South American Dispatch: Brazilian Ace Marcos Gets His Hands Into Charity Campaign

Former Brazil Under-20 star Kleber has hit out at speculation linking him to a move away from Cruzeiro to Flamengo.

The striker was angered this week by reading in the press about his desire to up to sticks from the Mineirao to head to Flamengo next season.

Kleber hit back by saying he is more than happy at Cruzeiro and is only focused on getting back into the team after a series of operations have left him sidelined.

Now back in training and looking to get back to first team action before the end of the season, he was more than little taken aback back the 'revelation' that he wanted away.

“For the commitment I have shown to Palmeiras last year and Cruzeiro this year, I would think everyone knows I don’t need to be offered a club.” Kleber said. “If people want to talk to my manager about me that’s fine, but I’m sure Cruzeiro don’t want to sell me.”

It has been widely reported in Brazil that since Cruzeiro’s Copa Libertadores qualification charge is in danger of fizzling out, Kleber has been keen to make sure he still features in the competition next year.

“If you believe the newspapers I will be playing for five teams in next year’s Copa Libertadores,” the former Sao Paulo man said. “I have never said that I would like to play for Flamengo.”

The player already knows a thing or two about convoluted transfers after leaving Sao Paulo for Dynamo Kiev in 2004 before returning to Brazil on loan with Palmeiras last year.

“If the transfer ever happened then Flamengo would have to speak directly to [Cruzeiro president] Zeze Perrella, and he would decide if it was for the good of the club to sell,” the two-time Ukrainian Premier League winner said. “But I never said I want to play in the Libertadores for Flamengo, Palmeiras or even for Sao Cristovao [a lower league team from Rio].

“I know teams are interested in me, not just Flamengo, but I am a Cruzeiro player,” Kleber said. “I have a five-year contract so if a club want me they talk to Zeze and the matter stops with him.”

A touch of deja-vu about the latest Boca debate

The bad times facing Boca Juniors have not escaped the attention of Buenos Aires’ mayor, Mauricio Macri, who saw fit to voice his opinions on the current predicament the club finds itself in.

Boca are facing their worse season since 1998, with no titles to their name and qualification to the Copa Libertadores a fading dream.

It also looks as though favourite son Juan Roman Riquelme wants away and head coach Alfio Basile looks set to depart at the end of the season.

With an all out war between players, management staff and present and former directors of the club, a scoreless draw at the weekend did nothing to sooth the prickly situation engulfing La Bombonera.

In a rerun of the 2004 heated exchange between Carlos Bianchi, then head coach of Boca, and Macri, then president of the club, further fuel was poured on the fire this week.

After their acrimonious difference of opinions, Bianchi left his post at Boca after steering the club to all the top honours, including an Intercontinental title. Now general manager at Boca, the former head coach saw fit to respond to criticism from Macri about how the club is currently being run on and off the field.

“He has the right to be concerned, as a member of Boca, to know what I am doing in my job,” Bianchi said. “But I also have a right to know be concerned about he does his job, I am, after all, a citizen of Buenos Aires."

When the pair were president and head coach at Boca, the relationship was always strained, despite unparalleled success on the field. At one press conference during that time Bianchi walked out to leave Macri talking to himself.

Macri was first elected as president of Boca in 1995 and was re-elected in 1999 and 2003. Bianchi was head coach during Macri's presidency from 1998-2002 and during this time Boca won three Argentine leagues, three Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup against Real Madrid.

Bianchi eventually quit his post in 2002 after his relationship with Macri became untenable. However, he returned to Boca after the president left his post.

Brazilian keeper wants the public to catch onto cancer issue

Brazil’s latest campaign to raise awareness of cancer among children in the country is in safe hands after Marcos signed up to the project.

The Palmeiras goalkeeper will appear in television adverts and on billboards all over Brazil to highlight to need for early diagnosis and prevention of cancer amongst juveniles.

The goalkeeper’s campaign will coincide with the National Day Against Cancer of Children (DNCCI) on November 23.

"Nothing is worse for a goalkeeper than not being able to anticipate a game’s next move," Marcos said. "In the campaign we make this analogy to cancer since most people to do not see it and are uninformed about the dangers."

In Brazil cancer is the second biggest killer of people between the ages of five and 19-years-old, despite being curable in 70 per cent of the cases.

Marcos was a World Cup winner in 2002, when he played every minute of Brazil’s games on route to their triumph. He has played his entire career at Palmeiras and last year played in a special shirt with the number 400 on the back to commemorate the amount of appearances he had made for the club.

A true legend at the Sao Paulo club as well as throughout Brazil, the special 400 shirt also had 'O melhor goleiro do Brasil' - 'The best goalkeeper in Brazil' - printed on the front. The jersey also listed all his achievements with club and country.

Tim Sturtridge, Goal.com