With Ben Arfa gone, I’ve decided that it’s time to upgrade Fabio Grosso to his own category, especially since he’s always in the news (sometimes he’s stripping, sometimes he’s slapping people, and sometimes he just makes us say wtf). To celebrate, here is a picture of Fabi with his WAG, Jessica Repetto. Their son Filippo looks just like his dad, btw.

Anyway, I hope Grosso doesn’t do anything stupid like leave Lyon this summer because that would make him the shortest category in the history of the world. Plus I’m getting really attached to him, and I’d miss his long, flowing, curly locks of hair as he runs up and down that left side. Even if his defending makes me cry sometimes.

According to Karel Bruckner, the coach of the Czech Republic NT, all the trouble Milan Baros has been getting into recently (which include getting into a dispute with his own government and breaking speeding records) was the result of his stress at being benched at Lyon, and that once he gets married, Baros will calm down. Though Baros hasn’t played for Lyon in weeks, Bruckner still counts on him and considers him to be an excellent striker.

Getting married shouldn’t been too much of a hardship for Milan – his girlfriend is pretty hot.

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International Call Ups:

France (vs. Morocco – 11/17/07, vs. Ukraine – 11/21/07): Sebastien Squillaci, Francois Clerc, Jeremy Toulalan, Sidney Govou, Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa (full list here).

Sweden (vs. Spain – 11/17/07, vs. Latvia – 11/21/07): Kim Kallstrom (full list here).

Czech Republic (vs. Slovakia – 11/17/07, vs. Cyprus – 11/21/07): Milan Baros (see full list here).

Italy (vs. Scotland – 11/17/07, vs. Faroe Islands – 11/21/07): TBA – but expect Fabio Grosso to be called up.

Ivory Coast (vs. Angola – 11/17/07, vs. Qatar – 11/21/07): Kader Keita (full list here)

Switzerland (vs. Nigeria – 11/20/07): Patrick Muller will miss out due to injury (full list here).

Brazil (vs. Peru – 11/17/07, vs. Uruguay – 11/21/07): TBA

Algeria have not announced any friendlies during this international week, so Nadir Belhadj will stay behind at Lyon.

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Cris, who made the journey from Brazil to be examined by OL doctors and to cheer on Lyon during their game against Stuttgart, stopped by the club’s TV station for a quick chat. He said that he wants to end his career at OL and wants to live in Lyon forever! Apparently, he and his family are in love with the city and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

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According to some rather dubious sources, Karim Benzema’s agent confirmed that Benzema wasn’t going anywhere this winter or this summer because Benzema was very happy at Lyon, and furthermore, he expected Benzema to have a golden future with Lyon.

Benzema confirmed this by saying that though he’s happy to have attracted the interest of such big clubs, he still has much to do at Lyon.

That’s exactly what we OL fans like to hear!

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Irish football fans will hate love this. Former OL manager Gerard Houllier has been linked to the vacant coaching position of the Republic of Ireland National Team. Houllier, by the way, spent Wednesday evening on air with Manchester United’s coach Alex Ferguson as they debated various footballing topics. More proof that Ged likes England better than France.

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This Sunday, during Lyon’s game against Marseille, it will be Juninho’s 200th L1 appearance for Lyon. It will also be Samir Nasri’s 100th appearance for Marseille.

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I had meant to point this out earlier, but awhile back, Sam created a Facebook Group for the Offside. Check it out!

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To continue with my pimping, the Offside also now features its very own podcast. Thoughtfully headed up by Ian and Anne, it basically reviews both serious and quirky footballing news, much of which is incorporated from various Offside blogs. It’s still in the early stages, so there are some kinks being worked out. Right now the news is rather EPL-centric, but pretty soon there will be news (in English!) about French, Italian, and other leagues. Listen to the podcasts here.

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There seems to be some chaos regarding Anderson’s suspension. He was given a red card against PSG two weeks ago and was automatically suspended for Lyon’s match against Caen, which he sat out. Normally in France, a red card results in one suspended match and a probationary period (the length depends on the offense). Lyon appealed the probationary period, which resulted in Anderson this time getting flat out suspended by the LFP’s Discipline Committee. So now Lyon have turned to a higher authority, Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF), to have the suspension overturned.

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The woman on the left is Edita Hortova, otherwise known to the world as the girlfriend of Milan Baros. Unsurprisingly, she’s a model.

Perhaps they met at a photo shoot. For those of you who don’t know much about Houllier’s least most favorite player, Baros does modeling on the side. He’s no Freddie Ljungberg, but hey, you have to start from somewhere.

Edita’s impressive CV includes winning Miss Europe 2005 and being the runner up in Miss Czech Republic 2004. She was also the runner up to Tourism Queen of the Year 2005. I kid you not.

It must be nice for Baros to know that no matter how much life sucks for him at the moment, he has a hot girlfriend to come home to.

And is it just me, or does it seem like she’s posing by that cactus arm on purpose?

This interview is from several months ago, but since the French press rarely publish information on the private lives of the players (and their families), some of you may find this interesting.

If you know French, you can find the original here, or if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, here’s the google translation.

Basically, she says how Cris is a completely different person on the field. At home, he’s sweet, romantic, a great husband, etc, but when he’s playing football, he completely justifies his nickname as The Policeman!

The interview also goes into her personal life, on how she and Cris met, whether she’s happy being married to a footballer (she used to be a television presenter in Brazil), if she likes Lyon, and how much interest she takes in Cris’s career.

We also learn that Tatiane and Cris have a two year old daughter named Raissa and that they want three more kids.

Some excerpts (loosely translated by yours truly):

He’s very attentive, calm, posed… In short, opposite of what he’s like when he plays football, where he seems rather aggressive, offensive… He really has a double personality! I don’t recognize him when he’s on the pitch!

Before an important match, he cuts himself off from the world and is quiet for several days. He doesn’t answer the telephone, doesn’t want to see anybody. I understand and respect that, because it’s his way of concentrating.

I hope Cris will continue to live out his passion [in football] for a long time. And I am ready to follow him to any country if he has to join another team.

It’s a nice peek into Lyon’s most formidable defender. Though I have to wonder if Tatiane saw this video before she met Cris!