Chelsea is Coming! AC Milan is Coming! Inter Milan is Coming!

Team Chelsea, one of the sexiest squads in Euro soccer, is coming to the States for the fifth time in six years-this time, as part of the inaugural World Football Challenge.

And it’s not just news about Chelsea making me squeal, its news that the tournement will host four international squads…Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Club America. The round-robin style tournament will make stops in Palo Alto, Pasadena, my house, Atlanta, Baltimore, Massachusetts, and Texas…with Chelsea playing a friendly on July 18 versus the Seattle Sounders at Quest Field.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon spoke about the teams fan base here in the U.S.: “Coming here regularly has definitely helped us so far. Our fan base over here has more than doubled in the last three years and we are seeing a genuine interest in our team, our club and our brand from people in this part of the world.”

Indeed. It’s not difficult to take a genuine interest when Chelsea’s roster of hot babes include: Captain John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Deco, Joe Cole, and Salomon Kalou and others…and giving me reason to learn Italian, from Inter we’ve got: Luis Figo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marco Materazzi and AC Milan babes in serious danger of a chance meeting with me: Ricardo Kaka, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo, Filippo Inzaghi, Ronaldinho, Clarence Seedorf, and Gianluca Zambrotta to name just a few.

The World Football Challenge begins July 19 where this crazy redheaded blogger will stalk Inter Milan as they take on Club at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif. My next stop will be on July 21 when Chelsea battle Inter Milan at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where you’ll likely find me trying to get into both locker rooms. Once the hotties have escaped California, the tour continues: July 22: AC Milan vs. Club America at Georgia Dome in Atlanta; July 24: AC Milan vs. Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore-where I expect Angela to do me proud; July 26: Inter Milan vs. AC Milan at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Mass.; July 26: Chelsea vs. Club America at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

If you just can’t wait until July to see the hottest soccer players alive, remember, you can catch most of them-and then some- in New York on June 14 for the ‘All Stars for Hope’ celebrity soccer game. This one of the biggest and best events for charity this summer…hope to see you all there!

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

Soccer Babes With A Splash of Tonic Please

Luca-Toni-Peppe-Roni: Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what this is all about, but it’s Luca Toni and it’s Friday and I get to have fun on my blog…Bayern Munich’s sexy Italian striker Luca Toni (L) played ‘table football’ on the world’s largest table against comedian Matze Knop (R) at the “f.re.e” travel and leisure trade fair in Munich. Seems that Toni is representing Italy at the stand…that’s about all I can figure out about the ‘event’ but it did lead me to this ridiculous video where Knop performs his latest single ‘Numero Uno,’ a bizarre and embarrassing tribute to ‘Luca Toni, pepperoni’…

The Beautiful Game for All

While we have fun with our soccer babes, it’s important to remember the children around the world who don’t get the chance to play the beautiful game. Recently, there was a soccer tournament in Juba (Sudan), which was used to reach out to an entire generation of children who have been traumatized by the civil war. Although the war ended four-years ago, more than half the kids didn’t finish their primary education…as we know, they’ve all got a Right to Play, so let’s not forget to help.

The Right to Play World Cup is planned to take place at Stamford Bride May 22. If you’re like me, then the following info should warm your bones like a topless David Beckham or a knee-sliding post-goal Drogba…

The Right To Play World Cup is a unique opportunity to live that dream and play on the hallowed turf of one of the world’s biggest football clubs whilst supporting a global sport for development charity working in 23 countries across the globe. We believe that when children play, the world wins! It’ll be a chance for you and 9 of your colleagues to live out your playground fantasies while supporting the valuable work we do with young people around the world. When: Friday 22nd May. Where: Stamford Bridge, Chelsea FA full 5 a-side footy tournament on the pitch with full pitch finals. Form a team of 10 colleagues and compete for the title of Right To Play World Champs. Why: Enjoy a once-in-life time experience of playing at this famous stadium and support the Right To Play aims of providing sport and play programs to vulnerable children. Chelsea Quiz Evening - The World Cup will be followed by an evening’s entertainment at the stadium, with a sports quiz and exclusive sporting prizes.

Basically, you get to play at Stamford Bridge and party like a rock-star with the players while supporting a damn good cause. While I’m not really into running on the field, I’d make an amazing cheerleader or towel girl, so pa-lease, take me with you. RIGHT TO PLAY.

STOP IT

David Beckham can play anywhere he wants…AC Milan or the Galaxy-I don’t care…but good gawd Beck’s…for the love of soccer, stop taking your shirt off and causing me to revert to ‘huh’ instead of ‘charity’.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

ALL STARS FOR HOPE

On June 14 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford New Jersey, some of the hottest men in Euro soccer are taking the field for the ALL STARS FOR HOPE charity game to benefit Mikael Silvestri’s Schools for Hope. Silvestri is a French defender who kicks it for Arsenal-but he’s all right in my book…he’s on a quest to build schools around the world-so far completing several in Guinea and Niger…

“When my children first started to go to school I realized that education is the basis for a better life for poor children everywhere in the world,” Silvestre said. “I said to myself that I want to act, I want to be involved, with my own money. The focus is not on football at these schools, it is getting a good education, basic skills and professional skills, so the students are able to go out and get a good job.”

All Stars for Hope could have easily been named ‘Hotties for Hope’ as it includes (in addition to Silvestre); Thierry Henry (France/Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/Chelsea), Wayne Rooney (England/Manchester United), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Man-United), Nicolas Anelka (France/Chelsea), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo/Arsenal), Manuel Almunia (Spain/Arsenal), Frank Lampard (England/Chelsea), Ryan Giggs (Wales/Manchester United) and others.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

CAMILO VILLEGAS TO PLAY CHARITY EVENT
All you Camilo Villegas hungry fans, mark your calendars, because our kitten is gonna be crawling across the greens for charity…August 26, at Turning Stone Resort’s Atunyote Golf Club for the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge.

The Aug. 26 event will feature Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink, Camilo Villegas, and Notah Begay III, in a skins format exhibition game. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Notah Begay III Foundation, which supports Native American youth sports programs. Tickets are $35. I repeat-tickets are $35.00 If you’ve been paying attention to what I’ve been trying to shove down your throats for the last few years-this is it. For $35 bucks, you can go to this event and get up close and personal with Camilo or Singh or Cink or Begay. The reason athletes participate in these type of events are two fold: One, they’re using their ‘fame’ to sell tickets to benefit charity. Second: They appear at these events to meet the fans- so why would you wanna fight the crowds at the US Open or any other major event, in hopes of catching a glimpse of someone and maybe-if you’re-lucky-nab an autograph or two? Seriously, I wouldn’t send you in the wrong direction. There isnt one athlete on the face of the earth that I’ve met at a charity event who wasn’t eager to meet the fans who came out to support the cause. Its pretty much a no-brainer, so hit me up after taking my advice and let me know how it goes…otherwise, you can sit in front of your computer all day and repeatedly watch this double-de-licious video of Camilo Villegas balancing on one leg atop of a ball while pumping up his biceps…

POULTERIZED

“I’ve known that I can perform well and play good,” he said. “I guess I am just trying to let that come out in me. There is plenty more in me and I know I can go better. It is all about winning so I won’t feel like this is my best result. I’m not going to hold a second place as high as some of my wins. You don’t strive to finish second, you strive to win, and that is what will make me practice harder and harder.”

Thank you Ian Poulter for giving this girl a sporntastic British Open and hitting your way to a magnificent second-place finish. My sexy flashkat teased us for nearly an hour with a possible victory, and eventually carded a (oh!) 69 to finish seven-over. “I don’t need to ride the storm of comments that get made and get taken out of context,” he said. “I’m just pleased I went out today and put a good show on. It wasn’t quite good enough because Padraig put in a hell of a performance and really did his stuff on the back nine.”

KAKA CHELSEA RUMORS?
As Elvis Costello’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To Chelsea’ runs through my brain I have to pray that it’s not becoming the theme song of the team. The rumor mill is churning out some fantastic dish on team Chelsea…Chief executive Peter Kenyon shot-down reports of a $238M bid for Kaka (the Brazilian World Player of the Year) and said negotiations with the Italian club had come to a head. “There was no offer made. I have read the same articles. They have made it clear that he is not for sale and we will make it clear we have not made an offer,” Kenyon said after arriving in southern China. “There is no reason to negotiate over something they don’t want to do and we have not made an offer.” AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliano also laughed at the rumor, “There has been no offer of 150 million euros for Kaka from anyone, even less so Chelsea,” he said. “These are urban legends that nourish themselves. Tomorrow someone will write 200 million and hopefully by September we’ll reach 300 million. I met with (Chelsea owner Roman) Abramovich, we asked about Sheva (Andrei Shevchenko) and he asked about Kaka but we talked about numbers and it ended 0-0. Real Madrid have also called about Kaka but he is staying with us.”

So, with Kaka firmly planted with AC Milan, the Chelsea babes have kicked off their pre-season Asian tour with the focus on raising money for the victims of the May 12 earthquake. Notably absent from the roster is Didier Drogba, who is nursing an injury that I wish he would have called me to help him heal. “Didier is injured. The doctor and our medical staff made a plan to have him training and playing in maybe three or four weeks,” new coach Felipe Scolari said. “But at this moment it’s impossible for Didier to come with us.” Thankfully, not everyone has bailed on Chelsea- we still got Frank Lampard doing his part as he dodges offers from AC Milan and of course, captain fantastic John Terry is doing his best to hold his squad together. “The players all want him to stay, but it’s down to Frank and the club to sort it out. We are here to focus on the football, but hopefully while he’s here the club can sort it out,” Terry said.

TOMKAT

Not really sure why this made me chuckle today…I don’t mind Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes or Baby Suri. And I could care less about what ‘religion’ they follow, to me, they’re not hurting anyone and they seem like a regular couple (aside from the millions of dollars, paparazzi magnetism or creepy rumors about Baby Suri being the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard)… but I do like seeing them pop-up on the sports circuit once in a while (as long as its not R-Fed related)…the happy couple are apparently in love with Australian MotoGP rider Casey Stoner, his sexy Ducati, and his questionable jumpsuit. The Tomkats met with Stoner before the Red Bull US Grand Prix in Laguna Seca. Valentino Rossi won the race, Casey Stoner took the second place and Chris Vermeulen placed third.

CHRIS WEBBER

Chris Webber took in the Detroit Shock/ Sacramento Monarchs game over the weekend at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan…and remember if you need something fun to do this upcoming weekend, get yourself to Vegas for C-Webbs Third Annual Bada Bling. More info check out my celebrity athlete charity events page or at www.cwebbsbadabling.com.

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As always, thanks for reading. Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com