MATCH AGAINST POVERTY
“We are thrilled that the ‘Match Against Poverty’ is attracting more and more spectators. This is a game we all need to win.” Ronaldo

Close to 30,000 soccer fans attended Monday’s fifth edition of the Match Against Poverty…the event, organized by football legends Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo, is just a small part of their role as Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The objective of the match is to raise public awareness of the fight against poverty and to convince governments of the value of working towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to cut world poverty in half by 2015.

The game was played between ‘Friends of Zidane’ and the ‘Friends of Ronaldo’ and ended in a 2-2 draw. “The aim of such a match is to make people aware of the problem of poverty in the world,” said AC Milan star Ronaldo, who is still battling an injury and was substituted in the first half by seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. “We don’t forget where we have come from and we are uniting in a good cause,” former France international Zidane, who grew up in a poor neighborhood of Marseille. The match was played in the central Moroccan city of Fez. Proceeds will as in previous years benefit anti-poverty projects in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Need more? There’s pa-lenty of video footage available on Youtube!

GREAT GOLDEN BALLS OF FIRE

Inter Milan’s sexy Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been awarded ‘The Ball of Gold’ after the Swedish Soccer Award 2008 Gala dinner at the Globen Arena in Stockholm…the beast won gold for ‘best Swedish soccer player of 2008’…another one of our Golden Balls, David Beckham, has proven he’s got much more than the Midas Touch…an offer has been made on a home in London where Golden Balls lived for the first two years of his life. The Victorian terraced house-sans the Beckham connection-is valued around $365,000…but the Beck’s connection was sniffed out by an ‘unnamed’ Australian businessman who collects Beckham memorabilia and dude offered up $1.4M for the pad…

MARADONA MADNESS

I haven’t quite gotten used to our furry beast, Diego Maradona, being named Argentina’s coach, but I am certainly ready for the shenanigans…oh, and they’ve already started. Coach Diego lost his pendant during a training session…one of the ball boys later found it and was oh-so graciously mauled by the beast.

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Delinda Lombardo

DAVID BECKHAM v FREDDIE LJUNGBERG

Praise to the soccer gods who have opened up their arms and dropped a piece of Swedish heaven into our laps! Damn…this girl has been wiping the Ljungberg drool off her chin post Arsenal games for years…and now, for those out of the hot-European-soccer-babes-loop, I now introduce you to Freddie Ljungberg.

Freddie has signed with the Seattle Sounders…his years of playing for Arsenal and WestHam are thankfully gone. He said: ‘I’m really happy to be here in Seattle, I feel so welcomed by everybody.” (Not nearly as welcomed as you would felt if I had been in the area my friend.)

No doubt mass confusion between David Beckham and Ljungberg will ensue, but I’ll never complain about the similarities, in fact, I’m going to relish this for a very long time. Ljungberg spent nine seasons with Arsenal- he’s played 75 games for Sweden, including appearances at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2000, 2004 and 2008 European Championships… Both Beckham and Ljungberg play right wing…both are male models…both captained their national team…both drive my libido insane…both have some insanely sexy tattoos and neither one of ‘em has ever won a World Cup or a European Championship. Welcome to Seattle Freddie…now take off your shirt.

Freddie has had his fair share of modeling and I can only assume that it won’t be long for his sex-appeal to be picked up by every mass-media outlet from here to Timbuktu…watch, within a few months I predict some sort of People Mag’s sexy men issue will notice the Swedish treat…but in the meantime, we’ve got Golden Balls gracing the cover of British GQ to celebrate the mags 20th anniversary. The sporn worthy issue (which goes on sale Thurs) features over 12 pages of Beckham discussing everything from Tom Cruise to his religious tattoos.

A snippet from the mag article:

Although he lives in Beverly Hills and watches movies at home with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, the soccer-star-turned-model swears he has no plans to join them on the big screen. Asked if he hopes to develop a film career, the fashion fan recently issued an emphatic denial. “What film career? I haven’t got one,” Beckham told the December issue of British GQ. “Never say never, except about that! And that’s the way it’s going to stay.” Still, that doesn’t stop 33-year-old from mingling with famous friends like Cruise. “He came round for dinner a few weeks ago,” said Beckham. “But it’s the same with him. We just go round and watch a film. It’s not a big deal, it’s just popping round to watch a film or to mess around and play with the kids.” The Brit also dismissed claims that Cruise has tried to convert him or his wife Victoria. “I respect any person’s religion. Everybody’s got their own ideas,” said Beckham. “And, of course, Tom is a big believer in Scientology, but he’s never pushed anything on to us about it and he never will do. Friends don’t do that.” His L.A. Galaxy soccer team has failed to make the playoffs and will not take the field again until next March. During the lay-off, Beckham will reportedly play for Italy’s AC Milan. But, he insists, America is still his home. “We’re happy here at the moment, that’s the biggest thing,” he explained.

“All my tattoos have a religious theme,” says Beckham. “I’m not too religious. But I believe there is something out there that looks after you.” In case anyone needs a Golden Tattoo Guidebook, Beckham’s tattoos and the order he received them: Son Brooklyn’s name on his back; “Guardian Angel” on his back; Hindi “Victoria” design on his left arm; Roman numeral VII (7) on his right forearm; Latin phrase “Perfectio In Spiritu”, meaning “Spiritual Perfection”, on his right arm; More Latin, “Ut Amem Et Foveam” or “So That I Love And Cherish”, on his left arm; Son Romeo’s name on his back; Delinda on his back; Classical art design on his right shoulder; Winged cross on the back of his neck; Angel with motto “In The Face of Adversity” on right arm; Son Cruz’s name on his back; Second angel, Delinda and clouds added to right arm and shoulder; Portrait of Victoria on left forearm; “Forever by your side” on left forearm…and (gulp); The Chinese proverb “Death and life have determined appointments. Riches and honour depend on heaven.” down his left torso, running from his nipple to his groin. And with that, Wonder Twins pa-leeze activate…form…of…a…Chinese Proverb.

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Delinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com

BECKHAM’S GET BURNED BY HOUSEKEEPERS?

Oh, we could have never seen this one coming…what happens when you put three unscrupulous housekeepers in charge of your mansion? Well, we’ve seen what his signed jersey can do, and now, Sir David Beckham and Posh have been burned by their housekeepers after some of their personal possessions turned up on eBay.

Eric and June Emmett, worked at the Beckhams’ Hertfordshire mansion and were arrested on Friday on suspicion of theft from a private address. Also on the court docket is their charming 25 year-old son Gareth, who just loved to hang out with his parents at the worlds most beautiful couple house. If I were a betting gal, I’d say it’s the son who hatched this ‘eBay’ scheme…according to various reports, Posh’s mum and dad spotted some of her clothing, as well as a pair boots belonging to Golden Balls, on eBay. The stealthy couple didn’t want to alarm their daughter or Sir David…A source told the Daily Mirror: “Although Tony and Jackie (Posh’s parents) had their suspicions they wanted to gather as much evidence as they possible could.” (Mum and dad even had friends place fake bids) “They thought that David and Victoria might not want the embarrassment of the thefts being made public. They thought they might prefer to just deal with things quietly. But once they were told what had appeared to have been going on David and Victoria were adamant that the police should be called in. They are still trying to establish what else, if anything, has been taken and how long this was going on for. They are very upset. Victoria has said it is a horrible feeling that someone - possibly someone you really trusted - may have been through your stuff. She can’t help thinking what other personal items could they have taken - or just rummaged through.”

Now, if this were me, the first thing I would rummage through is the bedroom, then the laundry-the dirty laundry-yeah, there’s value to be found in just about anything the Beckhams touch…imagine of they had filmed a (a-hem) video? Not that we haven’t seen the beautiful Beckhams ala mode before…I’m just saying…

To be fair, housekeeper Eric Emmett today said this is all “fabricated nonsense” but their genius son has apparently been bragging about spending time at the couple’s holiday home in Nice…which has now sent the Golden Couple into a fact checking mission to ensure the sticky-fingered employee’s didn’t nab anything out of that home as well. The three idiots are scheduled to appear in court on November 22.

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Delinda Lombardo
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CHANGING OF THE GUARD: BECKHAM STYLE
Beijing has officially “handed-off” the games to a new host city, London, as David Beckham adorned the top of a red double-decker bus before tossing out the ‘welcome ball’ during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

New host city London staged an eight-minute performance which included a kick from Sir Golden Balls as well as a performance and duet by Leona Lewis and guitarist Jimmy Page who impressed the crowd with a fresh version of the Led Zeppelin classic, “Whole Lotta Love.” The Beckham-topped bus had actually been transformed into a stage with the roof opening out into ‘petal-shaped sections.’ The interior reflects the greenness of the UK with “lush grass and a hedge” cut into the shape of the London skyline. Cycling behind the bus were three great ‘Team GB cyclists: Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade, who had “unprecedented success” and an “outstanding medal haul” at the games…but apparently not good enough to actually get on the bus.

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Delinda Lombardo
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MEN TAKE THE GOLD IN BEIJING

Prior to the game, Dwayne Wade said: “It could be emotional. We’ve thought about. But at the same time we have to win this game… But I think everybody has thought about that moment where you lean down and put the gold medal around your neck and you hear your country’s song being played. That’s when your emotions really come out because you really reflect on the journey…”

“We talked about on the bus ride over (for Saturday’s practice at Beijing Normal University). We are not going to shy away from our sensitivity” said Wade,” We know Melo is going to cry. We’re not shying away from it. We know it’s going to be a great moment, but we know we still have a job to do to get that moment.”

And now the three-year effort to redeem themselves has culminated in a 118-107 victory for the Men’s USA Basketball team as they delivered a lil dose of karma to Spain to bring home the Gold…with, of course, David Beckham and his golden balls watching from the sidelines.

Prince(ess) Kobe Bryant finally got a gold around his neck, and he did it a day after turning 30-not a bad gift for the patient and wicked black mamba. After nibbling on his first taste of gold: “It is more important and more special than any championship that any of us will ever win,” Bryant said.

“I know that we had a tough road ahead of us. We knew that these guys (Spain) weren’t going to roll over and give up that easily,” U.S. forward Chris Bosh said. “So we had to be men, and that’s what it takes to win.” Damn straight! Men they are…teamwork, commitment, heart, soul, sweat and determination are what these men are made of. And for me, Bosh was impressive as hell. Talk about a friggen warrior. Bosh tears that court up with more soul than I’ve seen most ballers do in a lifetime. I could watch him play and never get bored of that hunger on his face.

Speaking of hunger…Carmelo Anthony. Oh my Melo, Melo, Melo. Damn. I mean, what can I say? His scored 13 luscious points? He proudly marched around with an American Flag wrapped around his waist as I tried to stay focused on his neck where that beautiful gold was hanging…that he lit Kobe’s cigar…that he drove me crazy…that I need to bite his medal, hard? I suspect if any ‘game worn’ Melo items turn up on the ‘Right to Play’ eBay auctions, my savings account will be drained.

Mad love to Jason Kidd for becoming the 13th U.S. player to win multiple gold medals-his first was in 2000. Mad love to the mighty-mighty-fine men of USA Basketball: Jason Kidd, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Michael Redd, and Deron Williams.

Go on with your bad selves and bite your medals, smoke those cigars, cuddle on the bus and party till next season. You did us all proud. Undefeated, uncompromised, united and unbelievable.

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Delinda Lombardo
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DAVID BECKHAM- WET

Yeah, its Friday and I need to give a shout-out to David Beckham for pouring water on himself. Golden Balls is training with England, who are set to face Trinidad & Tobago in a friendly match June 2.

LAKERS BENCH SPURS

The Lakers came back from a 17-point deficit last night to beat the Spurs 100-92 and win the conference finals in five games. The Lakers celebrated the Western Conference championship before their adoring fans at Staples Center last night…among those adoring fans…

Dr. Dre, Tobey Maguire (L), Antonio Banderas, Cameron Diaz, Denzel Washington & P. Diddy (C), and B-Diddy (aka Baron Davis) and Adam Sandler (R). No doubt it was party-time in LA after the game…but didn’t see any sign of a weed-stealing posse sitting courtside to supply a certain bearded baller who is too-ego driven to address the lack of character his friends have.

TONY HAWKS JEEP

Tony Hawk has put his Jeep up on Ebay…from June 12-22 you can bid on a one of a kind 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4×4, which has been tricked out with all the latest and best features. The winning bidder will also receive 4 VIP Tickets to Tony’s tour and get to meet him…the best part, 100% of the proceeds will benefit The Tony Hawk Foundation, which seeks to improve society by supporting and empowering youth.

GREG HALSTEAD: REAL WORLD HOTTIE

I know he’s not an athlete, but he’s certainly got the looks to be considered a hottie…admittedly, I don’t watch the ‘Real World’, but was asked to interview Greg for Look to the Stars. I did my research and after reading some of viewer comments about him-I thought for sure I was going to be talking to an arrogant fool. But it was quite the contrary. Greg was one of the nicest guys I’ve spoken to. He was candid, intelligent, articulate and confident. And the most surprising thing about Greg? Greg asked to be involved with charity- he told his PR guy that he wanted to do something worthwhile with his ‘fame.’ This weekend, Greg is donating his time to raise awareness about the Damon and Stella Foundation. For more details and my full interview with Greg Halstead, please visit Look to the Stars.

PRO TEAM CHALLENGE

We’re getting closer and closer to one of the most highly anticipated charity events to hit the West Coast…the Pro Sports Team Challenge celebrity golf tournament will held June 7th and 8th at Eagle Falls Golf Club at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Palm Springs, California. Legendary all-stars from baseball, hockey, basketball, and football, led by tournement commish Charles Barkley, will compete for a total purse of more than $250,000 for their charities. The Pro Sports Team Challenge will also be broadcast nationwide on Fox Sports Net June 28th and 29th.

The winning team of sports legends over the two-day golf tournament will present their charity with $100,000. Prizes for second, third, and fourth place are $75,000, $50, and $25,000. Fans also get involved in supporting the charities through registering as a VIP ProCoachTM strategist for one of the teams online at www.teamchallenge.com. For each paid VIP ProCoachTM registration, $1.00 is added to the charity’s purse, so register online today. $250,000 purse will be paid to the charities for each team, as selected by the Team Captains. Those institutions are (respectively): Baseball Assistance Team for baseball, United Service Organizations, Inc. for basketball, Operation Kids for football, and Hockey Fights Cancer for hockey. The purse will increase for any particular charity by $1.00 for each fan that registers as a paid ProCoach for that team.

DeLinda Lombardo
delinda@athlebrities.com

BECKHAM’S BIG CLIMB

David Beckham has agreed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro after Bono asked him to tackle the grueling six-day climb to raise money for UNICAF. A ‘source’ allegedly close to Beckham told The Sun: “The 19,340 ft peak is a bit outside of David’s normal comfort zone but he is absolutely set on making the climb. No date has been fixed yet because David is very busy with his LA Galaxy commitments but he is absolutely set on doing it.” Rumor also has it that British soccer beast, West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green, may also be doing the climb…with that said, Im always a bit skeptical about stories like this- not sure if it started as a rumor or if its actually true, in any case, it would be one hell of a stunt if Beck’s actually hung up his soccer cleats for climbing gear and tackled Africa’s highest peak.

HAMILTON ENJOYING BEING SINGLE

Lewis Hamilton went to the Indiana Jones premiere in Cannes last weekend with Vivian Burkhardt, a Miss World runner-up. (Kinda rude to walk ahead of her like that?) Hamilton’s latest arm-charm jetted over from her home in the Caribbean to join him in the South of France where they were Oh-God-No ‘pictured coming out of the Carlton Hotel together’…yes, just walking outta a hotel is enough to spark international chatter. A spokesman for McLaren said: “Lewis brought a group of friends to Cannes for the film festival after being invited to the premiere by George Lucas. He and Vivian know each other from Grenada where Lewis often visits for family reasons.” It remains a mystery if Miss Burkhardt will stick around to distract Lewis from this weekends Monaco Grand Prix…a publicist said: “I don’t know if she will be staying with him. He normally likes to concentrate before big races.”

BARNES YARD

Students at Washington Elementary School (Northern Cal) are gonna have a great day today…they’ve gotten two refurbished NBA regulation basketball courts courtesy of the Golden State Warriors, Toyota and the Good Tidings Foundation. The refurbished courts will be broken in by Golden State hot-hot-hottie Matt Barnes, who will tip-off a 15-minute game for students in the school district’s LEAPS after school program…Its just too bad there isn’t more good guys like Barnes out there. I’ve met him, and he’s about as down to earth as they get. He’s sweet, young and impressionable, so to see him stay outta trouble instead of hanging out with bearded teammates other ballers who are busy getting high on weed that their posse members stole for them makes me smile.

KIA’P THIS
NBA partner KIA gave away four season-ending awards and topped each of ‘em off with a car. Kia Motors will donate an all-new 2009 Kia Borrego seven-passenger mid-size SUV on behalf of each NBA Performance Award winner to the charity of the winner’s choice. The following is a list of named babes and the charities that will benefit.

Sixth Man Award winner, Manu Ginobili’s Kia is going to the Roy Maas Youth Alternatives; Defensive Player of the Year, Kevin Garnett’s is going to the Boston Center for Youth and Families; Most Improved Player, Hedo Turkoglu has named Parramore Kidz Zone to get his, and MVP Kobe Bryant, gave his to the East Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club.

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

LEWIS HAMILTON WORTH MORE THAN BECKHAM

Formula One’s most marketable driver, Lewis Hamilton, just landed himself a deal with Reebok worth about $19.4M. The deal names Hamilton one of the company’s global brand ambassadors, along with Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko and boxer Amir Khan. Plus, he’s also working on a deal with Pepsi that could be worth as much as the Reebok one…Its not like the 23-year-old needs any more income to hide from British authorities, over the next five years, he’ll earn $145.7M in salary; made about $2M for his autobiography; gets free Lear jet rides from Bombardier on their luxury planes; gets free oil from team sponsor Mobile; Vodafone doesn’t send him a phone bill; Tag Heuer throws watches at him, Hugo Boss gives him free clothing; and of course all his Hilton hotel suites are gratis…Hamilton’s combined deals earn him more than David Beckham, whose salary and endorsement deals are hovering at a measly estimate of about $31M a year.

IT IS IN LADAINIAN
Joining the likes of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Kevin Garnett and Peyton Manning, one of my hometown hotties, Charger LaDainian Tomlinson, has announced a new deal with Gatorade. “Gatorade has been a part of my game for years because its proven time and again it works for me and for a lot of the greatest athletes in sports,” said Tomlinson. “One of the major reasons I chose Gatorade is because they are the experts — they know what they’re doing. I’m looking forward to working with Gatorade scientists to develop a hydration strategy that will make my game even stronger.”

In his first role as a Gator-babe, LT will take part in the ‘Gatorade Tiger Moonshot Challenge Longest Drive Contest’ in San Diego, Thursday, May 15 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Seaport Village. The challenge is simply to hit the longest drive in a golf simulator. Gatorade Tiger will name a male and female winner, and finalists will fly to New York City to compete in the Championship Event in Times Square on June 11th. At that competition two champions will win the opportunity to create their own “out of this world” experience worth up to $125,000. On behalf of fans who participate in the event, Gatorade Tiger will donate $100,000 to the Tiger Woods Foundation. The challenge will also take place in Dallas, Tuesday, May 20, Victory Park, w/Dirk Nowitzki; Chicago, Thursday, May 29, Pioneer Court, w/Derrek Lee; Miami, Thursday, June 5, Bayfront Park, w/ Bill Parcells; New York, Wednesday, June 11, Military Island in Times Square w/ Jimmie Johnson & a celebrity guest. (Gatorade.com)

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