SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: RealMuLan who wrote (59575)1/28/2005 3:30:37 AM
From: elmatador  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 74559
 
They are getting bigger: Nine-year old a budding soccer star

By Tales Azzoni
The Associated Press

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- At this rate, sonograms will become a soccer recruiting tool pretty soon.
Jean Carlos Chera, a 9-year-old who is 4-foot-6, is attracting interest from Manchester United and other top European teams. Chera, who weighs 77 pounds, currently plays for the youth teams of Associacao Desportiva Atletica, a small club in the southern Brazilian state of Parana.

"Seven or eight European clubs have already contacted us to know more about Jean," team president Adilson Batista Prado said in a telephone interview yesterday. "They want to know what he is all about, and I tell them he's a phenomenon, probably the best player to come out of Brazil."

Prado and team officials would not identify all the clubs interested in Jean, but confirmed that representatives of Manchester United have asked for videotapes of his matches.

Prado said teams from Portugal, France and Germany have made contact, and local media identified FC Porto as one of the teams.

The club said the European clubs haven't made official offers yet, but some have asked for permission to send representatives, and others have invited the midfielder and his family to go to Europe.

"He still needs to be a kid," said Prado, who does not allow Jean to talk to reporters.

Jean began to attract attention after the club put videos with highlights of Jean's matches on its Web site. In the videos, Jean is seen scoring goals from midfield, dribbling past several defenders and playing among 13- and 14-year-olds.

After the videos were posted, the site's page views nearly tripled and some of them had to be removed to keep the site from crashing, the club said.

Two years ago, Manchester and Inter Milan were among top clubs that expressed interest in then 14-year-old Freddy Adu, who signed Major League Soccer instead. European clubs generally are not allowed to use players from outside the European Union on their first teams until they turn 18.



To: RealMuLan who wrote (59575)1/28/2005 2:11:19 PM
From: Seeker of Truth  Respond to of 74559
 
Well, Ms Zhang, I have to admit my impression that you are correct, Canada is too easy on those swindlers. It's not only a problem with China origin swindlers. Many violent street crooks from elsewhere than China have been ordered out of Canada on the grounds of illegal entry but they slip into the darkness and never actually leave, committing crimes that fill the Toronto newspapers. The agency that's responsible for expelling and/or deporting says that they have too few employees, can't keep up with the work load. Sorry for the real damage to China.

It does seem to me that the magic of being related to the family of a top guy would be lessened if the top guys lacked special powers and actually had to obey clearly stated laws like everyone else.