Supermodel Gisele To Star in U2 Video
Gisele Bundchen is set to star in the u2's next music video after becoming friends with front man Bono.
The pair met when Gisele appeared in ads for Bono's RED charity campaign for no fee.
Giselle is one of the highest paid supermodel in the fashion industry and is notoriously picky about the jobs she does.
However she is no stranger to the film set after appearing in the 2004 film Taxi and she's just signed up to star in the film version on Dan Brown's bestselling Angels and Demons.
Gisele caused outrage when she publicly
criticized the Roman Catholic Church for its "outdated" view on contraception last month.
The Brazilian supermodel - who previously
dated Leonardo DiCaprio - believes the church should change its views because "no one is a virgin" anymore and contraception is necessary to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Brazil Crushes Argentina in Final
On July 15, thanks to its impressive form in previous matches, Argentina was the clear favorite to win the final of the 2007 Copa America. Its rival Brazil had been much criticized by the local press after losing its first match against Mexico and only managing to draw with Ecuador in its second.
The final was played at the Pachencho Romero Stadium in Maracaibo and, apart from bringing together the two most powerful squads in the continent, was a chance to see who would win the personal duel between Lionel Messi and Robinho. Messi plays for Barcelona in the Spanish first division, while Robinho plays for Barcelona's archrival Real Madrid, which recently became champions of the 2006-2007 season.
Brazil struck the first blow, however, after only three minutes of play, as Julio Baptista scored a spectacular long-range goal from nearly 30 meters. Just four minutes later, Juan Roman Riquelme nearly equalized after a great combination of passes; but his hard shot hit the crossbar of Doni's goal. It seemed that after this missed opportunity the Argentinean players sensed that it would not be their afternoon. They were further demoralized in the 40th minute as captain Roberto Ayala scored an own goal while trying to intercept a cross by Daniel Alves of Brazil.
Brazil continued playing effective football for the rest of the first half. Argentina's attempts to score were constantly blocked.
It would be Alves again who would give the knockout punch for Brazil in the 68th minute as he finished off a well-created counterattack with a precise low shot. From then on, Argentina became completely demoralized and gave up trying to equalize.
With this victory, Brazil has now won the Copa America on eight occasions. Mexico took third place after defeating Uruguay 3-1 on July 14.
The general opinion of the South American press and fans is that this year's edition of Copa America was a total success due to the impressive new stadiums built for the occasion by the Venezuelan government and the many goals scored (86) during the competition.
Brazil is home for Pan Ams, aiming for 3rd place
The Americas' biggest sports festival is taking place at home, by the famous beaches of Rio de Janeiro, with Sugarloaf mountain and that newly crowned world wonder, the Christ the Redeemer statue, in the background.
Enthusiastic Rio citizens will be watching a sporting competition of this type for the first time, and it's an event that ultimately could prove that Brazil is capable of hosting a World Cup or an Olympics.
But despite all the hype and excitement, not even the most optimistic athletes — or analysts — believe Brazil has any chance of dislodging the United States and Cuba from the top of the medals table during the July 13-29 Pan American Games.
The most the Brazilians are hoping for is to improve their medals take from the 2003 Games in the Dominican Republic, possibly overcoming Canada for third place in the overall standings.
"Historically, the country hosting a competition such as the Pan American Games improves its performance," Brazil's delegation chief Marcus Vinicius Freire said. "And we hope this happens with Brazil, too. It's always an advantage to compete with the fans' support and at the local venues."
Brazil had its best performance ever in the Dominican Republic, winning 123 medals, including 29 gold. Canada won the same number of gold medals, but finished ahead of Brazil in the final count with 128 total medals. The United States finished first with 117 gold medals, and Cuba was second with 72.
"Our goal is to finish third in Rio," Freire said. "But it certainly won't be easy,"
Brazil hasn't finished as high as third at the Games since Winnipeg in 1967, when Cuba didn't have the dominant team it has fielded in recent years.
The United States is expected to bring only a few of its top athletes, but not even that is likely to boost the host nation's chances to surge to the top.
"Brazil will be able to field complete teams in most sports, and the athletes will get an emotional boost from playing at home, but it will remain very difficult to overcome the U.S. and Cuba in total numbers," said Ed Hula, editor of Around the Rings, a global news organization devoted to Olympic sports.
Brazil already has "a better performance than the United States and Cuba in several sports, but it's still complicated to think about overcoming these two Olympic powerhouses in the medal count," Freire said.
With the games' biggest delegation, 661 athletes, Brazil could dominate in several sports, including volleyball, beach volleyball, handball, futsal and sailing, all competitions in which the nation has excelled internationally in recent years.
Brazil will remain a favorite in soccer, but chances for gold are not that high in the men's event, which will be played with under-18 squads.
The women's team, winner in 2003, will have its top stars — including FIFA world player of the year Marta — and better chances for a medal. The competition will be mainly against the United States, which is sending its under-20 team, and Canada.
Brazil's biggest stars in other sports include Olympic medalists Rodrigo Pessoa, who won the equestrian show jumping title at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and sailor Robert Scheidt, an eight-time world champion.
"It's an enormous challenge to participate in a competition of this level in our country," Pessoa told the Veja news magazine.
Other top contenders include gymnast Daiane dos Santos, swimmer Thiago Pereira, and table tennis player Hugo Hoyama, the nation's top gold medalist in the Pan Am Games with eight. He is tied with former swimmer Gustavo Borges.
Another one of Brazil's biggest hopes for gold is Jadel Gregorio, who has the year's best mark in the triple jump. He finished fifth in the Athens Olympics and holds the South American record.
In the marathon, Marcia Narloch and Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima — famous for being attacked while leading the Olympic marathon in Athens — are among the favorites. And women's long jumper Maurren Maggi is second in the world rankings.
Brazil hosted the Pan Ams in Sao Paulo in 1963, when the event was much smaller. Sao Paulo was to host the competition again in 1975, but a meningitis outbreak and other internal problems eventually forced the Pan Ams to be moved to Mexico City.
