England's Pampered Soccer Players Fail Again

By John L Pollock

England fail to qualify for the Euro 2008 football tournament, with a tepid display against a technically superior Croatian team. The premiership players were defended by a number of ex players who cited the head coach, the tactics, the pitch and injuries to key players as excuses. Others cite the number of foreign players who ply their trade in the premiership depriving English youngsters of the chance to gain experience in the world's premier league.

The so called golden generation who are paid upwards of £100,000 a week to play in The Barclays Premiership appear to have decided that club and monitory rewards come before national pride. England have always lacked some of the more technical aspects of the game, preferring a more robust and direct style, but what England lacked in skill, they more than made up for in passion and work ethic. Sadly, the passion and work ethic has departed along with the support of many of the long suffering England fans.

The head coach Steve McClaren and his assistant Terry Venables were immediately sacked, but depart with a substantial payoff. It seems that failure can make you rich.

The position of England head coach has always been something of a poisoned chalice, any match that is lost is subject to the english tabloid press lampooning the coach and demanding his sacking, often coupled with savage personal abuse. Many fans now believe its time for the players to step forward and admit their shocking lack of effort and lack of basic skills led to the humiliating defeat, despite the best efforts of a below average head coach.

For more controversial discussions visit the Swap My Team Forum at http://www.swapmyteam.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_L_Pollock

Prevention of Injuries

By Antonio Saviano

Let's not neglect the prevention of injuries.

The soccer game at the youth level is becoming an important social phenomenon. It is fundamental that soccer coaches take action, before it gets worse, on education the young soccer players on injury prevention and allow them to grow to their fullest potential.

The injuries in the young age groups are not always similar to the injuries sustained by players already developed, therefore, it is important to think how to proceed if an injury occurs. On the players already developed, especially professional players, for example, coaches try to minimize the healing times, of course this is not ideal for the younger players as it is important to wait for a full recovery.

Injuries and sicknesses are two important aspects to deal with and to differentiate between older and younger age groups.

The Prevention

A recent research has confirmed that a players of the age of 11-13 after a full soccer game, respect to older players need longer recover times. It is not only a recover time for the muscular system or the energy, but also for the immune system, because this in fact, needs adequate recover times. In less words if coaches want to avoid overload work and risk of injuries, coaches should keep players from playing games at least three days between each time. About Soccer Coaching Magazine

Initial success is not what soccer coaching magazines are all about. We understand that initial success may not necessarily translate into long term success. It is distributed through out North America and is already enjoying international distribution. It provides some of the best soccer information in the world. There are several good soccer magazines that are a wealth of information for soccer players, instructors, and parents. They are committed to share the most effectively youth player methods.

Scuola Calcio, Italian Soccer School's goal is to provide intensive soccer training programs that not only teach players the game of soccer but also also teach them about cultural diversity and foreign languages. With professionals Italian Soccer affiliations, Scuola Calcio, Italian Soccer School will help to develop players by experiencing international professional soccer training and give them an opportunity to travel to a structured professional environment. For more information visit http://www.soccercoachingmagazine.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Antonio_Saviano

Football Shirts - What Not to Wear

By Thomas Baugh 

If you're thinking of investing in a new football shirt to show your support for your local team, really think about your choice carefully before taking the plunge.

Football shirts range from the sublime to the ridiculous, and from the reasonably priced to complete rip offs. Therefore, if you're contemplating making a football shirt purchase then think before you act.

Allow me to take you through some of the worst mistakes you can make when buying a football shirt.

Firstly, make sure you know how long the shirt you're buying is current for. It might well be changing in six months time and if it's a present for a young one, they might refuse to wear outdated fashion!

Make sure you shop around, and don't just go to the official club shop. They'll more often than not sell at the top level price because they know people visiting the shop will pay top dollar. Visit other high street stores to compare, and if you have the time and inclination shop online for your football shirt. You might make some great savings.

Away shirts are a mine field fraught with potential danger so make sure you follow the two steps already mentioned. Away football shirts change nearly every year and designs can be forgotten as quickly as they're created.

If you're buying away football shirts and thinking you'll wear them to away matches, then think carefully. More often than not, your team will only sport the shirt once or twice a season meaning you'll often be wearing the wrong colours.

Now I'm not saying you should never buy a football shirt - I buy my teams quite often. If you want to do what I do though, just purchase the home shirt when it first comes out, enjoy two years of current fashion and repeat the process for the rest of your life!

Football shirts can still bring a lot of joy too many people, even more so when they're getting value for money.

Thomas Baugh writes articles for a site that reviews and discusses football shirts and then approaches manufacturers to ensure they think about the views of fans. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Baugh

Barcelona Football Club - The New Line Up For 2007-2008

By David Leigh 

Players in:
Thierry Henry, Arsenal (£16.1m)
Yaya Toure, Monaco (£6.1m)
Eric Abidal, Lyon (£10m)
Gabi Milito, Real Zaragoza (£12.1m)

Players Out:
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Feyenoord (Free)
Maxi Lopez, FC Moscow (£1.3m)
Javier Saviola, Real Madrid (Free)
Ludovic Giuly, Roma (£2m)
Belletti, Chelsea (£3.7m)
Motta, Atletico Madrid (undisclosed)

The summer transfer window saw some interesting activity for Barcelona, including the signing of Thierry Henry from Arsenal after months of speculation. This addition to Barcelona's strike force should create a wealth of opportunities up front, although Henry has admitted to finding it difficult to get used to Barça's style of play, but his versatility should eventually work to the Catalan team's advantage.

Yaya Toure and Eric Abidal were also signed in the same week, arriving from Monaco and Lyon respectively and with Gio leaving for Feyenoord it seems that Abidal was brought in as a direct replacement. The club also signed Gabi Milito from Real Zaragoza to replace Motta who departed for Atletico Madrid.

Another player to depart was Maxi Lopez, who had been on loan to Mallorca during the last season. With Henry arriving on the scene the chances of first team appearances for Maxi didn't look good and so he made a move to FC Moscow. Saviola and Giuly were in a similar situation, the former moving to Real Madrid on a free transfer and the latter moving to Roma. Both players found themselves under utilised last season and the arrival of both new players and up and coming homegrown talent up front they seemed unlikely to do much this year.

Back in defence, Belletti finally moved to Chelsea after finding it hard to compete for a first team place with Zambrotta and Motta was put on the transfer list after apparently falling out with coach Frank Rijkaard. Eventually he was signed to Atletico Madrid on a one-year deal.

The summer also saw the emergence of two players from Barcelona's youth team who are beginning to mark on the first team. Giovani dos Santos is considered a wunderkind comparable with Ronaldinho, while Bojan Krkic, aged just 17, is hailed as one of the most exciting up and coming strikers in the game.

If you're planning on seeing the new line up at the Nou Camp why not reserve your Barcelona football tickets online? Tickets are available for all home matches in a variety of different areas. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Leigh

Soccer Move

By Mark Singh

Playing soccer is not just moving a ball with blader inside with the leg or not like impressing your friend and the beautiful ladies but all soccer tricks that can mean a world of difference in your friends circle. Lets starts with some soccer tricks which can change make you different.

Try to have a step-by-step approach when you learn soccer tricks, categorizing them on difficulty levels. Start with the basic ones, move on to advanced moves and once you get both these categories well under your boot, try out those special few that are extremely hard to master.

Obviously, if you're practicing these moves by yourself, or with the help of a friend, you'll be able to perform them with no or little resistance, which is rarely the case in a real match (and if there's no resistance, why would you perform them in a match anyway?). So besides practicing the actual move, you'll also have to work on the timing of your soccer tricks and skills.

A couple of basic moves could include: the Zidane 360 spin, the stop and go, the Puskas V-move or the fake shot dribble.

Under the advanced category, you could try the Cruyff move, the stepover and double stepover or the Scotch.

There are lot of moves that you can learn these are as:

1. uskas move

This move can be quite effective when an enemy is really close to you. Simply pull the ball back and push it sideways with the inside of your foot. There are a few different variations of the Puskas (aka V-move). Some players like to fake a kick before pulling the ball back,others use the outside of the foot to push it sideways.

2. Reverse Scissors

The Reverse scissors looks more complicated than it is. Simply roll the ball

sideways across your body, throw a scissors fake and cut in the opposite

direction.

3. 360 moves

This move is usually applied when there's a number of opponents around you or

when you're on the wing. It's most effective if you do it at first touch, instead of

trapping the ball.

4. Cruyff moves

Approach the ball as if you're taking a kick, but plant your base foot slightly ahead of it. Now swing your "kicking" leg forward until it's fully extended and cut the ball under your body.

5. Double cut

The double cut is a good way to shake off an opponent that is closely jockeying you. This ought to give you a couple of second to pass or shoot the ball.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Singh

Watch Liverpool Vs Cardiff Live Online - Carling Cup Preview

By Jesaiah C

Fresh from the Arsenal draw match, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard claimed that Francesc Fabregas can go on to be one of the greats. He said that Cesc could go on to be one of the best in the world and there is no doubt about that.

There is injury concerns rising in the Reds team. Jose Reina has described Liverpool's injury problems as a pain after the Reds again lost Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres. Both Torres and Alonso were injured in their comeback games in the thrilling 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday as was Javier Mascherano.

However the Argentina midfielder has suffered only extensive bruising and no bone injury on his foot. Reina said that the injuries are a big problem and they have had far too many in the last few months. He also commented that when important players are recovering and coming back into the side and then they get injured again, and this is a bit difficult for the team to function well.

Benitez options are not many as he is also without winger Jermaine Pennant until after Christmas as he is waiting to recover from a stress fracture of the shin, while first-choice centre-back Daniel Agger is still recovering from a broken metatarsal.

On the other hand, Cardiff City manager Dave Jones says Robbie Fowler is thinking about trying to upset Liverpool on Wednesday when he returns to his former club. Liverpool fans still fondly call Fowler by his nickname 'God', even though the 32-year-old first departed almost six years ago, sold to Leeds in November 2001. Jones said that Fowler had an unbelievable career at Liverpool football club, was brought up locally and had fantastic achievements.

Rafa Benitez was the Liverpool manager who brought Fowler back from Manchester City in January 2006, but released the player six months later. This is because he believes that Fowler could no longer perform at the top of the Premier League but he still regards Fowler as a real threat to Liverpool on the Wednesday match against Cardiff.

Jesaiah is a die-hard football fan and have watch Live Football Matches Online using a special software with high quality streaming video. You can click here to download the software. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jesaiah_C

Soccer Field Dimensions

By Niv Orlian 

Back in the day when soccer was in its infancy, soccer field layout was rather irregular in its dimensions and this created several problems for the players. One player from, say, York would play on a field that was 60 yards long, while the guys in Liverpool would play on one that was 140 yards. Obviously, when either team played on the competitor's field, they were at a loss.

That is why, over time, soccer field dimensions were regulated, first by the Football Association, the first soccer organization in history, created by the English in the late 19th century, then by FIFA.

Today's dimensions of soccer fields still offer some room for variation, because not all pitches can be made on a same exact perimeter. So, the width of the field can range from 50 to 100 yards officially, but it's rarely the case with modern soccer fields that they hit these extremes. The length can range from 100 yards to 130, but you can't have a pitch that would be 100 yards wide and 100 yards long, obviously.

The field is split in half by a center line, which has a symmetrical distance towards each of the widths and there is a center circle at the middle of this line, which is always 10 yards in diameter. This circle ensures that opposing players are kept at a safe distance when the team in possession kicks off.

The goal must be 24 feet wide and 8 feet high and it must be placed exactly on the middle of the pitch's width. The goal is surrounded by two boxes. The first one, called the protection box or the goalkeeper box is 6 yards wide and long and in this area, the keeper is said to be protected: any contact with the goalkeeper in this area will produce a foul for the defending team.

The bigger box, also called the penalty box or penalty area is 18 yards wide and 44 long and in this area, every foul from the defending team will produce a penalty kick, which is taken from 12 yards from the goal, with just the attacker and the goalkeeper facing off. This is usually a sure goal, so you might not want to be so aggressive around the penalty box.

Let's take a look at some of the other soccer field dimensions that aren't usually that important, but can still regulate the game a bit further. The corner circle is set around the corner flag and is 1 yard in diameter. Basically, when a player takes a corner, he can place the ball anywhere inside this circle so he can more comfortably hit the ball and give it a swirl. Otherwise, it's very difficult to keep the ball inside the soccer field dimensions if you're striking the corner from right, but with your left leg, or vice versa.

The penalty box circle is one of the soccer field dimensions that are used mostly for orientation by the referee. It's situated around the penalty spot, 10 yards around it and it's sole purpose is to allow the referee to figure out the correct wall distance in case of a free kick that's near the box. For example, if the attacking team gets a free kick outside the edge of the penalty area, the referee will automatically know that the defending team's wall should be placed at the penalty spot, which is 10 yards away, the correct distance the wall should stay in.

These soccer field dimensions are standardized for all of the modern pitches, but the game will play differently on various sized fields. For example, on a very wide pitch, wing game play is bound to be more efficient, because your wingers will have a lot more room to maneuver in. Short fields benefit players with great speed and technique that can solve a one-on-one duel in close quarters.

Long fields benefit speedy players, that love to hit the ball forward and make a run for it and they're a nightmare for defenders that lack the speed to cope with them. Longer fields also require more coordination between lines, otherwise a team might allow the opponent far more spaces than they would like to.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Wants more info regarding the rules of soccer? For the complete guide to soccer rules click here Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

The Importance of Soccer Pre Game Warm Up

By Niv Orlian 

Soccer warm up exercises are the most frequent in pre match situations and training. there's no other type of exercise that a soccer player will spend more time with then with warm up. Professional teams usually spend around 30 minutes of their training sessions on a quality warm up, because this has three major effects on players, effects that we will discuss in the following paragraphs.

-Soccer Pre game Warm up - Avoiding Injuries

Our muscles and tendons can easily cause problems if they are used at their fullest without a proper series of soccer warm up drills. The muscles work on the same principle as an elastic string would. Pull it slowly and the elastic will be able to stretch without problems, but if you pull it in one quick motion, there's a risk it might snap. Ok, your muscles won't just "snap" if you use them intensely without the proper warm up, but there's a good chance you might strain them or develop other injuries.

That's why a good part of soccer warm up drills includes stretching exercises, which slowly get your muscles used to the effort.

-The Importance of Soccer Pre game Warm up - Higher Performance

It's not called warming up for nothing: when performing these exercises, you actually warm your muscles and entire body, allowing it to be ready for effort. By performing soccer pre game warm up exercises, you set your muscles, heart rate and breathing to the same levels you will be using in the match, so you can easily accommodate to the variables that the match brings.

Try this very simple exercise to test this theory: warm up for 30 minutes thoroughly, using a wide range of soccer warm up drills that work with your entire body, not just your legs. After you're done, do 5-10 sprints on the width of the soccer pitch and measure your heart rate and the general difficulty of each sprint.

Now, come back in another day, do a couple of stretching exercises so you don't develop any injuries and simply start sprinting (the same number of sprints as the day before), without getting a proper warm up beforehand. You will notice that you will have harder time breathing throughout and between the sprints, they will be harder to perform and at the end, your heart rate will be much higher than yesterday, meaning that your body had a harder time adjusting to the high level of effort.

-The Importance of Soccer Pre game Warm up - Concentration

This is strictly related to the other two benefits of a quality warm up. Knowing that you're fully prepared for the match/training session and that there's no risk of injury, you will be a lot more focused on the game and on doing your job right. Soccer warm up exercises will also get your body ready for the effort as I explained above and this has a positive effect on concentration. When you're not focusing on having to breathe right or stopping to catch your breath, you can, again, concentrate on your job.

These should be enough reasons to convince you of the importance of soccer warm up exercises. If you're a player that wants to give his or her best on the soccer pitch, your first concern will be giving your best in the soccer pre game warm up drills.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Wants to Improve your Soccer Conditioning? For the complete guide to soccer fitness click here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Soccer Goalkeeping Drills

By Niv Orlian 

The goalkeeper's job is certainly the toughest of all soccer players, since whereas a defender, midfielder or attacker can get off with a couple of mistakes every now and then, a goalkeeper's mistakes are a lot more visible. To complicate things even further, modern goalkeepers have even more attributions than before: they need to coordinate the defense, they sometimes need to act as sweepers and they can fire off lethal counter attacks after a clean save.

For all these to happen of course, a goalkeeper will have to be thoroughly trained using specific soccer goalkeeping drills. Most commonly, such drills focus on soccer goalkeeping training skills such as mobility, flexibility, agility and reflexes rather than physical training. Let's take a look at some popular soccer goalkeeping drills you could try out with your team.

Soccer Goalkeeping Drills - 1 Versus 1

This is a very common drill, but nevertheless, it's very effective since goalkeepers are bound to be caught in a 1 versus 1 situation with an opposing attacker in almost every match. Even more so, at amateur or youth levels, where defenses are less strict than they are with the pros, 1-on-1s are very common for goalkeepers, so you'll need to train them well.

This soccer goalkeeper drill is simple to execute. Get an attacker around 20-30 yards from the goal and tell him to charge full speed towards the goal, with the ball at his feet and try to score. Your goalie will have to counter him of course. To mix things up a bit, you could have another player passing the ball in front of the attacker, which allows the goalkeeper to take an extra decision as to whether or not it's a good idea to charge out of the goal, or stay put and wait for the attacker.

Soccer Goalkeeping Drills - Automatic Fire

Have 8-10 players stand at around 20-30 yards from the goal, each with his own ball. At your signal, the attackers should, one by one, run forward and shoot the ball from a distance you specified beforehand. Your goalkeeper should be under a constant rain of shots, jumping from one post to the other to save the ball. It's not really that important if he saves them or not, it's important that he learns how to react quickly and get up from the floor fast and be ready for another shot.

To speed things up a bit, you could have another team of 8-10 players behind the goal, returning the balls back to the firing squad.

Soccer Goalkeeping Drills - Ab Volley

This is one of the toughest soccer goalkeeping drills, but if done correctly, it's a very efficient one. Here's how it goes: your goalie should stay on his bottom, in the same position he would do ab crunches in. You or a teammate will have to throw the ball towards him and while he's doing ab crunches, he will pass it back to you.

Coordinate your move so that you throw the ball as your goalie is lifting up from the crunch and try not to give him too many breathers. It's an intense exercise, but results will soon follow, so make sure you encourage him not to quit!

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. More soccer goalkeeping drills? Try out 100's of animated soccer drills here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

3 Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills Individually

By Niv Orlian 

If you're looking for ways to improve soccer skills individually, you've come to the right place. I know that soccer team practice sometimes just isn't enough if you want to become great. Just take a look at most of the great soccer players in activity. They always say that they spend a lot of hours off-pitch improving their soccer skills, which makes them so good in matches. But simply training after hours isn't enough, you need to train intelligently, after a rigorous program.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills - DVD Programs

There's a lot of these babies around the Internet these days, so if you're planning on buying a DVD program for individual soccer practice, make sure it's a serious author that created it and it's not some lame compilation of soccer highlights with subtitles saying "Do this and you'll be great".

A quality DVD program is a great way to improve soccer skills, because it allows a certain level of interactivity to your learning. It's not like learning from a TV show, because with DVD's you can go straight to the chapter that interests you, you can go back and review stuff over and over again until you get the picture.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills - Skill Focusing

If you notice that there's a certain area in your game that isn't on par with your other skills, focus on it to get it on level terms. Having an unbalanced skill set is extremely damaging to your game. For example, you could be very fast and strong, but if you don't have good ball control, you won't be able to use your physical skills for anything.

Same goes with players that are extremely technical but very weak on their feet, so improving your soccer skills in a balanced way is best. Also, you could focus on your best skill not your worst one. Are you a good long range shooter? Make that your trademark. Practice long shots over and over again and your teammates will soon know that they need to create space for your shots and you'll be able to score more often. You could also make a trademark of your heading, your passing, your set pieces and so forth.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills - Variation

Never allow a particular exercise or drill become boring routine, or you risk entering a stalemate with your soccer skills. Whatever you're practicing, go for alternative techniques. For example, if you're practicing dribbling, don't just focus on a single type of dribble, effective as it may be. You will need to have a varied repertoire of dribbles if you want to stand up to your different adversaries.

In conclusion, you will probably want to combine these three methods, not just use them separately. Use a DVD program to cover the theoretical aspects of your practice and use the other two as practical methods of getting your skills up. You should be gaining an edge in no time!

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Wants to Improve your Soccer Skills? For more info on how to play soccer like the pros click here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Soccer Practice Drills

By Niv Orlian 

Practice is the key to success in soccer and if you look at most of the top players in today’s game, they’re people who work hard for the skills they show on the pitch, often taking training to levels beyond the team’s sessions.

David Beckham said that he spent (and probably still spends) several hours per week beyond training, practicing his brilliant free kicks. Juninho Pernambucano, one of today’s best long range snipers practices shots after hours, from various ranges. And don’t think that Ronaldinho or Cristiano Ronaldo’s superb dribbling skills were all obtained during team practice, they’re also the result of long hours spent with the ball outside of the normal program.

So if you’re striving to better yourself and become a quality soccer player, it’s mandatory that you practice using soccer drills, either individually, pairing up with a teammate, or with a group of friends or teammates. I’ve prepared 3 fun soccer practice drills for each of these setups, hopefully you’ll find them useful in your training plan.

1. Soccer Drill for Individual Practice – Juggling

Juggling the ball may not have any accurate use in a match, because you’ll rarely (if ever) find yourself the space, time and need to juggle a ball more than twice during a game. However, soccer juggling affects a lot of other base soccer skills and it’s also one of the easiest and fun soccer practice drills to try out individually.

Soccer juggling affects your ball control ability, since by constantly keeping the ball in the air, you get to naturally understand how hard or soft the ball needs to be hit in order to control it. In-game, this affects your ability to stop and receive balls, as well as your dribbling skills, which often rely on how well you judge the strength and timing of your touch.

Other skills that soccer juggling has a positive effect on include balance, concentration and the ability to control the ball with both feet. Of all soccer drills for individual practice, juggling has the most benefic effects, so it’s well worth saving up a few minutes every day to juggle, either after practice, or even in your back yard.

2. Soccer Practice Drills for Pairs – One on One Dribbling

One on one dribbles work especially well when practiced in a pair. During a match, there will be countless occasions where you’ll need to take on an opponent one by one and the only way to practice this is with the help of a friend or a teammate.

It’s best if your training pair plays on a complementary position, as in someone that you would usually have to dribble against in a match. If you’re an attacker or offensive midfielder, you’ll want to practice one on ones with a defender, or defensive midfielder. Same concept goes the other way around.

It could also be a good idea to switch sides every now and then. After you play the attacker and try to get the ball past your pair, switch positions so that you’re the defender and he has the ball. This allows you to develop your attacking and defensive skills as you practice.

Also, in order to make this soccer practice drills more fun, you could keep a score. Whenever the attacker passes the ball past the defender, he gets a point. If the defender takes the ball away or stops the attack, he gets a point. Whoever reaches 10 points wins and you get to switch sides and start over.

3. Soccer Practice Drills for Groups – One Touch Passing

If you can find 3 or more teammates to get this soccer practice drill going, it will soon work out wonders to your passing, ball control and agility skills during matches. Here’s how it works (I’ll assume you have 5 more teammates to work with):

Split yourselves into 2 groups of 3, aligned face to face at a distance of a few yards. Group A starts, with the first player in the line passing the ball to the first player in Group B. After delivering the pass, the first player in Group A moves to the back of the line. The player in Group B receives the ball and one-touches it back to what should now be the second player in Group A and then moves to the back of his own line.

Do this as fast as possible and as accurate as possible, without needing more than one touch. You can play with different distances between the groups and once you get accustomed to the system, you can try passing the ball in mid-air, without allowing it to touch the ball and without the need for a stop. This is harder, as the passes need to be more accurate in order for the soccer practice drill to work.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Did you find this article interesting, useful and well written? Try out 100’s of animated soccer drills here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Top 3 - Soccer Players Salaries

By Niv Orlian 

The question as to whether or not athletes in general and soccer players in particular, should be earning the kind of money they’re earning is more vibrant then ever these days, with clubs paying their players incredible amounts of money each year.

The comparison to other sports is also very relative. A gymnast will train all his life, miss out on a lot of his younger years only to be able to handle a world class performance, but he will still not win as much in his lifetime as one of the highest earning soccer players makes in a year. But that’s the market’s call and there’s no “fair” in sales share.

Getting back to our topic, it’s somewhat difficult to judge exactly how much a player makes simply from his club salary, because many wage details are private, due to obvious reasons. As a club manager, you want to create complete harmony in your team and with all of them knowing that player gets paid twice as much as the rest, won’t help you out with that.

The highest earning soccer players can also be affected by having their salaries publicly available, because at every less than bright performance, they’ll be confronted with a “My God! He really should have played better for the kind of money he’s making” type of exclamation from fans, media and fellow players.

A soccer player’s income also comes from several other sources than simply his wage. For example, the best ever soccer players always made more money from endorsements and ads than their wages; take a look at David Beckham if you don’t believe me.

Other contractual bonuses will also earn them a fair amount. For example, many strikers that are confident in their ability to play regularly and score will have contract bonuses for each goal, assist or for a total number of goals at the end of the season, while agreeing for a lower wage cutout.

However, considering all of the above, it would be logical to say that the highest earning soccer players are also the ones with the highest wages. A club will want to keep a player that brings in incredible amounts of money through endorsements and merchandise sale, so they will offer him a high salary. According to Forbes Magazine, here are the top 3 earners:

Ronaldinho ($29.5 million, salary + endorsement deals) - one of the most famous and nonconformist personas in soccer, Ronaldinho has become the trademark of playing soccer as a game, not as a business. His constant smile while playing and his tricks made him one of the most popular figures today, despite the fact that he’s not as handsome and clean-cut as Beckham or Kaka. Ronaldinho is also widely considered one of the best ever soccer players, despite the fact that he still has many years to play for FC Barcelona, or his future clubs.

David Beckham ($29.1 million, salary + endorsement deals) – no presentation required, Beckham is more than just a soccer players for close to a decade now. His recent move to LA Galaxy from Real Madrid for an impressive transfer fee was well worth it, since American finance analysts agreed that the transfer would soon turn to profit, as Beckham shirt sales and other endorsements would soon earn the club their money back.

Ronaldo ($23.4 million, salary + endorsement deals) – the ex-phenomenon, the chunky Brazilian who impressed the World with his speed and goal-hungry attitude is not at the peak of his game anymore, although his move to Milan seems to have revived him somewhat. Despite his declining form, Ronaldo remains one of the central figures in today’s soccer, as he has an established name and image for over a decade.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Did you find this article interesting, useful and well written? You can learn more about additional famous soccer players here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

How To - Step By Step Soccer Moves

By Niv Orlian 

Ever wondered what makes great soccer moves actually great? Is it their quickness, is it the outstanding ball control that the dribbler needs to possess in order to pull them off, or is it simply seeing the look on the poor defender’s face when he gets his ankles twisted by the move?

I’ll tell you what makes them great: it’s the countless hours that those outstanding dribblers out there put in their practice that allow them to perform seemingly impossible moves with the ease of a rabbit hopping uphill. If you ever dreamt of being able to perform such great soccer moves, you’ll have to work hard to get them. And you can do so with the help of the following step by step soccer moves guide.

Step by Step Soccer Moves – The Stepover and Double Stepover

This move has an affinity for players named Ronaldo (or is it vice-versa, I can’t remember), since both of today’s popular Ronaldos, the Brazilian striker – Nazario da Lima – and the Portuguese winger – Cristiano – tend to use it as their trademark move. It’s one of the advanced soccer moves you’ll be practicing, so don’t expect it to be snap-easy to master. Here’s how to perform the stepover, step by step (don’t worry, it takes fewer steps to perform it than the amount of steps in this sentence):

Step 1 – Get the ball close to your feet and have it slowly move forward, towards the direction you’re facing.

Step 2 – With your left foot, hover over the ball in a circular motion and plant it on the left side of the ball.

Step 3 – With the other foot, cut the ball to the right and go past your opponent.

Notes: Obviously, you can switch feet, I just used left first and right for the cut for clearer explanation purposes. If you want to perform a double stepover, or a triple stepover, instead of cutting with the base foot, you can use it to hover over the ball again and so forth.

Step by Step Soccer Moves – The Sweep

Another advanced soccer move that won’t be easy to master, but then again you’re not here for your average stop and go. This move is extremely spectacular and at the same time effective. It can be used to great effect on the wings, or in the center of the park, to get past your direct opponent. It’s harder to perform on the edge of the penalty area, or inside it, because it’s a lot more crowed there.

This great soccer move doesn’t really have a player that you could say branded it, although Robbie Van Persie of Arsenal recently scored a magnificent goal in a match against Internazionale Milano with the help of a sweep dribble. But here’s the step by step on it:

Step 1 – Position yourself as you would pass the ball or shoot, with your base foot closer to the ball.

Step 2 – With your other foot, simulate a pass or shot.

Step 3 – When your faking foot reaches the ball, drag it along sideways, opposite of your base foot.

Notes: This is so efficient because the opponent will not know if you pass, shoot or dribble until you have already performed the dribble. For this to be completely effective, make sure you sweep the ball across in Step 3, not kick it in that direction, as dragging it gives you some precious time.

These advanced soccer moves are still quite situational, because you’ll need to have your opponents at a certain distance and position. For general purposes, a few easier dribbles such as the V-move, the stop and go or the fake shot will probably work better, but if you can pull off any of the advanced soccer moves above, you’re bound to get a standing ovation and possibly an assist or a goal, because they’re very surprising.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Did you find this article interesting, useful and well written? For more info on how to play soccer like the pros click here Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Top 5 - Soccer Dribbling Moves

By Niv Orlian 

Ah, the soccer dribble. The salt and pepper of the game, the move that makes fans go wild, club shirts sell and defenders cry. It’s no wonder that some of the players that are considered today’s best are great dribblers. Just look at the likes of Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovici or Lionel Messi. They all built their careers and image as spectacular soccer players on a few dribbling moves. Today, we’ll cover some of the soccer dribbling moves that were branded by these players. Feel free to try and copy them :)

Cruyff’s Soccer Dribbling Move

This move, branded by Holland’s superstar, Johan Cruyff is quite easy to reproduce but that doesn’t mean it’s less effective. Actually, it’s one of the most effective moves to perform at the edge of the box, or inside it faking a shot, or even on the wings, faking a cross. I’m sure that many of Cruyff’s former adversaries will acknowledge this move’s effectiveness. Here’s how you do it:

1. Push the ball slightly forward, as if you are preparing to take a kick

2. Plant your base foot (not the one you’re fake kicking with) just a tad ahead of the ball

3. When your fake kicking foot reaches the ball, instead of shooting, cut it under your body, behind your base leg

Zizou’s 360 Soccer Dribbling Move

One of the soccer dribbling drills that’s probably easiest to get a hold on from a technical point of view. However, knowing how to perform a 360 is not the hard part, knowing WHEN to perform it is. Here’s how to get it done:

1. Push the ball slightly forward, giving your direct opponent the impression he can reach it

2. Extend your left foot and place your sole on top of the ball

3. Push onto the ball, hovering in mid air for a second

4. Place your left foot on the ground and pull the ball under you with the right foot

Ronaldinho’s Elastico Soccer Dribbling Move

Ronaldinho has some of the best soccer dribbling skills in today’s game and this move that was branded by him only goes to show that. It’s a rather difficult soccer dribbling move to master, but if you can get it done right, it’s a killer. Defenders will rue the day they met an attacker that can pull off a quality Elastico, because it’s very hard to defend yourself from its quick change of direction. Here’s how it goes:

1. With the ball close to you, push it slightly forward and sideways with the outside of your foot

2. Quickly cut it in the opposite direction using the same foot, but with its inside

Puskas’ V Soccer Dribbling Move

This soccer dribble is called the V-move because you “draw” a V on the ground using the ball. Puskas used it intensely while he was playing for Real Madrid, so this move is usually attributed to him, although a lot of players use it occasionally nowadays. The basic principles behind it:

1. When an opponent is close to you, quickly pull the ball back

2. Place your base foot ahead and sideways of the ball

3. Push the ball in a sideways direction opposite of your base foot, drawing a V with the help of the imaginary line you pulled the ball backwards on

Ronaldo’s Stepover Soccer Dribbling Move

This one’s slightly funny, because it can be attested with equal rights to two players that are named Ronaldo: Ronaldo Nazario da Lima, the Brazilian striker and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger. Both players make intense use of this move, although it’s the Brazilian that was first renowned for it. The stepover is not easy to master, but a few days of soccer dribbling drills should get you going:

1. With the ball close to you, move your leg over the ball, simulating that you would move it sideways

2. Plant your hovering feet next to the ball

3. Now you can either perform a double stepover, using your other leg as explained above, or you could cut the ball with this leg and accelerate past your opponent.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Did you find this article interesting, useful and well written? For more info on how to play soccer like the pros click here Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Top 5 - Mexico Soccer Teams

By Niv Orlian 

Mexico hasn’t been very successful at national team level, since they only managed to reach the World Cup quarter finals on two occasions (both in World Cups held in Mexico). However, soccer teams in Mexico gradually became more powerful and today they are considered a force to be reckoned with in American soil as well as on an international club level.

I was planning to make a top 5 of the Mexico soccer teams, but I decided against ranking them, because that might stir some trouble with the fans, such as a fan asking why is team over team in the ranking, since won more championships and so forth. Here are what I believe to be the most important soccer teams in Mexico, ranked by alphabet only :).

Mexico Soccer Teams – Club America

Club America was founded in 1916, being one of the oldest professional clubs in Mexico, although the first league title was not to be won until 1956-1966. They’re currently the owners of 10 national championships, being only second to Chivas de Guadalajara, who have won 11 titles in their history. The two are the most successful soccer teams in Mexico from a silverware point of view and Chivas is the historical nemesis of America, so a match between the two is a derby that the entire country awaits.

Club America gets credit for discovering or highlighting players such as Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Enrique Borja, Carlos Hermosillo, Pavel Pardo, Zizinho, Claudio Lopez, Ivan Zamorano or Ilie Dumitrescu.

Mexico Soccer Teams - Chivas de Guadalajara

The club’s official name is Club Deportivo Guadalajara, but every soccer fan in Mexico knows them as Chivas (the goats). Their tally of 11 league titles makes Chivas the most successful of all soccer teams in Mexico, trailing arch-nemesis America by one title. They’re also very loved for their Mexican-only policy, in that they never use foreigners and focus only on local Mexican players.

Their popularity reaches far beyond the borders of Mexico and into the United States, where a team called Chivas USA was formed. The Mexican Chivas have credit for launching players such as Salvador Reyes, Omar Bravo, Claudio Suarez, Juan Palencia, Gonzalo Pineda, Luis Garcia or Carlos Hermosillo.

Mexico Soccer Teams - Pachuca

Despite being the oldest club in Mexican soccer history, being founded in 1901, Pachuca has only become truly competitive in the past few decades. Winning the Primera Division 5 times in the last 8 years and the CONCACAF Champions Cup twice, in 2002 and 2007, Pachuca rose to become a force amongst the soccer teams in Mexico.

The most notable players that got to play for Pachuca include: Jared Borgetti, Jaime Correa, Fausto Pinto, Damian Alvarez, Mosquera, Ivan Hurtado and Juan Arango.

Mexico Soccer Teams - Pumas

Because of the team’s close relation to UNAM, the largest university in Mexico, the club became known as UNAM Pumas, although their official name is Club Universidad Nacional A.C. Although the Pumas don’t have the same history as some of the other top soccer clubs in Mexico, having been founded in 1954, they definitely made their years of existence count, winning 5 league champs, 3 CONCACAF Cups, 1 Interamerican Cup as well as several smaller silverware.

Amongst the players that wore the Pumas logo on their shirt in the club’s fifty-year existence, the most important are: Enrique Borja, Hugo Sanchez, Jorge Campos, Alberto Aspe, Luis Garcia, Esteban Solari, Emerson, Ailton da Silva or Dario Veron.

Mexico Soccer Teams - Toluca

Toluca was a force amongst the soccer teams in Mexico ever since the 1960s, having won 8 championship titles since then. Ever since Toluca’s founding in 1917, they have been known as an offensive team who throws their dice on the attackers, somewhat neglecting the defensive part of the game. This philosophy was a double edged sword, as Toluca varied between relegation places and titles in the 60s and 70s.

Obviously, today this attacking mentality is a lot less noticeable and Toluca’s game has become more tactical. Some of the notable players that wore Toluca’s red and white shirt include: Enrique Alfaro, Zinha, Pedro Romero, Enzo Trossero, Dario Rodriguez, Jose Cardozo, Fabian Estay, Darko Vukic and Juan Antonio Pizzi.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Did you find this article interesting, useful and well written? For more info on Mexican soccer click here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Soccer Juggling Skills

By Rickard Sjolander

There are SOOO many good footballers out there, in the best clubs of today it doesn't really matter if your star is getting injured, there is always a replacement on the bench who doesn't want anything more then show that he's worthy a spot in the team. Every day that passes by there are new talents and new guys are achieving their dreams. In this football mania there is a little group of guys who posses insane juggling tricks, tricks that most people have not seen. My experience is that people who love football, they also love soccer juggling tricks. This kind of juggling is also known as "football freestyle"

The focus that is on soccer is so big that the freestylers doesn't get their proper attention, but all the time the freestylers are struggling to make the art more and more famous. What the best freestylers can do is pure madness, if you see one of the best you will really be impressed.

Some freestylers have reached some individual success but what they really want is to put the art of football freestyle in the spotlight. Make it recognized all over the world everywhere. I believe that freestyle will be big... with the right marketing and attention etc.

If you put a random guy against a soccer pro you will see that some people actually has a chance against them, but if you put a random guy against a freestyle pro, they will not have a chance. My point is, that what these guys can do is so unique and so amazing that they deserve more respect.

Hopefully football freestyle will grow with football, people will connect football freestyle and regular soccer in a way they don't do today. I also want to mention that freestyle and soccer is two completely different things. Just because you're a good freestyler it doesn't mean you can play soccer and vice versa!

www.freestylefactory.net - football freestyle site with videos, pics, info and so on! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rickard_Sjolander

Want to Learn Football freestyle?

By Rickard Sjolander

Are you new to football freestyle? In this case I suggest you to either grab a football and go outside right now trying some skills... or keep reading and then grab your football!

Everyone can start with football freestyle, you don't even have to be a footballer! Anyone that is dedicated enough can perform this art. All you need to begin is a football. If you want to wear shoes or not while doing freestyle is entirely up to you, what ever you feel comfortable with. If you want to play in shoes but don't have good shoes, I suggest you ask your parents to sponsor you. I'm sure they will give you a new pair of shoes, otherwise... start out bare feet and wish shoes for your birthday or for Christmas.

What if you can't even do two juggles but want to be good? Guess what, all you need to do is to juggle the ball. A good start is to kick the ball in the air, let it bounce on the floor one time and then kick it again. Repeat this until you can do a lot of kick ups with a bounce in between. I strongly advice you to start using both feet from the start. Now it's time to start juggling without letting it bounce on the ground. This part will probably be very frustrating to you, it will take time, dedication and practice. When you can do basic juggling it's time to move on to the tricks(it's very important to take your time on each step, if you rush in to hard tricks they will look ugly and not very stylish).

Good basic tricks to start of with is foot stall(balance the ball on your foot) head stall(balance the ball on your head) and around the world(spin your leg around the ball). It's really important to have fun while you're freestyling. A shortcut to make it more fun is to get one of your friends to get in to the sport as well. If you're two guys it will always be more fun! I really hope that this article might get you in to football freestyle, the sport needs more players all around the world!

Website about the art of football freestyle: http://www.freestylefactory.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rickard_Sjolander

10 Interesting Facts About FIFA Player of Year Award

By Damien Ong

It is time of the year where the FIFA world player of the year award is decided by the votes of coaches and captains of national team worldwide.

An introduction of the mechanism of the system used to select the player of the year would be discussed first. The award was started in 1991 for the male player and in 2001 for the female player categories respectively. Basically, the coaches and national team captains would vote for players drawn by the technical committees of FIFA. The system used is called the Borda count where each coach and captain would get three votes (one of five points, one of three points and one of one point) to cast for the players of his choice. And the winner would be determined by the total of points received. The winner last year is Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro of Real Madrid.

And here are ten interesting things about the FIFA World Player of the Year Award

1. The winner of 2006 award, Fabio Cannavaro, is the first defender or a player other than a midfielder or striker to have ever won the award since its inception win by Lothar Matthaus in 1991. The closet any other defender or goalkeeper has came to the award before Cannavaro’s victory are Oliver Kahn (Goalkeeper, second in 2002), Roberto Carlos (Defender, second in 1997) and Paolo Maldini (Defender, second in 1995).

2. In the past sixteen editions of the awards, it had been won by strikers and midfielders for seven times each. Thus making outfield players with the exception of defenders, a more popular choice for the award. It is summarized that as strikers and midfielders hoard most of the glory in competitions, therefore their chances are equally higher than defenders and goalkeepers.

3. There are two triple winners of the awards since its inception in 1991. They are French Midfielder Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000 and 2003) and Brazilian Striker Ronaldo (1996, 1997 and 2002). The other player who has won more than once is Brazilian Ronaldinho (2004 and 2005).

4. No player has ever won the award for three consecutive years in the roll. The closet any one have came to it are Ronaldo (1996 and 1997) and Ronaldinho (2004 and 2005). It would take something really special every season for any one player to do so.

5. Although the award is meant for the world’s best player, only players from Europe, Africa and South American do make it to the final short list. Hence there have been quite some critics from some corner in the world about the selection process.

6. Another interesting fact is other than Juan Roman Riquleme’s nomination in 2007 when he is playing on loan for Boca Juniors, all the players on the short list came from clubs in Europe.

7. No English Player or Player from United Kingdom has ever won the award before. The closet any have came are Gary Lineker (1991, third), Alan Shearer (1996, third), David Beckham (1999 and 2001, both second) and Frank Lampard (2005, second). Maybe it would take England winning the World Cup or European Championship for a English to take the award.

8. Brazil has the most wins by nationality. Brazilian players have won the award a staggering seven times; four times more than the closet nationality of French with three wins. It could be the flair and attacking nature of the Brazilian players that clinched them the wins as players such as Ronaldo, Ronaldino, Rivaldo and Romario are all attacking players full of flairs. Or it could down to the names as all the Brazilian winners have a letter “R” to head off their names.

9. The last six winners of the award have come from teams in the Spanish La Liga. Hence it can be seen it is not English Premiership with the most star power, but the La Liga.

10. FC Barcelona had six winners from players within its ranks while great rivals Real Madrid had four. Thus making a majority of winners (a staggering sixty three percentage) from both of them for the past sixteen awards since the inception of the award. Their closet rivals for this honor is the Italian Giants Juventus with four winners.

Hopefully, the above can give one a better understanding of the FIFA Player of the year Award. And let’s await the result in 17th December 2007.

For more news, predictions and results from English Premiership, Italy Serie A, Spainish Liga and Bungelsia, check out http://epllatestnews.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damien_Ong

Review of Players Short Listed for the FIFA 2007 Player of the Year Award

By Damien Ong

It is time of the year where the FIFA world player of the year is decided by the votes of coaches and captains of national team worldwide.

But before we go into the discussion of the list of players drawn for 2007, an introduction of the mechanism of the system would be discussed first. The award was started in 1991 for the male player and in 2001 for the female player categories respectively. Basically, the coaches and national team captains would vote for players drawn by the technical committees of FIFA. The system used is called the Borda count where each coach and captain would get three votes (one of five points, one of three points and one of one point) to cast for the players of his choice. And the winner would be determined by the total of points received. The winner last year is Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro of Real Madrid.

Now to the list of players short listed for the award this year. Heading the list are five players of Italian descent, they are Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo. Except for Cannavaro and Buffon (Juventus), the remaining three players of the UEFA 2006-2007 champions league winners AC Milan. However the chances of an Italian repeating the feat of winning is slim this year as the national team did not perform to its best after World Cup 2006 and as for domestically, the Serie A is recovering from the scars of the scandal hit season.

Next up would be the discussion of the English contenders for the title. They are Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea) and Wayne Rooney (Manchester United). Looking at chances of the English contenders, none of them have high chances of clinching the title as the English national team has a difficult Euro 2008 qualifying campaign so far and they did not any outstanding club exploits last season. The other reasons are although Manchester United and Chelsea went head to head in the Premiership race, they failed to impress at the UEFA Champions league level. As for Gerrard, if Liverpool did won the last season UEFA Champions league final against AC Milan, then his chances would be different. However they did not and Liverpool had another of its forgettable seasons in the league again.

As for the French, they have Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Lillan Thuram (Barcelona) and Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan) short listed. At the moment, the chances of the French are as slim as the English for similar reasons. Henry has been a world class player, but he could not inspire Arsenal to the Premiership title and for this season, he is still adapting to his new club, Barcelona. Ribery also did not have the best of seasons last year and has changed clubs in the summer, leaving for Bungesliga Giants, Munich from the sleeping giants of French Football, Marseille. In Vieria’s case, Inter Milan did retain their Serie A title last season, but as mentioned above, the title seen to be given to Inter midst point deduction for several Serie A clubs and demotion of Juventus. Hence he would not have a high chance in this year’s competition for the best player’s title. For Thuram, it is even more gloomer as he did not feature in a lot of his club’s games last season and Barcelona failed to defend its La Liga title.

Brazil has three players short listed in Kaka (AC Milan), Juninho (Lyon) and Ronaldinho (Barcelona). Although the Brazilians have a forgettable world cup 2006, however one of three can be considered as a highly possible contender for the title. He is Kaka. The reason is that he has also won the FIFPro 2007 Player of the year award and it was he that inspired AC Milan to winning the UEFA Champions League midst a disappointing Serie A 2006-2007 campaign. As for Ronaldinho, a previous two time winner (2004 and 2005), his chances this year are quite slim as he was not in the best form last season with the Catalans Giants as they lost out to Real Madrid in the La Liga title. In the case of Juninho, other than inspiring Lyon to six consecutive French Ligue 1 titles, he had no major efforts of note last season.

As for Brazil’s South American rival, Argentina too has three players short listed in Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Juan Roman Riquelme (River) and Carlos Tevez (Manchester United). Of the three, Messi’s chances are the highest as he has continued where he left off last season with eight goals in as many games this season. Tevez had a difficult season in which his transfer reeks of a drama serial while Riquelme with his talent to a lot of people has choked on the big stages once too often.

Another highly possible contender for the title is Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. With his 23 goals, English Premiership Player of the year award and PFA player’s player of the year award last season, he can be seen as a major reason why Manchester United managed to regain the English Premiership title. Furthermore, in midst of enduring an anti-Ronaldo season after his antics at World Cup 2006, it is a wonder that he could conjure up such a wonderful season. Another Portuguese short listed is Deco of Barcelona who for all his talents was a bit player for Catalans last season and hence his chances are not very high then.

The remaining players of the short list are Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool), Ruud Van Nistelrroy (Holland, Real Madrid), Petr Cech (Czech Republic, Chelsea), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), Michael Essien (Ghana, Chelsea), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon, Barcelona) and Rafael Marquez (Mexico, Barcelona). Of seven remaining players, Ruud Van Nistelrroy may have the best chance as he was the top scorer for Real Madrid in their title winning squad last season and has continued his fine form this season. As for players of Chelsea and Barcelona, their failure in defending the title and poor UEFA Champions League showing would count against them. Lastly, Torres, the sole Spanish in the list, like Henry has traded clubs where he left his boyhood club, Atletico Madrid for English side Liverpool in the summer. His chances are very slim as during his time as Atletico Madrid, the team failed to establish it as La Liga contenders and as for his new club, he is still adapting there.

Lastly to summarize my views on FIFA 2007 Player of the year, my choice of player to win is the Kaka of AC Milan with Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) to give him a run for the title. The results would be out this December 2007 at the FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich.

For more news, predictions and results from English Premiership, Italy Serie A, Spainish Liga and Bungelsia, check out http://epllatestnews.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damien_Ong

Cheap Football Shirts Needed Please

By Thomas Baugh 

Cheap football shirts should be everywhere, but they’re not because clubs refuse to lower their prices. I’m of the opinion however that this should be something they consider, as when you think about the value you get out of them, it’s actually not that great.

I buy my clubs home football shirt every couple of seasons and pay the standard forty quid, which by any stretch of the imagination isn’t cheap. However, as a season ticket holder I probably get my wear out of it, as I’m more or less guaranteed to pull it on at least forty or fifty times before it’s no longer current.

That doesn’t sound too bad really but the thing that gets my goat is away shirts. Why should football teams be allowed to sell shirts that they might only wear once or twice over the course of a season for forty quid? It’s just ridiculous.

Away shirts should be cheap football shirts, simple as that. I think a fair price would be thirty quid for adults and twenty for kids. That’s currently a tenner cheaper than most retail for.

I mean, how many kids beg for these shirts every year and then refuse to wear them after what seems a couple of months because they’re no longer current? Even die hard fans that go to every match, home and away can only expect to be showing the right colours on the odd occasion.

Maybe I’m just mad to think that in this day in age when everything in football is geared towards business, that some of the clubs might give us a break and sell football shirts for a fraction cheaper.

What’s even more painful is if you’ve got a naff manufacturer. I mean, if you’re shopping for sports clothes you wouldn’t pay the same price for a Jako sports shirt (that’s a real make) as you would a Nike one would you? So why just because they have a couple of badges on should this be the case?

Thomas Baugh writes articles for a site that reviews and discusses football shirts and then approaches manufacturers to ensure they think about the views of fans. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Baugh

A Profile of Deco

By David Leigh 

Deco is considered one of the heavyweights of FC Barcelona and one of a small number of players who has won the Champions League with two different clubs. In fact when he won the UEFA Best Midfielder award for his performance in the 2005-6 Champions League he was the first player to have won the award twice, having won it first with Porto.

In his career Deco has won the 2006 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, the 2003-4 UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player, the 2004 Portuguese Footballer of the Year and the 2006 South American Sportsman of the Year.

Anderson Luis de Souza was born in Sao Bernardo, Brazil on 27th August 1977. His early professional career got off to a shaky start when he was playing for Corinthians, who didn't consider him good enough and he moved to Benfica in Portugal.

From there he moved to FC Alverca for a season where he performed well and almost renewed his contact with Benfica. However they failed to reach agreement and instead moved to S.C. Salgueiros in for the 1998-99 season, where he scored two goals in 12 matches. His performances were noticed by FC Porto staff, where he moved during the winter transfer window.

After assuming Portuguese nationality in 2002 after living there for 6 years, Deco was called up to play for the national squad; his first match for Portugal was against Brazil in which Deco scored. It was also Portugal's first win over Brazil in 37 years.

When Deco was on the verge of moving to Chelsea in 2004, a deal that was assumed to be concluded, Deco surprised everyone by announcing that he'd prefer to move to Barcelona. After intense negotiations he signed a four year deal with the Catalan club in July of that year.

When joining FC Barcelona he was felt by many to be surplus requirements as he was an attacking midfielder. However, when he was played in central midfield he strengths came out and he has been a popular member of the squad ever since.

For more details of FC Barcelona's players, general information about the club and reservation of FC Barcelona tickets online visit http://www.SimplyBarcelonaTickets.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Leigh

Introduction to Mexico Soccer

By Niv Orlian 

In Mexico, soccer started developing in different regions of the country, with the first form of an organized championship being the Primera Fuerza, which was a local league consisting of various teams around the Federal District area. Players were semi-professional during this time, in a time where Europe had already promoted soccer professionalism.

With FIFA gaining strength as an international soccer governing organization, Mexico decided to organize a national soccer organization of their own in 1927, called the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion (FMFA), who became a member of FIFA in 1929, just in time to participate to the first World Cup with the newly formed Mexican National Soccer Team.

Although participating in the first World Cup, the Mexico soccer team wasn’t considered a soccer power at that time, which was confirmed by their lack of results in World Cup qualifications until 1950. Although the team was now a constant presence at the World Cup, they had difficult times competing against the more powerful European and South American nations and only won 1 match in 5 tournaments, against Czechoslovakia in 1962.

But in 1970, in an effort to promote soccer nationwide and seeing the economical importance of hosting a World Cup, Mexico managed to get hold of the rights to organize their first World Cup in history. The Mexico soccer team managed to reach the quarter-finals on this occasion, which is still their biggest international performance to date.

However, they would equal this performance 16 years and 4 World Cups later, again on home ground, as they would organize the 1986 World Cup, considered by many as the most entertaining in the history of soccer.

Nowadays, reaching the quarter finals of a World Cup is considered harder than it was in the 70s or 80s and although Mexican soccer progressed substantially, they’re still suffering in major competitions when facing soccer giants from Europe or South America. However, the future is looking a lot brighter for Mexican soccer in general and for the Mexico national soccer team.

Club soccer in the country is now deemed as one of the richest in the Americas and some powerful clubs take part in the Copa Libertadores, a competition that was normally allowed only for South American clubs.

Several top quality players have moved from the Mexican league towards more powerful ones, the clearest examples being Rafael Marquez and Giovani Dos Santos, who were bought by Spanish side FC Barcelona and are both important members of the squad.

With these two players in the team, as well as several other emerging talents playing in the national league, the Mexico national soccer squad looks tougher than ever and ready to beat their quarter-final best finish in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, 2010.

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer. Did you find this article interesting, useful and well written? You can learn a lot more about Mexican soccer here. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niv_Orlian

Football Shirts

By Thomas Baugh 

The world of football shirts seems to have gone a little mad in recent times since the whole scam to do with supermarkets and cheap prices, but make no mistake about it, it’s still massive business.

Football is a business these days, we all know that and the shirts have a massive impact on profits for clubs, so getting things just right in terms of design and sales must rank highly in terms of importance.

Why is it then, that so many teams have so many awful football shirts? I mean event the teams at the very top, will all the money and resource in the world seem to fall victim to some of the most god awful tops you could ever hope to see.

This season, let’s take Chelsea for instance. They’ve won two Premiership titles and countless other trophies and plaudits over the last three or four seasons and this year they’re being paraded round in fluorescent green tops that make them look like traffic wardens.

Is it just the fact that manufacturers think they have to come up with designs for football shirts that stand out from the crowd in order to be considered worthy? There is one kit manufacturer who seems to have things down however, and that’s Nike.

No matter who they’re asked to design for, they always seem to come good and they’ve been doing that same high class job for years now. Arsenal, Celtic and Man Utd are just three teams to benefit from the quality of their shirt designs in recent times and I’m sure there’s a line of others waiting in the wings.

But what are Nike doing that all of the other manufacturers aren’t? Well, they’re keeping it simple. Most real football fans are just everyday people who don’t want a tight fitted pink shirt with a white round neck collar. They want their teams colours represented in a simple manner so they can wear the shirt with pride on a Saturday.

A lot of manufacturers seem to be forgetting this and I hope dearly that football shirts are given the attention they deserve in the future.

Thomas Baugh writes articles for a site that reviews and discusses football shirts and then approaches manufacturers to ensure they think about the views of fans. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Baugh

3 Reasons Behind 4-4-2 Formation Or System

By Damien Ong

In the modern game of soccer or football, the most common formation or system played is the 4-4-2. In most games, one would be likely to see a 4-4-2 being deployed 90% of the time. Here are three main reasons why such a formation or system is employed. A definition of the formation or the system is needed first to understand the rationale behind them.

A 4-4-2 would refer to the deployment of one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders and two strikers. The basis is that for defense, the four defenders would include two centre backs (or centre defenders), one right back and left back (right defender and left defender respectively). As for the midfield, it is set up like the defense where there are two centre midfielders, one right and left midfielder (or winger). The remaining three positions would be the goalkeeper and two strikers up front. There are also variations of the formation or system in which it can be attacking or defensive in mind set. But we would not be describing them in detail here.

As for the reasons, there are as follows:

Flexibility - Football or soccer is one of the most fast paced games in the world, where an attack can be turned into the counter attack by the opposition if possession is lost. As similar to a 4-5-1 system discussed in another of my articles, a 4-4-2 offers or allows for the flexibility for the team in both attack and defense. In attack or possession of the ball, the left and right midfielders would operate as wingers to push up and join the strikers. Furthermore of the two central midfielders, one or both can also push to join the attack and fall or drop back to assist the defense in case of a break or counter attack by the opposition. As for defense or without possession of the ball, strikers would assist in dropping down to the midfield to contest possession while the midfielders assist the containing of the opposition’s attacks.

Balance – Deploying such a formation or system of 4-4-2, there is balance thoroughly the team as there are tactically cover for all positions. Without a doubt, the major reason for the popularity of the deployment of 4-4-2 is the overall balance allowed for the team as compared to most other formations. Balance here would refer to coverage of all positions on the field. In theory the whole field would be covered by the players employed under such a formation since each player is dedicated to an individual role.

Simplicity – A 4-4-2 is a very simple formation to play in as most or all players have played in the system or formation at one or the other during their careers. Hence it is the most comfortable for players.One must remember that football is a fast game and to deploy a simple formation could enable the players to play better or get into their rhythm faster.

Furthermore the tactics are very easy and common for the deployment of such a formation or system. Over complex tactics or instructions would cause miscommunications or problems in execution and might result in bad results.Hence the above reasons should help to explain the rationale behind the employment of a 4-4-2 system or formation.

For more news, predictions and results from English Premiership, Italy Serie A, Spainish Liga and Bungelsia, check out http://epllatestnews.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damien_Ong

In it Together

By Anja Merret 

It was one of those moments. The British would say Ah Bless. In South Africa that translates to Ag Shame. Reading about the welcome the German Women’s Football team received in Frankfurt yesterday gave me a lump in the throat and a few small tears down my cheek. They were being celebrated for having retained the Women’s World Cup by beating a scintillating Brazilian team.

Watching the video on the Spiegel home page, which led to the Bless moment, I noticed the huge numbers of German flags. I had seen these during the men’s World Cup in the previous year which had been held in Germany. And during that world cup the flags did not stop waving, even when Germany was knocked out of the competition. In fact Germany’s third place game was still hugely celebrated.

I remember when Germany got the nod by Sepp Blatter that they would be the hosts of the 2006 World Cup. We were all sitting in front of the TV, chewing our nails into oblivion hoping that South Africa would get the honour. It was not to be. Much to our embarrassment we were quite bad losers, setting off an enquiry and hounding some poor New Zealand official.

In retrospect, Germany’s holding of this world competition gave that country the opportunity to really unify itself and become a proud nation. Unification of East and West Germany had not been that long ago, in October 1990. This pride in their country could have been going on for a while of course. I haven’t been living in Europe that long to have observed the trend. It was just hugely noticeable this time and as seen from outside of the country as well.

As an aside, it seems the Brits are sending civil servants across to Germany to learn how to be more customer focused. Who would have thought! Of course my sister, who has lived most of her life in Germany says that Germans are only friendly to foreigners. They put on a friendly face to outsiders only, is her slightly cynical take on it.

What the Germans did though for several years before the World Cup, was to train the people who would come into contact with visitors, on how to be friendly towards visitors. All Germans were encouraged to be welcoming to them. The World Cup Logo had smiling faces in round footballs and the slogan was ‘A time to make Friends’. This doesn’t quite do justice to the German one which is more along the lines of - the world as a guest comes to visit friends. A bit more awkward, I suppose! I won’t take up that job as translator after all!

It was a huge campaign to ensure that Germany would come across as a friendly nation where the party never stops. And the parties did not stop. Every city and town had a central gathering spot/s where huge TV screens were set up and people were encouraged to come and participate even if they could not get into the stadiums to watch.

I travelled through Germany two weeks after the end of the competition to visit my sister. When people heard us speak English they came over to chat and to say hello and check if we needed help. What?? The last time I travelled in Germany, twenty years before, the reception was quite different.

What has the spin-off been for Germany besides a huge boost in GDP during the World Cup weeks? Considerable growth, much to the German economists’ surprise has continued into the next year. I read a day ago that a noticeable trend has recently been identified. German companies who since 2000 had been manufacturing outside of the country whether in the ‘cheaper’ east block countries or in China, are flocking back to their homeland. Sure there have been problems doing business outside Germany, but could it also be that besides strong economic growth, German business people could be more patriotic?

So watching fifteen thousand or so Germans celebrate their women’s team, and lets face it women’s football is not that popular anywhere in the world including Germany, made me think how more patriotic the Germans have become. They have certainly become a more unified nation, celebrating their successes with pride and exuberance.

In retrospect South Africa only receiving the go-ahead to host the World Cup in 2010 has been a blessing in disguise. And what a moment that was when Herr Sepp Blatter pulled out that piece of paper with the words South Africa on it. And the combined audience at the selection venue, and 44 million South Africans, waiting for Madiba’s arrival. I still get goose bumps remembering that.

Hopefully, all those observers who spent tax payers’ money enjoying the World Cup last year, will have come back to South Africa and said that that is how our competition must be run as well. It has to be a huge welcome to the rest of the world and a non-stop party. And we, as South Africans, will also show off our country with pride and passion, they should be saying - very loudly.

If it is organised as well as the T20 cricket world cup recently held in South Africa where ticket prices were kept to a minimum to ensure full stadiums no matter who was playing and a party atmosphere was maintained during the matches, then the legendary South African friendliness will create as great a feeling of togetherness world wide as the World Cup did in Germany.

If done right, the same spin-offs will be felt in South Africa. These would be a much needed unification of the country’s people which will be felt more strongly than after the Springbok’s 1995 Rugby Wold Cup win. It will most assuredly contribute further to the current strong economic growth. And maybe it will entice expat South Africans, their skills and businesses back to their homeland. She says writing from Brighton in the UK, and not the one in Durban.

Anja Merret lives in Brighton, UK, having moved across from South Africa just over a year ago. She now looks after the business interests of her daughter who is a Flash Developer and Accessibility expert. She started a blog at the beginning of the year under the heading of chatting to my generation. Although she is chatting to the baby boomer generation, she sometimes feels that all generations have the same issues to face, they just don't have hearing aids or walking sticks! One of her pet peeves is the war in Iraq and in fact anything that causes innocent people to get hurt. But she also loves tech stuff, although only as an amateur. She considers herself a Silver Surfer Gadget Geek. She is even considering queuing for an iPhone in the UK later on in the year. But her daughter has offered, so she will only be taking hot food to the Brighton Geeks waiting in line. Her musings may be found on http://www.anjamerret.com Her observations on personal power and self-development may be found on http://www.pinkblocks.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anja_Merret