APP - Matteo RAMADE (Football)

Hello John, today I am going to talk about the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the course of France in this magnificent event.
First of all, before this event, the list of 23 players made by Didier Deschamps was much criticized because there were not some players who deserved.
So, the first matches were difficult with shy players. We won the first match against Australia 2-1 with a penalty of Griezmann. Then, with a victory against Peru 1-0 (with a goal of Mbappé) and a a draw against Denmark 0-0, we qualified in the final phase to face Argentina !!! Certainly, a great team but France was better because with an incredible Mbappé we won 4-3, a magnificent match for a magnificent score !!!
Moreover, we arrive in the quarterfinals against Uruguay. After a mastered game, we won also 2-0 with a goal of Varane and a goal of Griezmann which was flamboyant during this meeting.
Here we are in the "last square" with the other side a beautiful match between Croatia and England. After Croatia won in extra time with a goal of Mandzukic (goodbye English ) it's up to us to play...
It's a hotly contested meeting with, for me, the best team of the World Cup : Belgium. But, despite a Hazard in fire, we manage to score a nice goal from Umtiti with his head. In France, it is absolute joy, everyone kiss everyone, everyone jumps into each other's arms to celebrate this goal which brings us in the final, the final of the World Cup !!!!!!
After a long wait, here are the players who tread the lawn. All french believe it !!!!!
Finally, at the 38th minute, Griezmann deliver the French people with a penalty !!! Then, Pogba and Mbappé increase the score with 2 goals and that's it !!!! France is world champion with a score of 4-2 !!!! We are the kings of the world for a while !!!! This day is the happiest day of my life, I cry with joy, I can't believe it ....
This joy of all French people is inexplicable, I had never seen such madness in the streets but it was amazing !!!!!!

I talk about this event because, for a French people, he has to be thrilled by that.

But not me

Hi John,
This week I chose to talk about the title of champion of Premier League in 2016.
First of all, Claudio Ranieiri arrives in a new club that he doesn't know because he is a new face in Leicester City.
After this arrival, the start of de championship of Leicester is unbelievable especially thanks to Jamie Vardy who scored 13 goals in 11 matches ans it's incredible for an attacker.
So, Leicester becomes the leader of the Premier League the 5 December of 2015.
In the middle of the season, Leicester is the leader of the championship and it's really amazing because the last season they played the maintenance. Indeed, it's even more fantastic because they were not really favorites for the title !!!
Even if Vardy makes a huge start to the championship, it should be noted that Ryad Mahrez and N'golo Kanté have an amazing season too !!!!
Moreover, the Leicester's game is beautiful to watch because Ranieiri did a very nice job in Leicester.
Finally, during the 36th day, Leicester becomes THE champion of the Premier League for the first time in its history.
It's well deserved because they walked on the Premier League all season.
With the title of best player of the season, N'golo Kanté turned out to be one of the best players in the world.
Congratulations to Leicester and this incredible feat !!!!!
I hope this year will go well for them again... Come on Leicester !!!!

So do I.

Whilst Vardy, Mahrez and Kanté got all of the attention I think it's important to note that the second half of the season was built on defence.

Our £3m purchase of Robert Huth was a master stroke.

Hello John,
Today I'm going to talk about l'AS Saint-Etienne and my love for my childhood club.
First of all, my enthusiasm for this club came from a young age because when I was 5, I went to see a match in Saint-Etienne against Lyon with my dad and Saint-Etienne won 2 goals to 0. It was my first match in a stadium and the atmosphere that there was astonished me. Since then, we have seen many great players in our club like Aubameyang, Matuidi or Payet. We are the only French team with Marseille
to have a star on the logo but not for the same reason : indeed, we have won 10 French championship titles between the 60s and 80s especially thanks Platini, Rocheteau, Larqué or Jacquet.
Moreover, we are often in the top 6 of the ranking and therefore we are in the European league every year.
I am an amazing fan of Saint-Etienne because I go to Saint-Etienne at least 2 home games to support them because it's a 5 hour drive to get there so you really have to be a fan of them.
Besides, this year, Claude Puel does a good job with a small workforce.
This year, my favorite player at Saint-Etienne is Adil Aouchiche, a young french player with a lot of talent.
To conclude, I think Saint-Etienne is among the best teams in Ligue 1 so come on ASSE !!!!!!!

Matteo wrote:Hello John,
Today I'm going to talk about l'AS Saint-Etienne and my love for my childhood club.
First of all, my enthusiasm for this club came from a young age because when I was 5, I went to see a match in Saint-Etienne against Lyon with my dad and Saint-Etienne won 2 goals to 0. It was my first match in a stadium and the atmosphere that there was astonished me. Since then, we have seen many great players in our club like Aubameyang, Matuidi or Payet. We are the only French team with Marseille
to have a star on the logo but not for the same reason : indeed, we have won 10 French championship titles between the 60s and 80s especially thanks Platini, Rocheteau, Larqué or Jacquet.
Moreover, we are often in the top 6 of the ranking and therefore we are in the European league every year.
I am an amazing fan of Saint-Etienne because I go to Saint-Etienne at least 2 home games to support them because it's a 5 hour drive to get there so you really have to be a fan of them.
Besides, this year, Claude Puel does a good job with a small workforce.
This year, my favorite player at Saint-Etienne is Adil Aouchiche, a young french player with a lot of talent.
To conclude, I think Saint-Etienne is among the best teams in Ligue 1 so come on ASSE !!!!!!!

So tell me what do you think about Wesley Fofana? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Do you think he'll be good in the Premier league? Claude Puel coached at Leicester for a short time. I liked him but sometimes his football could be very defensive and boring.

Hello John,
We meet again this week to talk about Wesley Fofana, the magnificent defender trained in Saint-Etienne.

First of all, Wesley Fofana was born on December 17, 2000 so he is 20 years old. He is a promising player of course.
He started his first professional match against Lyon during a "derby". I went to see the match in Saint-Etienne, in the ultras (the hottest supporters). It was an incredible match with a victory at the end.
During this match, there was a new player, a very young player coming from the training center of Saint-Etienne who played with number 33. He had an amazing match and he turned out to be an essential player in the season. Measuring 1 meter 90, he is not physically impressive but he has an extremely smart defensive game. He has a very interesting speed for a defender and a good vision of the game with a good technique.
Personally, we lost Saliba left at Arsenal et think losing Fofana was unimaginable because we needed a pillar in defense...

Unfortunately, with several offers from Leicester City to afford Wesley Fofana including a last at 40 million we had to let him go.
I think that in Leicester Fofana can be imposed as a true defender of Premier League because he will evolve alongside Soyuncu and this defense can be effective I guess.

To conclude, I think he's a very good recruit with great potential and you will see on the upcoming matches.
Good luck to him and help him progress because he is above all a young FRENCH defender !!

PS : Aston Villa 1 - Leicester 0

Villa scored in injury time and that was with their full team whilst Leicester had no Vardy, no N'didi, No Ricardo, No Soyuncu (all important starters) and with Praet and Maddison not fully fit.

p.s. Fofana had a good game and he looks like he could be a top Premier league defender. Great in the air, beautiful forward pass...

Hello John,
After this announcement from the president about containment, I will talk about Robert Lewandowski.
Foremost, Lewandowski is a Polish international footballer playing as a striker at Bayern Munich.
He has always been a formidable striker but the year 2020 has been amazing for him.

Lewandowski revealed himself in Dortmund. Indeed, in 2010 he joins Borussia Dortmund. With the German club, he became champion in the first season, established himself in the Bundesliga as one of the top scorers in Europe and reached the final of the Champions League in 2013.
In 187 games with Dortmund, he scored 103 goals and delivered 42 assists.

After winning four trophies with Borussia and finishing top scorer in the German league, Lewandowski joined Bayern Munich in 2014. He still evolves at Bayern Munich and never stops crushing the competition in his position.
I remember a Bayern Munich game against Wolfsburg. He was a substitute and Wolfsburg won 1-0. He returned to the 50th and scored 5 goals in 9 minutes. The fastest quintuplet in history. I was amazed in front of my TV.
Thereafter, he was selected for the 2015 "Ballon d'Or" and finally finished 4th behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
Moreover, he never ceases to amaze the supporters in his selection in poland because he is now the top scorer in the history of the selection.

To come back to it, this lewandowski season is 52 games played and 62 goals scored in all competitions. He's won everything this season:
- Winner of the Bundesliga
- Winner of the German Cup
- Winner of the Champions League
- Winner of the European Supercup
- Winner of the German Supercup
- Bundesliga top scorer (34 goals)
- Top scorer in the German Cup (6)
- Champions League top scorer (15)
- Best UEFA player
- Best Polish player of the season

This season the "Ballon d'or" should have come back to him but unfortunately there is no 2020 ceremony. I am sad for him but he does not despair because the start of the 2021 season is also exceptional, since in 5 Bundesliga games he has scored 10 goals and is already the top scorer in the championship.

Robert lewandowski is, for me, the best number 9 in the world but he doesn't yet have the title of "Ballon d'or".

Vardy is the best no.9 in the world.

Hi John,
This week I would like to talk about the difference between the English championship and the French championship. If we don't agree with the best number 9 in the world, we might agree on this point ...

First of all, Premier League is, for me, the best football championship in the world. We can see it in particular thanks to the UEFA club ranking because in the top 15 clubs there are 6 which are English while France there are only 2 clubs which already proves a superiority on the level of the clubs, but that's not new...
Moreover, when you watch a Ligue 1 match and you pass on a Premier League match, it's impressive the level of difference between the two championships. When you see a match between 2 big teams in Ligue 1, for example PSG vs Lyon, it's not at all the same match as a Liverpool vs City.
There is not the same desire on the pitch, technically players of Ligue 1 are significantly inferior to those in the Premier League, the game is much faster in England, English tactics are thoughtful while there are none in Ligue 1... it's sad to say but Ligue 1 matches are boring, sorry for the term but "we're bored in front of".

The other day I watched a match between two teams at the end of the classification in Ligue1 and the Premier League but that had nothing to do with it, there was 0-0 in France with no backlash while in in England I enjoyed the match.
I find that a shame because the French championship is not well seen by outsiders and they are unfortunately right.

For example, during the Champions League 2019, the final was Tottenham vs Liverpool, 2 English clubs which proved the domination of the English championship over the world of football.
We will say that for 2 years it has been better for French clubs with the final in the europa league in Marseille in 2018, the semi-final in Lyon and the final of the PSG last year in the Champions League, but compared to the English championship it has nothing to do.

To conclude, we can say that the English championship outclasses the other championships, in particular that of France, hoping that this year the French teams have a good European course even if this year the English clubs are above :
- Leicester, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham in the Europa League
- Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City in Champions League

PS: another victory for Leicester yesterday in the 4-0 europa league with a good match from Iheanacho and Fofana ...

Leicester were awesome last night.

I agree with you about the 2 leagues. The Prem is exciting and even a lower placed club can beat a higher placed club on any given day. The football is fast and skilful, Sadly the French league has a terrible imbalance which takes away any excitement. we all know that PSG are going to win the league and probably the cups too. Lyon and Marseille will be in europe etc... and the clubs at the bottom have little chance of an interesting win against the top clubs. You have good players and good coaches but the league is unequal and boring.

Hello John,
I'm going to talk to you about Cristiano Ronaldo.
For starters, Ronaldo is my favorite player and that's nothing new as i watch him play his highest level since those years at Manchester United in 2007 where he won 1 champions league and above all a lot of titles. It was from there that he won his first golden ball. And since that day I see him as the best player in the world and of all time.
Then, when Ronaldo arrived at Real Madrid in 2009, he was the star of the team and with this team he won many victories and titles which put him at the top of the players of the world ahead of Messi. Indeed, Ronaldo at Real Madrid was simply unstoppable, he scored goal after goal, he carried the team and won 4 Golden Balls in his nine seasons at Real Madrid. He has become the most impressive player to have played for Real and now he is a true legend in this club. He is admired by all the supporters and it is totally normal after all he has won and achieved for this club.
In addition, Ronaldo is in a lot of competition with Lionel Messi and a lot of Messi fans cannot like Ronaldo and vice versa and I find that a shame because indeed there can be a great rivalry between the two players on the pitch because in my eyes they are the two best players of all time but outside the green square they are not in competition on the contrary they are friends and get along well.
I would like to see Ronaldo and Messi play one day in the same team but I think it is impossible unfortunately and we will be satisfied to see them play against ... and it is already not bad ...
Cristiano Ronaldo is not one day out of town for his football on the pitch either, but he is an extremely generous man on the outside and he does not use his notoriety in his life on the contrary he is the boss of many associations charities for sick children for example and he is extremely nice to his supporters.
To tell you John, at the time I only bought Ronaldo shirts, whether they were Manchester United or Real Madrid shirts, all with Ronaldo number 7 on the back !!! I only saw through him and tell yourself that when I went to the hairdresser I asked for a hairstyle similar to Ronaldo's ... I had posters of him all over my room, I was rocked by Ronaldo in my footballing childhood.
He is a player that I respect and that I still admire a lot, especially for his work because unlike Messi, he has come so far thanks to his work and especially his determination. It is an example for the youngest. If everyone who played football had the rhythm of life they have, everyone would be at the highest level for sure ...
To finish, Ronaldo is for me the best player of all time and for me there is no competition with Messi because the two players are equal on the pitch for sure, even if Ronaldo is much more publicized than Messi ...

Hello John,
Today I'm going to talk to you about football once again ... but this time I'm going to talk to you about the final at the 2006 World Cup between France and Italy.
At that time, I was only 4 years old but I was from that age watching television with my dad supporting France. I admit that I didn't know much about it for the moment but the presence was important so I was present on the sofa ...
To begin with, my father believed a lot in the victory of France since we had just won a World Cup in 1998 and a Euro in 2000 so everyone supported the France team especially since Italy was not very appreciated especially for their game.
Then, I still remember very well the penalty transformed by Zinédine Zidane with a magnificent panenka (re-entrant crossbar). My father and I who had jumped for joy and idolized Zizou !!!
Materazzi's equalizer from a corner kicked our morale up ... but nothing was lost ....
It's a game that continues until extra time and a dramatic twist occurs in the 107th minute. An action that everyone will remember and that is known as the white wolf, which was particularly the result of why I am talking about this game here. Zinédine Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi is impressive and I still remember the commentators who were disgusted like us (my father and me).
As a result, Zizou is expelled and his career will end with this gesture ... it's a shame but it will not detract from his magnificent career and his talent.
Italy therefore won this match on penalties and unfortunately nothing will turn out for the best in international matches afterwards.
I still remember that we insulted Materazzi and even today for the insults towards Zizou who would never have made this gesture without these words ....
Fortunately, in 2018 we won the World Cup which will have brought smiles back to the French after this failure in 2006 and especially this failed World Cup in 2010 ...