Who Is Soccer's Tank Man?

Not very soccer related, but today marks the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square student protests. It is one of the formative political events of my childhood.

I had just reached double digits in age in 1989 and little did I know the world was about to change more drastically than it had in nearly 30 years. The next six months would mark the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the beginning of the unraveling of the Soviet Union.

The above image was seen around the world and is seen as a symbol of freedom from, defiance of, and courage in the face of tyranny. Although, China certainly is not a "free" country in Western eyes.

So I ask you, does soccer have its proverbial Tank Man? If so, who is it?

Also, I encourage you to read this post about the four photographers who took photographs of this incident.

[Photo: Jeff Widener/Associated Press]

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Silvio Berlusconi's trending younger these days

AC Milan has had a lot of success under Berlusconi; in his two tenures (1986-2004 and 2006-), the Rossonieri have done well. Whether the Italian people have prospered with him as prime minister is another matter.

But none of that concerns UF today. We're more interested in how the 18-year-old girls of Italy are doing under his tutelage. Are their needs being met? Are they looked after, loved, cared for?

With one story that broke today, we might well find out. One thing's for certain: his wife isn't very pleased.

(mildly NSFW pic below... just some lingerie)

So Silvio, with his busy schedule of AC board meetings and running the country without conflict of interest, has been a little absent at home, missing his own childrens' birthday parties here and there, but he found time in his hectic life to attend the 18th birthday party for the daughter of a family friend, who also happens to be a lingerie model. Yeah -- and he bought her a gold necklace and gave her a signed picture of himself. A signed fucking picture! Of himself!



The girl, Noemi Letizia (pictured above with necklace and below with no clothes), sees nothing wrong with this:

'It was a lovely surprise to see the man I call Papi (daddy) at my party. I call him Papi but of course he is second to my father. He gave me a lovely necklace as a present.'

On her bedside table was prominently displayed a signed photograph of Berlusconi as well as a book in which he had written a dedication to her saying: 'To my little Noemi, my little graphic artist, your little daddy teacher.'"

Yep, nothing wrong with this relationship whatsoever. Just an attractive young woman who enjoys being semi-naked, and her "little daddy teacher."



But it gets better.

The article also documents Berlusconi's latest scheme to revive his popularity, something so brilliant that it's incredible no-one thought of it sooner (or at least parodied it): picking attractive young women to be politicians! After all, what's better: someone with tons of policy experience, or someone who's lovely to look at?

Send supermodels to Iraq, Mr. Berlusconi. Sure, some of 'em will get beheaded for their sins, but a few just might be able to broker a truce if they flash a little bit of chest. After all, it's part of his plan to put out "youthful young faces" in June's European elections.

He's earmarked (and possibly bum-marked) the following, none of whom have any political experience, and might struggle even to spell the word:

- soap actress Camilla Ferranti, 30
- TV star Eleonora Gaggioli, 29
- ex-Big Brother contestant Angela Sozio, 31
- former Miss Italy candidate Barbera Matera, 28.
(pictures of all of 'em in that article)

That's where his wife, Veronica Lario, chimed in via email:

"Someone wrote that all this is to sustain the enjoyment of the Emperor. I agree with this - what has emerged is shameful trash, all in the name of power. I want it to be made clear that my children and I are victims of this situation and do not agree with it, we have to put up with it and suffer with it."

Veronica and Silvio have had spats in the past, but always managed to kiss and make up.

Personally, I just can't wait to see what pisses her off next time.

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This week in political footballers

Roman Pavlyuchenko has been rather complainy since joining Spurs. The training sessions were too rough and too long, and obviously, his team is currently in the shitter and waiting to be flushed.

And yet, amid all the madness in North London, he still found time to get into politics, as he was elected deputy for Putin's United Russia party on the regional council in his hometown of Stavropol.

Does this mean Darren Bent will soon be lobbying for a spot in Gordon Brown's cabinet reshuffle?



The entire thing is rather hilarious, and, like most things Russian of late, rather shady and suspicious. Pavs was born in Stavropol and attended his first soccer academy there, although detractors are questioning him and his real interest in politics:

"He's not from Moscow. He's a village guy," Anton Lisin, a football commentator with Sovietsky Sport noted. "The only reason Pavlyuchenko might be interested in politics is if the international financial crisis affected his wages," he added.

Either way, he's got a seat in power now, besting his former Zenit strike partner Andrei Arshavin, who stood for United Russia in '07 but walked away empty-handed.

So now the big question remains: how the heck is he going to balance football and filibustering? Will Frazier Campbell be his shadow striker when he's busy voting da or nyet on matters of grave regional concern?

I'm assured by my intelligent Russia-savvy friend that Pavs doesn't have much to worry about in terms of policy-making or voting, because he's essentially a figurehead; in Russian politics, the party enters these elections, and should they win, or at least be in danger of losing, they'll dump a regional celebrity in their nominee chair in order to get the results their way.

In Roman's case, once United Russia won the region, Putin (or someone close to him) can fill the position with whoever they see fit, and this time around for Stavropol, they went with the jetsetting young striker who's very much beloved in Russia for his goals against England that secured their spot in Euro '08.

Hilarious, when you think about it. Poor Pavs the puppet! And the extra pocket money will be nice too, at least until these crony techniques are phased out in the motherland.

Pavlyuchenko might need to sign regional legislation every now and then that someone else has written, but either way, his sister seems certain that he'll be able to balance both and not suffer from distraction:"He's obviously still adjusting. And it's difficult for him because he's injured. But he'll get used to it. He comes back to Stavropol whenever he has a holiday."

Fulfilling his political duties before enjoying a holiday? A bit like Dubya, innit?

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