that of a famous superstar. All these reasons and some other are why Kaka, and only Kaka, can bring back the Jogo Bonito.

It has been speculated and talked about since Thierry Henry arrived at the Nou Camp, and now he has made it public; he is simply not happy in Barcelona and will leave if things don´t change.  Henry made the comments to French magazine L'equipe in an interview, where he left no doubt about his situation.  The only question is, why hasn't he left already?

Since his arrival, Henry has not been even a shadow of what he was with Arsenal.  True, he has had injuries and he's a bit older.  However, the overwhelming reason is he simply hasn't been given the chance of playing the center forward position he perfected with Arsene Wenger.  So how can you ask him to shine on the left side or outside the box where he never made noise?

With all the hype about the biggest football transaction of the year that never materialized, and United's Champion's League title, many people have put Lionel Messi on a second level and Cristiano Ronaldo on the throne by himself.

True, Ronaldo won both the European Cup and the Premier League title convincingly while Barcelona ended the year with only disappointment, but that doesn't change the fact that Messi is just a better player than Ronaldo.

With the UEFA champion's league beginning to heat up, there is a trend starting to appear that has shown up in the last couple of seasons. All the team's that have been on top throughout the year are losing. Is it really a trend or just an unbelievable coincidence?

Now that the group stage is gone, we are left with what I like to call the real Champion's Leagues. Don't get me wrong, I love to see Bulgarian and Romanian teams try to beat the English or Spanish powerhouses, but it's just not a fair competition and these small Cinderella's should not be competing at this level. So as this round of 16 starts, I encounter once again what I have been seeing for the last few years; the teams leading their countries' leagues are not getting the job done in the cup, and this makes me think maybe the best overall team doesn't win this competition.

Last wednesday, soccer fans witnessed another nightmare in the roller coaster career of Ronaldo. Once again his knee gave up on him and he fell to the ground agonizing in pain like we saw when he played for the other Milan team and was at the peak of his career. The questions left to answer now are: Will Ronaldo play again? and is his legacy strong enough to consider him one of the greatest ever?

Watch how Spanish league leader Real Madrid obtained their biggest blowout victory at home against a disappointing Valladolid squad.

It has come time again for soccer leagues around the world to vanish for a week and give way to the non-spectacle that is international friendlies. At this time of the year, pretty much every important league on Earth is in activity (except the MLS). South Americans and Mexicans have played one or two games of their 2008 campaign, and European leagues are beginning the second leg of their 2007-2008 seasons.