Young Arsenal midfielder Denilson has proved to be quite a sensation this season. The 19 year old arrived as an unknown (both in Brazil and Europe) when he was signed from Sao Paulo last summer, but he has shown fantastic attitude, committment and skill.

He's very tenacious and highly confident (Thierry henry said he was like Cesc - when he came in for training he showed no nerves, and played like he owned the place). He's had no problems settling in, and has turned in some sterling performances having forced his way into the team since December. Although his inexperience has shown, he will get better and better.

He's been called up for Brazil already this season (without having played), and I wouldn't be surprised to see him goto the Copa America this summer and show the world what he's capable of. Some of the top players like Gilberto and Emerson have had very difficult seasons, so Denilson playing would give them a break. Dunga also has a fondness for unheralded players, so i'm fully expecting this to happen. Since Denilson hasn't played a whole lot this year, he would be in good shape for the Copa America and it would give him great experience for the coming season at Ashburton Grove.

Following on from my own views on David Beckham joining the MLS, here is what the rest of the bloggers at OleOle had to say:

Mike T	When I read this morning that David Beckham had signed for the Los Angeles Galaxy, my first thought was: why not Urawa Reds? There had been some rumours - mainly concocted by Beckham and his agents in order to procure a super-rich new contract, no doubt, that Beckham would consider plying his trade in the J-League. Yet when I read of the amounts of money being offered by LA Galaxy for his signature, I suddenly realised there was no chance of any club in Japan matching that kind of offer. So what sort of player are the Galaxy getting for their wads of cash? An under-appreciated one at Real Madrid, in my opinion. But Beckham was as much a victim of politics at the Madrid giants, as he was a player dropped for poor form. That's why I was surprised by his decision to play in the MLS. In some way, I think there'll be parallels with Dwight Yorke's signing for Sydney FC in the A-League. Yorke proved good value in getting fans through the turnstiles, but found his value diminishing on the pitch. There's no doubt that Beckham is a supremely gifted player. But he relies a lot on the ability of the players around him. So will he raise the profile of the MLS and get more fans through the gates? Probably. Will he single-handedly lift the standard of football in the US? I doubt it.
Footie Girl	Beckham's decision to move to the MLS is a tacit admission that he can't hack it at the top level any more. I've never been a huge fan of his, but still, you have to feel for the guy. Just a bit, because after all he's getting $250 million to dry his tears. So, instead of sliding into obscurity at Bolton or wherever, he gets a hefty paycheque, a cushy lifestyle in Los Angeles, and an opportunity to reinvent himself as a sort of ambassador of football. In return, Major League Soccer is getting the most marketable footballer in the world. The deal made front-page news when it was announced, but the question is whether it's going to have enough of a long-term impact to repay their rather sizeable investment. Now they've got Becks to bend in a few free kicks and smile pretty for the cameras, but if they really want to sell their product, they're going to have to improve the league from the ground up, rather than just bringing in more aging galacticos.
Oz	"David, what are you doing?" Probably the words of every football fan across the length of the UK upon hearing month-old rumours substantiated yesterday. All and sundry know that he has at least 3-4 years left of playing at the highest level and the quality of his suitors makes the decision even more baffling (Says the Englishman, predictably! -SM). $55 million/year goes some way to explaining it but most will hope that the US league takes off properly following this coup, to ensure that DB's final few years were not wasted away in a backwater league....
Gabriele	The real winner in Beckham’s transfer to LA Galaxy is Victoria. In my opinion, this is her choice, for her career as an actress. Of course, Becks made a very good deal, earning an incredibly high amount of money, especially compared to the insubstantial toughness of MLS, but I think he would have preferred to keep on playing in Europe. MLS executives think this is a big business for them, I'm sure there will be a great interest around Beckham at the beginning, but we don't know what will be in the next future. To make MLS grow, one single top player is not enough, and I am afraid they don't have money left to "invite" other top players to join the league. Beckham is the best footballer they could sign in terms of image: the Becks will certainly feed all gossip media in Hollywood and generally in the US, but technically speaking a talented player, even a juggler (not necessarily Ronaldinho) would have been better. Americans think about sport as a show, what kind of show a player like Beckham can give them? Crosses and free kicks? I'm not so sure…
Mauricio	US 250 million dollars? I bet Pele is wondering at home: Why don’t I play nowadays???? I think Beckham is absolutely right. In the first place, Real Madrid have already been half way to Hollywood in the last four seasons. Media players like Ronaldo and Becks, after all they won, have to hit the road and try other things in their careers. Although everybody will be saying Beckham is finished, I think playing in the MLS is definitely a better move than playing in Saudi Arabia or other of these great money making countries. And if I were in charge of CONMEBOL, I would straight away invite MLS teams to play in the Copa Libertadores, and get a share of the Becks money too.

It's disconcerting, because this is supposed to be a fair contest with beautiful football.

But there really seem to be just two rules:

1. Give Barca close calls in their favour, maybe it's their reputation?

2. Ronaldinho cannot be touched. Ever.

Mohammad Abou Tarika scored two lovely goals (in which the enigmatic Flavio played a big part), sandwiching a Cuauhtemoc Blano inspired goal for Salvador Cabanas. The Ahly fans were happy, and the Club America fans sang non-stop and had some cause for cheer with the goal. Both of these however, were outnumbered by the Inter fans.

It seems that the tickets for the final(s) were sold combined... a matches 6/7 ticket. So understandably, there are a lot of Inter fans. They have come out early, watch an average game of football, and really enjoyed themselves and made a day of it. The sang in fits and spurts, and cheered for Ahly every now and then (there was some Egyptian red mixed in with the vats of Internacional fans).

Barca fans however were more or less nowhere to be seen. There were of course thousands of Japanese fans wearing Barca shirts, but that is because the Japanese fans have plumped for Barca before the tournament started, and all the bootleg merchandisers are just selling Barca/Ronaldinho stuff, and all the Japanese fans are buying them in droves.

I mean that the "real" Barca fans were missing. The travelling contingent, people like the friendly (but arrogant) types we met in the Wall Street Club in Roppongi. The Inter fans displayed a real zest for football, and are enjoying the event. The Barca fans don't seem to be really concerned.

This just adds to the feeling that Europe doesn't really care.

BTW the guy from La Gazzetta dello Sport is playing Minesweeper in front of me.

The general impression from most media sites, and European fans, is that no one cares about the Club World Cup.

I started a thread about it on a forum I frequent, and apart from a few replies, the majority of the people replied with "Who cares" or "What a joke" or "It's a Mickey Mouse Cup" things like that.

So really how should FIFA make people care about a tournament such as this?

The concept of a Club World Cup is fantastic. The idea that the best clubs around the world might be playing in a tournament against each other really should be mouth-watering. It's the one thing we never really get to see in football (apart from the confederation regionals of course), and it's the one thing that really should give us a great taste of international matchups. Truthfully speaking, the World Cup is generally rubbish. National football teams are generally disjointed, because the players play together for about a month or two every year. They also have a lot of players who have already played 50-65 games for their clubs already. End result - tired, disjointed teams, playing against other tired, dsjointed teams. Don't con yourself into thinking that the end matches of the World Cup are exciting stuff, it's usually not the case. What is more accurate, i'd say, is that the football at the start of the tournament is so dire, that by the time the football has improved you think that you're watching Brazil... which is not the case, unless you are actually watching Brazil... losing to France, in a boring, somewhat insipid match. What really does increase interest is the World Cup, is that fans have vested national interests, and so seeing a stubmling, frustrating match is fine, as long as it's a win for their team (which most will still confuse with it being a good football match).

The problem is that out of the many hundreds of countries worldwide, only 32 actually play the World Cup, and although you can adopt a team for the tournament, it's really not the same thing as your own country playing. But for many of us, there will never be any chance to see our teams play at the World Cup... who knows when India will qualify for example?

Now consider club teams, everyone supports them, from all over the World. Arsenal fans in Malaysia are just as passionate as the ones in England, kids in Africa drop everything to watch Premiership and La Liga matches, and immigrant communities means that club fanbases are scattered EVERYWHERE. So there's no question that club football has far more support.

Now club footballers also train together for the whole year, and are proper teams. And the best club sides have the best players in the world, something that national teams can't have (although the Qataris tried didn't they!).

So then feast on the thought of this, a tournament featuring the top 5 or so teams from each regional confederation, in a true test of the footballing styles and ability of each, and the best examples of the footballing ability of those regions. Imagine the benefits to those clubs, as well as FIFA... Club fans have way more enthusiasm and they would be out in numbers from all over the world. This would be a tournament that is potentially bigger than the Champions League, and money would flow in from all firections, and merchandising opportunities would be huge.

The problem is UEFA, and making Europe care, because it seems like they don't. In South America, it's the biggest thing going, and one of the big incentives for winning the Libertadores. Contrast that to the Champions League, where winning it means "Oh shoot, we have to go and muddle around in Tokyo for a week in December". Not on.

A global club competitions would truly present fantastic, varied football, but it needs to be carefully thought up and organised. In the short term, perhaps things could be improved by adding in the UEFA Cup and Copa Sudamericana winners, as well as perhaps the runners-up from various confederations. And qualifying could be introduced easily enough.

I'm here at the Tokyo National Ground (Kokuritsu Kyogi Jo!) for the Club World Cup first semi-final between Al-Ahly of Egypt and Internacional of Brazil. The atmosphere should be great tonight. Against Auckland, the Ahly fans were in good voice, many had travelled, and many Arabs and Africans living in Japan had united to lend support to the African Champions.

As for Internacional, well their fans have travelled in the thousands from Port-Allegre in Brazil for this game. South American football takes the Club World Cup/Toyota Cup very seriously, because for years and years it has been their only chance to disprove the so-called "superiority" of the European teams. The Brazilian press is out here in full force (making life very difficult for us in terms of getting access to the team), and i've been spotting their fans out and about in Tokyo over the last 3 days or so.

Both teams play in red, so i'm looking forward to the Ahly fans and "Torcedor Colorado" (Inter fan collective) really livening up the stadium tonight.

Stay tuned for our coverage. Sadly, now that all the bigwig media persons have shown up (they didn't bother for the "lesser" games, oh no sirree), I have a feeling we have to sit in rubbish seats, and that we aren't even in the press box anymore. What a load of wank! If anything we should be rewarded for getting out that and being enthusiastic for the first two games that others didn't even care enough to show up for.

Oh well.... the squad lists have been handed out, and Alexandre Pato (the "Duck", Brazil's most exciting young player) will be starting, so i'm excited.

On an off day, our bloggers spent some time wandering around Tokyo and taking in the sights.

But our Brazilian blogger Mauricio visited the Internacional training session, and had some time to get comments from the Internacional players and team members. Click here to read them.

And the Inter fans have made up a great song about Fernandao being better than Ronaldinho, so click here to read about it, and hear the song (in Portuguese).