Ronaldo Retires

One of football's greats officially retired from the game today.  Brazilian superstar, "Il Fenomeno" Ronaldo announced his retirement in a very emotional press con .

Wiith all the injuries plaguing his career and his struggle with hypothyroidism, I thought he had already retired for a few years now...  It's a sad day in football world when one of it's great players hang up his boots.  For such an amazing player (a legend, I would say), it's sad the way he left the game...

3-time FIFA world player of the year

Watch the very emotional video of the press con

Check out the links for a more in depth story:

How retired Ronaldo fell out of love with the game he once dominated
Ronaldo: Goodbye To A Legend
Ronaldo May Be Leaving, but His Joy Lingers
Brazil soccer legend Ronaldo retires
Ronaldo in tears as he leaves football
Ronaldo Calls Time

WAGs: Caroline Celico

Behind every great man, is a woman.  Or so they say.  I have always been fascinated about the women who captured the hearts of football’s greatest players.  So I decided to do a little digging into the women who are collectively called WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends of Football Players).

Trolling through the internet, I found out that there are a lot of sites that are devoted to women behind the footballer.  Most of the sites rank them by hotness (the pics were soo NSFW, I was afraid someone would see my screen and think I was visiting some porn site!).  Based from the sites I’ve visited, you’d think that to be a WAG, you either had to be a model (and I mean this term loosely as any type will do: fashion, glamour or Page 3), a beauty queen (doesn’t have to be a major pageant like Ms Universe), an actress (wanna-be, reality star or legit “actor”) or dancer/showgirl.

Looking thru all the sizzling photos with all their bountiful, um, assets provocatively displayed, they eventually began to resemble each other.   Yes, they were all hot as hell, but it was rare to find a WAG who was decently clothed.  So I decided to look for the “normal” WAGs.  Normal meaning their current or previous job description did not include  posing with very little clothes on or have done a nudie calendar/photo shoot. 


So here is my first post for my WAG series...

they kinda look like each other, don't they?

Full Name: Caroline Celico

Married to: Kaká (of Real Madrid and Brazil)

Birthday: July 26, 1987 (making her 23 years old today)

Date Married: December 23, 2005

Kids: Luca Celico Leite (son born June 10, 2008)

          Last December 8 2010, Kaká announced on twitter that Celico was 4 months pregnant
          with their second child, a daughter.

friends of this stunner would say she is shy

Who is she?

Maybe because this Brazilian beauty didn’t pose nude or in barely there clothes, she was only ranked number 90 in some WAG list.  But I bet if there’s a ranking for the nicest WAG, she would probably top the list.  People who know her say she’s humble, sincere and classy.

This hottie is (surprise, surprise!) a pastor (well, okay, knowing the God-fearing Brazilian superstar Kaká, maybe this isn’t a shocking titbit).  She was recently inducted as a pastor in their Evangelist denomination Renascer em Cristo or Reborn in Christ by its church founder Sônia Hernandes last 2009.

She stands 5 foot 6 inches

Her father is Celso Celico is a businessman and Christian Dior’s Brazil Representative while her mother, Rosangela Lyra Celico, is a famous socialite known for her church work and charities.  She has a brother named Enrico.

She studied at St Paul’s School and graduated before marrying Kaká.

She is a devout Christian like her hubby and sometimes she sings with her church’s choir.  She recently the released her first CD entitled, Carol Celico, with the songs available for free downloads in her site. Don’t worry, she is not a wanna-be singer as she created this project to spread a positive message to people.  The CD has 12 songs and one of them was written by Kaká. 



This fresh-faced cutie is very passionate about cooking



She can speak French, English, Spanish, Italian and certainly Portuguese.  She is currently attending a university in Milan for a degree in fashion business.

How they met…



 they were both Christians in the same church, Rebirth in Christ, when they met



She met Kaká when she was in high school in 2001 and he was already playing for Sao Paulo FC at this time.  In 2002, they became really good friends and started dating.  They did the whole long distance relationship thing when Kaká had to move to Italy in 2003 and she had to finish her studies.  They would get to meet when Kaká would visit Brazil on short trips.  Most articles I’ve read call them childhood sweethearts.  I agree that Caroline would qualify in that statement, she being 13 when they met, but, uh, he was 19 (0.o)  …I would say they had some sort of May-December romance going on.  Don’t worry, she was legal when they married in 2005... well, barely as she was 18… If you’re interested, there’s a music video celebrating the couple's romance in youtube.

apparently, Kaka sang the song, I don't really know...

Trivia and other interesting tidbits:

Kaká was reportedly a virgin when he said "I do".  Their wedding, at the Reborn in Christ Church in Sao Paulo, was attended by Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano, Dida, Julio Baptista and Carlos Alberto Parreira.

It took a while for the couple to conceive as Carol has polycystic ovaries.

with their son, Luca

On a way different note, Renascer em Cristo or Rebirth in Christ, the couple’s church is never far from controversy.  Their church leader, Sônia Hernandes, was imprisoned in 2007 for smuggling cash into the USA.  Currently the Brazilian government is looking for her for tax evasion charges.  Kaká was even questioned by authorities for an alleged 2M Brazilian Reals donation to the church in 2007.

If you know how to read Spanish, Caroline has a blog (or is that Portuguese?  Is there a difference?).

For those who were hoping to see the NSFW pics I mentioned and read through my post up to this point, as a reward, you can see all the top 10 or top 13 or top 100 Football WAGs and their NSFW pics by can clicking here (careful when you check this one, soo NSFW), here, here and here (there are still many more sites, but I leave that up to you to search for them =P)

Here are photos of Kaká and Luca as they're just too cute not to post:

Kaka's mini-me

 

Where are they now?: Fabien Barthez

This post category is inspired by those E! True Hollywood Story type of shows where they show child stars post-Hollywood fame.  This is my version of Where Are They Now? where I will try to track down legendary players of yesteryears and find out where and what they are doing now.  I’m not the greatest researcher so there may be info that I may miss out or make mistakes on, so I’m open to all helpful suggestions and comments J

The first footballer I’ll feature in this category is Fabien Barthez.  Why him?  Well, the Waka-waka video from my previous Shakira-Piqué post, made me wonder where Barthez is now.  Is he still playing in Europe?  Or did he follow what most great European football players do before hanging up their studs—play for the MLS.

So, who is Fabian Barthez?




the formidable protector of the post

He is one of football’s famous (or is it infamous?) bald-headed goalkeepers.  This retired French goalkeeper’s career can be described as part brilliant and part cringe-worthy.  Some love him, some hate him.  When he’s good, he’s spectacular.  But when his bad, it’s awful.  Fans who love this endearing goalie know all about his incredible reaction and crucial saves due to his remarkable sense of anticipation.  His critics, however, would say that this accident-prone keeper’s clumsy and sometimes comic ineptitude has cost a lot of significant conceded goals.