SAO PAULO -- Rugby player Isadora Cerullo never lived in Brazil. Authentic Cam Newton Jerseys . Fencer Ghislain Perrier speaks very little Portuguese. Golfer Miriam Nagl played abroad most of her life.Theyll still be parading under the host nations flag at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Games come Aug. 5.Cerullo, Perrier and Nagl are among several athletes who will be fulfilling their Olympic dream because of Brazils shortage of athletes in sports it automatically qualified for as host. Without an Olympic tradition to fall back on, the country was left to rapidly recruit an international band of athletes for events such as field hockey, golf, rowing, wrestling and rugby.Their ties, in many cases, are weak. Some have lived away for most of their lives but were born in Brazil. Some were born abroad but have Brazilian parents or grandparents. Some had almost no links to the country but were hired by local federations and became naturalized.I would have very slim chances of participating in the Olympics if I hadnt made the switch to play for Brazil, said Nagl, a Brazilian-born golfer who left the country when she was 8 years old and had always played for Germany. When this idea came up and I realized that I had a chance to make it to Rio, I started dreaming about being at the Maracana Stadium during the opening ceremony.The 35-year-old Nagl, who plays in the Ladies European Tour and is No. 445 in the womens world rankings, said she hadnt given much thought about representing her native country until being contacted by golf officials after Rio was awarded the games.By making the switch, I gave myself a chance to be in the Olympics, but I also thought about how this could be good for Brazil, about how I could become a good ambassador and help the game develop, she said.Brazil had only two foreign athletes in its delegation at the 2012 London Games -- American basketball player Larry Taylor and Chinese table-tennis player Gui Lin. Now about 20 international athletes will be taking advantage of the many extra spots available for the home nation in Rio.Rugby is one of the sports in which Brazil lacks tradition but will compete anyway. Hoping to put on a good show in front of the home fans, the local federation launched a worldwide campaign -- entitled Brazilian Rugby Players Wanted -- to attract athletes playing abroad.A few who responded to the campaign will be in Rio, including American-born Cerullo, who has Brazilian parents but had never visited the country until after contacting Brazilian rugby officials. Two Brazilian brothers who lived in France also made it to the team, as well a Brazilian-born athlete who lived and played in Argentina. England-born Juliano Fiori and France-born Laurent Bourda-Couhet, who has a Brazilian mother, will also play.Brazils fencing team earned eight additional spots as hosts and included three international players for the games. Among them are Ghislain Perrier, who was born in Brazil but left the country as a baby after being adopted by a French family, and Italian-born Nathalie Moellhausen, who competed for Italy at the 2012 London Games but chose to be with the hosts in Rio to fulfill the wish of her Brazilian grandmother.I dont have many connections to Brazil, admitted Perrier, who has lived and trained in France most of his life. I spent vacation in Brazil a few times, but I know only a few people there.The fencing team will also have Marta Baeza, who was born in Brazil but had been competing for Spain, and reserve team member Katherine Miller, who was born in the United States.Another foreigner, Hungarys Emese Takacs, tried to make the team but she was dropped after her citizenship was contested in court by a Brazilian athlete who had been left out of the squad. Takacs was accused of faking her marriage in Brazil to become naturalized.She had the legal documents but we always suspected it was a fraud, the Brazilian who had lost her spot, Amanda Simeao, told local media. She was married to a Brazilian but had a boyfriend in Hungary.Takacs denied wrongdoing but lost her battles in court.Another controversial case was water polo goalkeeper Slobodan Soro, a Serbian whose naturalization process was approved just before the games. He and center Josip Vrlic of Croatia were hired to play for Brazil despite not having direct connections to the country. They were among five foreign-born players picked to play for the Brazilian team by Croat coach Ratko Rudic, the gold medalist with Croatia at the London Games.The others were Spains Adria Delgado, who has a Brazilian father; Italian-born Paulo Salemi, son of a Brazilian mother; and Cuban Ives Gonzalez, who is married to a Brazilian. The team also has Brazilian-born Felipe Perrone, who used to play for the Spanish national team before joining the hosts for the Rio Games.They have been playing for Brazilian clubs for some time, this is not something that just happened, said Ricardo Cabral, who is in charge of Brazils water polo team. We created an Olympic project to help the sport develop and make Brazil more competitive. Because of the Olympics in Rio, there is more investment available and we want to take advantage of that to give the sport more visibility.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoni Wholesale Carolina Panthers Jerseys . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Carolina Panthers Jerseys China . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. http://www.cheapcarolinapanthersjerseysauthentic.com/ . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Stamford Bridge feels like home for Jose Mourinho, but Sunday will see the Manchester United boss take a seat in the away dugout for the first time in the Premier League.Mourinho is the most successful manager in Chelseas history, but his second spell with the Blues ended in ignominy. The Portuguese coach had lost just one of his first 97 home league games at Chelsea, but tasted defeat four times in his final eight matches during a tortuous run in 2015 that ended in his dismissal.And the now United manager has admitted that hes not looking forward to returning to his old stomping ground after losing that winning edge.When I played there with Inter (Milan), I had never lost a match at Stamford Bridge because I had that home record, said Mourinho, referring to a European game against Chelsea in 2010, which Joses Italian side won 1-0. Now Ive lost a few matches at the Bridge. Last season I lost two or three matches at the Bridge, so I cannot use the same words, because now Ive lost there.I knew that working in England and staying in the Premier League, that sooner or later I had to play against Chelsea and go to Stamford Bridge. The computer has decided it is to go now and here we go.Heading into the weekend, Mourinhos United (4-2-2) go into Sundays game two points behind their hosts after a solid yet unspectacular start under their new boss. But the Red Devils should have plenty of confidence after their 4-1 rout of Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday.Chelsea (5-1-2), in contrast, had midweek off, although manager Antonio Conte is not happy about having to look for positives from his teams lack of European action.I dont want this type of advantage, Conte said. This means you dont play in the Champions League or Europa League. I think Chelsea must play during the week (in) this type of tournament. Chelsea, this season, cant do this. This is not an advantage.Manchester United played (Thursday) and I watched the game. I saw maybe four players who wiill probably start on Sunday. Cheap Carolina Panthers Jerseys. When you have this possibility to play Champions League or Europa League, you can give the chance also to other players who every day in training work very hard.The Blues will be boosted by the return of captain, leader and legend John Terry, who has shaken off an ankle injury to be fully available for Sundays game. Fellow defenders Kurt Zouma and Branislav Ivanovic are both unavailable due to injury, but Conte will be reticent to rush back his captain into the injury depleted back-line because of a recent successful switch in system.Chelsea have racked up consecutive clean sheets (against Hull City and Leicester City) using a three-at-the-back of Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta either side of sweeper David Luiz. It will be fascinating to see whether Conte sticks with that system, which he has preferred for so much of his career, against an attack of the calibre of Uniteds.And if he does stick with the new shape, then where -- if at all -- does John Terry fit in? Terry lacks the pace to play in either of the wide roles, so David Luiz would presumably have to vacate the central role in which he has looked so assured.Its a selection dilemma without an obvious answer, but it isnt just the defence where Chelsea are short on options with Cesc Fabregas ruled out and Brazilian duo Willian and Oscar both doubts in midfield.Manchester United have concerns over the fitness of Chris Smalling, but Mourinho may be tempted to introduce Michael Carrick for a rare league start after the veteran excelled against Fenerbahce at the base of a midfield that has lacked a positionally-disciplined anchor.Avoid defeat and Chelsea would set a new unbeaten run against United of eight games.The Red Devils have lost more Premier League games (16) against the Stamford Bridge outfit than against any other club. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '