Scouting Report

Isaac Cuenca  

Age 20  
Ajax
 
     Cuenca has talent that many young players don't have.  At age 18, he got taken in by Barcelona's Pep Guardiola.  At age 19, Cuenca had 30 appearances and 12 goals in his time at Barca.  In 2013, Barcelona's Tito Vilanova loaned Isaac out to Ajax, where he has already scored 4 goals.  Winger or forward, Isaac Cuenca is an amazing young player.  Nothing like Neymar or Wilshere, but this Ajax player has big potential, and in 5 to 6 years, Isaac Cuenca will certainly be a star in the FC Barcelona starting lineup.


Ola John 
Age 20
SC Benfica

Ola John is an emerging star,  at age 19 he made his debut for his country, Holland.  He played one game in the euro, assisting a header by Robin Van Persie.  In his first two professional seasons for FC Twente, Ola scored 10 goals, assisting 23!  In 2012, he moved to Benfica where he helped them get to runners-up in the UEFA Europa League scoring 1 goal and making 1 assist in the tournament.  At Benfica, Ola John has scored 4 goals and made 9 assists in a so far total of 36 games.  The pacy winger is a definite star, making a show at Benfica, Ola John will be playing on a big money team as he has a has a huge 45 million euro release cause with 5 more years in his Benfica contract.







Tonny Vilhena
Age 18
Feyenoord 

 
  Tonny Trindade De Vilhena made a regular starter for Dutch club Feyenoord this season helping them to 3rd place in the Dutch league Eredivisie so far playing 23 matches, scoring 4 goals and assisting 6.  One of his best games was against Ajax, as he assisted both goals in his team's clash in Amsterdam(right).  On February 3, 2013, Vilhena became the youngest player ever to score two or more goals in a single Eredivisie match, as he netted two goals in Feyenoord's 3-1 defeat of Willem 11.  He accomplished this record at 18 years and 31 days.  The number 21 wearer is not well known, but at only 18, he will become a sensational football player.



Julian Draxler
Age 19
Schalke 04

  FC Schalke's backup for loaned left-mid Afellay became Schalke's youngest player ever to appear in 100 competitive games while scoring in his side's 2-1 win over second place Bundesliga rivals, Borussia Dortmund.  He scored 13 goals in his 39 appearances for Die Knappen (the miners) in 2012-2013 helping his team to 4th place in the Bundesliga this year with 4 matches left.  In 2011, Draxler netted the opening goal in Schalke's 5-0 DFB Pokal win against DSV
Duisburg, hitting a beautiful volley from outside the penalty area.  When Julian made his debut in 2011 he was the fourth youngest player in the Bundesliga ever at 18 years.  One week later, he became the second youngest non-goalie player to ever start a Bundesliga game in Schalke's 1-0 win against Hannover 96.
Julian Draxler is on a road to be the next Zinedane Zidane, and soon, he will be on the starting 11 of Schalke or another world class team!
        

      



   

The Final

The end of the soccer (or football)
season is ending.  Many leagues are at their last games, almost every cup at it's final if not over.  The Bundesliga has five more games with an already sealed winner, La Liga has a sealed 1st, second and 3rd places, when the premier league has a sealed first and second place the 3rd, 4th and 5th places are a battle with one game left.  The FA Cup final was played the 11th of May, as Wigan had their surprise 90th minute 1-0 win against favorites Manchester City.  Three more major European tournaments are left.  The UEFA Europa League final is the 14th of May, 2:45 ET.  The Copa Del Rey (or Spanish Cup) is on May 17th, a Madrid derby (Real Madrid vs Athletico Madrid).  And finally, the most important or popular club tournament in Europe or maybe even everywhere, the Champions League final will be played on a Saturday, May 25, between two German teams, Borussia Dortmund (BVB) and Bayern Munich at 2:45 ET (above)*.  Try to watch.  All the leagues are ending, so check in soon for a "winners' post."

*Go BVB!!!!!        

A Change of Power

The Uefa Champions league is at its end, but the very tip of excitement.  A few days ago, the second leg of the semi-finals was played.  The results of the first leg was Bayern Munich 4, Barcelona 0 as well as Borussia Dortmund 4, and to quite surprise of the favorites fans, (Real Madrid) Madrid only scored 1.  The first game was predicted that it would be close, but Munich would win.  One part of that is wrong.  It was not a close game.  In the second game, it most likely would be the complete opposite of the real score.   In the second leg both German teams pulled off the score that they needed to go through to the finals.  But why did Real Madrid lose to Dortmund?  And why did Barca lose to Munich?  The answer to the first question is very simple.  Robert Lewandowski.  The Polish struck all four out of the four goals Dortmund struck in the semi-finals.  One of the most wanted players today, Lewandowski drove Dortmund to the finals.  The second question is more complicated.  In the last month, Munich has been working better together.  Bayern Munich have sealed this years Bundesliga as well, thus giving them a big morale boost.  The last reason is because of the change of starting strikers.  Mario Gomez is good, but has been slowly decreasing and finally, his starting spot has been taken by pacy striker Mario Manzukic.  Manzukic has helped the team hugely.
         But the real thing that shows here is that Europe has taken a big change of power.  Here are the power rankings from 3 months ago:
1. FC Barcelona
2. Real Madrid
3. FC Bayern Munich
4. Paris Saint-Germain
5. Manchester United
These are the power rankings now.
1. FC Bayern Munich
2. Borussia Dortmund
3. FC Barcelona
4. Real Madrid
5. Paris Saint-Germain


The power has changed.  The Spanish have handed it to the Germans!