Soccer Goals

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Ronaldo, just how good can this boy get? Already a massive household name he is steadily going about his business in unbelievable fashion. He will now take centre stage at the European Championships and few could begrudge him coming away with a winner's medal.

Cristiano or 'Ronnie' as he is known to his team mates has come a long way since he stepped into fill David Beckham's boots as an 18 year old back in 2003; few of us knew anything about the young lad from Portugal. However we certainly were going to in seasons to come.

It was a shrewd move of Fergie and one that has paid off remarkably well, if he ever sold him it would be for a world record fee that I doubt would ever be surpassed. He was Sir Matt Busby player of the season in his first year and then slipped off the radar slightly in the next

He then slowly came good again scoring 9 in 5o appearances during the 2004/05 season and then the rest is history as I am sure we have all seen. Whatever he touches turns to gold. He is still ridiculed by opposition players that he show boating tactics are disrespectful but he has denied that saying it is his game.

Quite frankly it just goes to prove he is world class and I would pay money to see that.

He has however got a slightly devious side as we all know from the famous winking incident that got Rooney sent off at the European Championships, and at times he plays up to referees when he clearly feels he has been fouled.

That said there is no doubting he is a class act and kids everywhere are decked out in Ronaldo football shirts producing their own displays of Madeira magic.

There's more information on Ronaldo and other players at World Football Shirts.

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

Privacy Policy

2008-05-30T21:06:00.001-07:00

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World Cup 2010 - Kenya Lays Strategy For Marketing

2008-05-13T03:14:00.001-07:00

By James Kamweru

Kenya has put herself in a strategic position for marketing as stop over point for South African bound world cup teams. The announcement that the country will be hosting the 2010 African athletics championship has put the country in an ideal position to market itself.

The African athletics championship are held in early May, just before the conclusion of world leading soccer leagues. That means that when they are held in 2010, the national teams will be preparing to convene in camps before traveling to South Africa. The event is covered live by most television networks, hence publicity will be assured.

With only a little marketing, the country can be able to showcase its venues as ideal for practice ahead of the games in South Africa. Kenya enjoys almost identical climatic conditions with south Africa, though the later can be colder especially in winter. It has excellent infrastructure both in transport networks and communication.

Apart from the known soccer stadiums, institutions and clubs in Kenya have excellent pitches that can be used for soccer practice. The stadiums that are normally used for hockey, rugby and cricket if converted to temporary soccer pitches will make the teams wishing to train in Kenya have a wide variety to choose from.

Kenya is an athletics powerhouse. It is unlikely that any team in Africa would want to miss the meet in Kenya. It is also likely that sports analysts will be keen to see the new crop of athletes come to the scene and of course the replay of rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia. This will present an ideal opportunity of showcasing the country as a stopover en route to South Africa.

Two of Africa's soccer powerhouses Nigeria and Cameroon have preferred to use Nairobi as a base before major tournaments. But the catch will be the other world beaters, from South America and Europe. Just before the last world cup, the practice camp of Brazil national team in Switzerland generated so much interest that every minute of their practice sessions was beamed worldwide.

With their tradition of winning cups outside Europe, Brazil will definitely begin as favorites to win the world cup in Africa. Wherever they go to pitch camp in Africa, they are likely to stir much more interest than they did in the last world cup. It will be in the interest of the host country to attract the best country in soccer for obvious reasons.

Kenya has already made a name over the years as a stable and developed country by African standards. Outside South Africa, the country has a head start as an optional practice site due to its weather. With the new strategic opening for publicity, the country should aim to attract only the top guns in the world of soccer.

James G. Kamweru is a tour operator and has been organizing and reporting on Vacation, Travel and Tours for years. For More Information Visit his site at Sports Tourism I Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Comments Kenya Travel On My Blog Here Sports Tourism

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

Soccer Training/Football Training-Developing Field Vision

2008-05-03T04:42:00.001-07:00

By Maverick Jensen

Having good field vision is an important skill that all midfielders need to have. The process to develop good field vision, is slow and only comes with more the experience you gain and the more skilled you become. To speed up the process you can try and watch as much soccer as you can as this will enhance your tactical understanding of the game, another tip you could try is to play in different positions this will further deepen your understanding of the game. There are a couple of factors that influence field vision which are;

SKILLS
As you become more skilled and start to improve your technical ability with the ball, the less you will need to concentrate on being able to control the ball. Giving you more time to spend on quickly looking what is going on around you before you actually get the ball. Being able to settle the ball quickly with your first touch is crucial as it allows you to get your head quick then if you have two have another extra touch to control the ball. To improve your skills you need to work hard during your soccer training (football training) particularly by yourself, working on dribbling skills and particularly your first touch and trapping skills.

AWARENESS
Having good at awareness can often come down to concentration. Many players will wander off mentally during the game limiting their potential to know what's going on around them before they get the ball. Improving your awareness starts during your normal soccer training sessions with your team, when you play small gains during your soccer training you must be constantly looking around behind you, to the side. You must know it least one option before you get the ball in case you shut down by a defender quickly.

TACTICAL UNDERSTANDING
To improve your tactical understanding of the game you must watch and analyse what the best players do in their position, viewing the game in terms of positional movement. You must realise where certain players will be consistently in the position that they play. Having a general idea of where your teammates will be due to understanding their positions will make it easier to you to find them with a pass. Another tip that will help you gain further understanding is to play and swap positions with teammates temporarily to gain an insight of tactically where they should be.

This article has only scratched the surface of what you can learn to learn more goto http://www.footballsmart.890m.com Football Smart has a wealth of information ranging from improving your ball skills, defending, shooting, mental preparation, passing and many other skills.

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Can Manchester United Win The Champions League?

2008-05-03T04:41:00.001-07:00

By Steve Hill

I have just watched Manchester United beat Barcelona in the semi-final of the champion's league. It was a superb, intriguing match with United showing all of the battling qualities of a typical English team. The question on many people's mind is can Man United win the Champions league final in Russia in three weeks time?

I personally believe that Manchester United will become the champion's league winners this year as they have best players including:

Christiano Ronaldo

Christiano Ronaldo is probably the best player in the world right now. Some would argue that Messi is right up there, he certainly is a top player as well. Ronaldo would grace any team and could prove to be a match winner in May. Not only has he got immense skills on the deck; he is also outstanding in the air.

Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes may be quiet off the pitch however he is a little dynamo on it. His goal in the semi-final just showed what a quality player he is. In recent years he has become more of a defensive midfielder as other younger players take on the mantel up front. Scholes is always able to score the odd goal and is often overlooked by the opposing players whom prefer to concentrate on Rooney and Ronaldo.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney tends to save his best performances for the big games and he would be my choice for the first goal scorer in the final. Rooney is a real English battler with a massive amount of skill.

Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand is a real lion at the back and is a true leader. I have no doubt that he will be more than capable of marking any forward out of the game and will be a superb future captain of the English national team.

Manchester United may well rule Europe for the next few years to come as Alex Ferguson plans to dominate the champion's league competition.

Steve Hill is a webmaster from Birmingham, he has interests in a number of websites including: stuttering, treatments for stuttering, and alternative therapy.

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

Agility Training For Soccer

2008-04-29T18:11:00.001-07:00

By Patrick Beith

With soccer season coming up and the agility conditioning of your athletes is unknown, are you looking for new exercises to have your team explode onto the scene?

Fortunately, there are 10 tried-and-true exercises that are guaranteed to get your players ready and in late-season shape in no-time!

1) Funnel Drill: Need 6 cones. The first 2 cones are next to each other 2 yards apart. Place the cones 3 and 4, 3 yards away form the first 2 and separate them 4 yards apart. Cones 5 and 6 are going to be 3 yards away from cones 3 and 4, and they will be separated 6 yards apart. The cones should form a shape of a funnel.

To start this drill, you should stand in an athletic position in front of cone #1. On a command of a coach or training partner, laterally shuffle to cone #2. Touch the top of cone 2 then sprint diagonally to cone #3, touch, then shuffle to cone #4. Touch cone #4 then sprint diagonally to cone #5, touch and laterally shuffle to cone #6. Touch cone #6 then sprint forward 5 yards to the finish line.

***Progressions: There are many different variations to this drill. You can add different cuts and moves to the funnel pattern. You can add different commands (audible or visual) to start the drill or to have the athlete perform different movements. To make this drill even more challenging, you can add an opponent or a ball, while making sure you are not compromising the technique of the drill.

2) 5-10-5 (Pro Agility): There are three cones set-up 5 yards apart. The athlete starts at the middle cone (cone #2) facing the cone with cones #1 & #3 on the right and left side. The athlete turns and sprints 5 yards to cone #1, plants and runs 10 yards past cone #2 to cone 3. The athlete plants again and runs 5 yards back to the start (at cone #2).

3) T-Drill: Set the cones up to look like a T. The athlete starts at the bottom of the T (cone #1). Sprint forward 10 yards to cone #2. At the cone side shuffle left 5 yards to cone #3. Plant at cone #3 and side shuffle 10 yards to cone #4. Plant again at cone #4 and side shuffle 5 yards back to cone #2. Cut at cone #2 and sprint back to the beginning to cone #1.

4) X-Factor: Set the cones up in a square pattern with each cone 10 yards apart. The athlete starts at cone #1 and sprints 10 yards to cone #2. At cone #2 the athlete plants and sprints diagonally to cone #4. Cut at cone #4 and sprint 10 yards up to cone #3. At cone #3 the athlete plants again and sprints diagonally back to cone #1.

5) Tennis Ball Drop: A coach or training partner holds a tennis ball shoulder height. When the ball is released, you must catch the ball before it bounces a second time. The coach/training partner can change the distance they are standing or change the height of where they drop the tennis ball.

Variety: By changing your starting position, you can make this drill more challenging. Positions: athletic stance, push-up position, on one knee, athletic position faced sideways, only have the athlete shuffle to get the ball, opponents (first one to catch the ball wins).

6) Ali Shuffle

Start with your right foot in the first box facing the ladder from the side. Now rotate your hips quickly and replace your right foot with your left foot. Your right foot is now outside of the ladder. Rotate your hips quickly again and bring your right foot into the second box (this will move your left foot out of the first box and outside of the ladder). Repeat sequence to the end of the ladder.

7) Icky Shuffle

Starting on the right side of the ladder, take a side step with your left foot in the first box of the ladder. The right foot follows and steps in the same box while the left foot takes a lateral step outside the ladder. The right foot then advances up to next box and is quickly replaced by the left foot, while the right foot is stepping laterally outside the ladder. Repeat sequence to the end of the ladder.

8) Brake Run

The left foot will start in the first box of the ladder and the right foot will head into the second box. Repeat this sequence until you are halfway through the ladder. At the halfway point, now you are placing two feet in each box until the end of the ladder. Repeat leading with your right foot next set.

9) In/Out Lateral

Start facing sideways towards ladder with your right foot in the first box. Quickly place your left foot in the same box. You right foot then moves out of the ladder and the left foot follows. The right foot leads into the second box and the left foot follows in the same box. Repeat sequence to the end of the ladder. Next set lead with your left foot.

10) Lateral

Start sideways at the beginning of the ladder. Your right foot will move into the first box where your left foot will follow. Your right foot will lead all the way to the end of the ladder placing both feet in each box. Repeat facing the opposite direction with your left foot leading.

For the latest training tips, programs, cutting edge strength and conditioning news, speed training, and much more, visit http://www.AthletesAcceleration.com/sportstrainingzone.html

For speed training and athletic development information to develop the fastest soccer players possible go to http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com

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

Soccer Skills - Crossing - Do Want To Learn How To Cross Like David Beckham

2008-04-29T18:10:00.001-07:00

By Maverick Jensen

What is crossing?

Crossing is the skill of delivering a pass either in the air or along the ground, into the center where a team mate may have a chance to shoot at goal. It can be a potentially crucial part of the game as the team with the better chances generally wins.l

Styles Of Crossing

The Out-swinging cross:
The most common cross found in football, due to wingers generally play on same side as their stronger foot. The curl is generated when the ball is stuck with the inside of the foot in like a sweeping motion, applying side spin to the ball. In general, depending upon your position you should be aiming for the goal side of the penalty spot far enough away from the keeper so he can't punch or catch it. This technique has the advantages of the ball moving away from the keeper and as the ball curls back towards on coming attackers, which makes it's easier to generate pace.

The In-swinging cross:
Usually executed when a player turn or cuts back, and crosses with their opposite foot. These crosses force strikers to loose their marker and attack the ball. These are easier for the keeper to come off his line and punch or catch the ball. The ball has usually got less pace on the ball due to the fact the ball is generally struck with the weaker foot.

The Chipped Cross:
Done most easily when the crosser is standing still. The crosser chips the ball by stabbing at the ball with the front of their boot, creating back spin and loft. This tactic can be good for a team with a tall striker that has aerial dominance over there defender. This can be used as a surprise tactic as the situations to use this technique are rare.

Ground Cross:
More of a powerful pass, it can be curled or not curled, and is done when (open) attackers are close to the crosser and he has no better options. The attacker can then turn and shoot, or execute another cross or pass to another player.

This article has only scratched the surface of what you could possibly learn. To learn a lot more please visit http://www.footballsmart.890m.com.
For fitness and conditioning articles please visit http://footballsmart.890m.com/PlyometricTraining.html

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

International Soccer Camps - Building Intercultural Competence for the Next Generation

2008-04-26T04:26:00.003-07:00

By Joey Bilotta

You want your kids to have every opportunity to succeed in this world. You want them to learn self-discipline, how to be healthy, and to gain an appreciation and understanding for the world around them. The business world is becoming increasingly globalized. Intercultural competence, the skill which allows people to operate effectively in an international setting, is becoming ever more important.

What better way to ensure your kids are ready for the "real world" than to make sure they know how to navigate a variety of different cultures? And what better way to introduce them to the concept by using a sport they already know and love: soccer?

Soccer (or football) is the most popular international sport. Millions of people all across the globe eagerly play it and keep up with it, and international soccer camps bring students from every nation together.

Get your kids ahead of the game with an international soccer camp. Here's what to look for to make sure your camp is providing the most in terms of both soccer and intercultural competence.

Immersive language classes

If you're looking into international soccer exchange programs, immersive language classes are a must. These classes are taught completely in the native language of whichever country the soccer camp is in. The only way to truly learn a different language is to be completely absorbed in it. If your child visits Italy, he should hear nothing but Italian. If she's in Spain, she should hear Spanish 24 hours a day. These language classes should be as intensive as soccer training.

The younger your child is, the easier it is for them to pick up new languages. Some international soccer camps allow children as young as 10 to enroll, so if you really want to give your kids a good grasp of other languages, consider letting them enroll then.

Cultural excursions

Something that makes perfect sense in another culture may seem strange or rude to us. In some Hispanic cultures, for example, unflattering nicknames are commonly assigned to friends and associates, but at the same time they are not meant as insults. An example would be "flaco" (skinny) or "huesos" (bones), used when referring to slender people.

Check with the camp's director and see if your kids will get a chance to see more of the country than just the soccer field and the four walls of a classroom. Intercultural competence isn't going to be fully learned there. Students need to get out and experience daily life in that country and culture. They need to come to learn its slang and its quirks. An international soccer camp that emphasizes intercultural competence won't keep its students stuck inside all day.

Intensive soccer training

The best international soccer camps will put just as much focus on the "soccer" part as they do the "international" part. Practices should be held daily, or even twice a day, for at least two hours. Professional coaches should be teaching the students during these practices, and like everything else, they should be in the country's native language.

Give them the tools they need to succeed

You want them to have a well-rounded education that gets them ahead in the work force. They want to learn more about their favorite sport. With an international soccer camp, you get the best of both worlds. Your kids get the soccer training they want, and even better, they get an in-depth cultural experience that will put them ahead of the curve. Even if they decide on a different career than professional soccer, with immersive international experience, they'll always have the skills to outmaneuver the competition.

About the Author

Get your student athlete started on the path to intercultural competence today. Visit EduKick.com to see which international soccer camps are right for your child.

Joey Bilotta is the vice president of EduKick, a soccer boarding school exchange program. They host international soccer schools and camps in Europe, Brazil, Mexico, and China. Visit them online at http://www.edukick.com to sign up.

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

Soccer Practice Planning Recommendations for Coaching Success

2008-04-26T04:26:00.001-07:00

By Scott Carlson

Training a team correctly involves planning practices that are both fun and informative for players. If players are not entertained, they are not likely to pay attention, which will obviously make it very difficult for them to learn. However, the drills must involve a skill element in order for players to improve their game, which are repetitious, and can be boring. The objective is finding the right mix for your team, which is dependent on the age group, competitiveness and other important factors.

Take the example of Coach Wing Init. He never plans practice beforehand, and instead spends the entire practice scrimmaging. While practice may be fun for the players, this is not going to get the players high numbers of touches on the ball, and the uninterested players will surely disengage. These practices are clearly not educational enough for players to learn and progress.

Compare this to Coach Bo Ring, who spends 95% of practice time doing drills that do not inspire creativity, and do not give players a chance to learn by doing. Avoid the pitfalls of each and structure your soccer practices in a way that mixes both fun and work.

Educational skills drills, followed by high energy small sided game element drills give players a chance to work on what they have learned. If you focus players attention on improving during the game element what you have previously worked on in the skills drills, pretty soon they will do it without even thinking. Quality soccer practices are designed with the intention of evolving the play of your players, both individually and collectively.

If you are a volunteer soccer coach, you owe it to your players to challenge and inspire their play. Soccer Season Outsourced will help you transform your team from a bunch of individuals into the powerhouse of your league. It is a book with

Check it out at http://www.soccerdrillbook.com/soccer-drills-practice-plans

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

Football Dribbling Tips

2008-04-19T23:33:00.003-07:00

By Maverick Jensen

If you're attacking, you don't get as exhausted as when you're defending.

Football dribbling is something that you as football player need to know. Dribbling isn't just about getting around your opposer. Alternatively, there are a lot of additional little features that you need to master if you want to improve you dribbling skills. In this part of football-training-guide you will know precisely how to become a effective dribbler.

Use your football dribbling skills in right situations

You shouldn't only dribble to show people how skillful you are, alternatively apply your talent by playing smart. You need also to bear in mind to never dribble if you have an unmarked teammate near you. Passing the ball safely to a near teammate is more effectively than a dribbling solo raid. The best rule is to never dribble in your own half. However, you should try to dribble frequently in your opponent's 18 yard box

The reward with dribbling is that your opponents won't know what you aim to do next. To stop you, opponents will need to work out which direction you will most likely take.

Try to relax

Football dribbling is not just about how proficient you are with ball; you need also to have a lot of self-confidence in yourself. Whilst dribbling you must actually think that you can go around your defender.

try not to panic every time you get the ball. Alternatively, be calm and try to work out the best way to get around your opponent.

How to find your opponents weak side?

Your opponents will always have a weak side; it is up to you to detect it. But before expending a lot time on analyzing your opponents let me give you a little hint: Try to check whether your opponent is right or left handed.

Now you may wonder what your opponents hand has to do with dribbling your opponent or not, I mean, aren't we discussing football dribbling here? Of course we are discussing soccer dribbling but to locate your opponent's weak side, you need to know his/her weak leg, and how do you find that out?

Well, if you dare you could just ask him or you could use another smart way to figure it out. Just check whether he/she is left or right handed. Now you may wonder you should know if your opponent is right or left handed?

Well if your opponent is right handed his/her left leg will normally be weaker, and if he/she is left handed his/her right leg will be the weaker one. Your opponent will also have more problems in handling the ball using his/her weak leg, so watch out for this!

Do not trust completely on this advice. There are skillful opponents that can handle the ball pretty well with both feet, therefore, watch carefully before deciding what leg is the weak one.

Finally, don't forget this one: To pass the ball to an unmarked teammate is much more efficient than trying to dribble through a wall of opponents.

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

Athletic Skills - The Groundwork for Athletic Success

2008-04-19T23:33:00.001-07:00

By Ron Usher

Imagine building a house. A tall beautiful house. You want the house to stand for a long time; to withstand heat, cold and wind.

What's the first thing you do? You don't start building the frame, do you? You don't even start building the foundation.

The first thing you do is make sure the ground is prepared.

Like a house, so an athlete.

Our kids are coming to soccer unprepared. Too much TV, too much video games, too little outdoor playtime are taking a toll. A few kids get it. They excel in sports.

Most kids don't. They are always a step behind. They get frustrated and eventually quit.

What as a concerned parent can you do? Lots. Here's some tips to help you work with your child.

1. Start an exercise routine. Do it with your child five to ten minutes a day. It doesn't have to be hard or difficult. Not only will they (and you) receive physical benefits, they will learn to put extra time in for their fitness. Consider it homework for their body.

2. Work on Strength. Push-ups (modified for most) for upper body strength, sit-up and variations for core strength, and squats for leg strength.

3. Develop Balance. Practice standing on one foot and touching the ground. Or stand on one foot and throw a ball back and forth.

4. Build Endurance. Do bear crawls or crab walks. Even indoors, these are great exercises. Not only do they develop endurance and strength, they are fun. Bear crawls are walking on your hands and feet like a bear. Crab walks are the same but upside down. The stomach is towards the ceiling.

By spending a little bit of time with your child, they will start to develop the groundwork they need for soccer success. They will also develop self-confidence and you'll be building quality bonding time.

One final tip. Always keep it fun. Play music, compete, and challenge each other. Make it a family activity.

To receive my special report on what all soccer parents need to know go to http://www.athleticskillsforsoccer.com

You'll also be signed up for my newsletter which is loaded with tips to help you work with your child.

To Fit and Healthy Kids
Ron Usher
http://www.athleticskillsforsoccer.com

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

Spring Soccer Training

2008-04-19T23:32:00.001-07:00

By Wade Boden

It is finally warming up and we are ready to get out and play. The big game that I am looking forward to this Spring is soccer. Soccer is not a very popular sport in the United States, however, its popularity is rapidly increasing. On the worldwide aspect, it is probably the most played sport.

Getting out after a cold winter can be hard. One must begin to condition and train after months of avoiding the outdoors due to the bitter cold. For soccer, which is perhaps the most demanding sport of any, training in essential before going in to the games. This is because players are expected to play for 45 minutes periods without breaks. During these 45 minutes, they must walk, jog, run, and sprint. For this reason, endurance and fitness training is the most important aspect of training for a soccer player.

The second area to focus in training for the soccer season is the train technical skills. Juggling is a great training technique for ball control. This will allows players to train their ball controll skills, increase balance and agility, and train muscles that are used specifically for soccer. Another important training technique is to practice dribbling the ball. You should learn how to move quickly without loosing control of the ball. The last technique that I would mention is to practice shooting the ball. Learn how to kick under control and with power. This will be very important when it comes game time and you have the open shot.

The last area of training is mental training. Have a positive attitude. Don't get frustrated. Make yourself feel like you are a great soccer player. Have a solid understanding of the game. Think ahead of time how you will react in certain situations that you might encounter on the field. Learn how others play and be able to react to their styles to improve everyone as a whole.

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online resource for Portable Soccer Goals, Soccer Uniforms, and Gym Bags.

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

Youth Soccer Gear - Forget Hand Me Downs

2008-03-09T20:52:00.001-07:00

Prevent injuries with proper youth soccer gear.

Youth soccer players do need the same type of equipment as more mature soccer players. But, it is important that their gear fits properly. Children will get more enjoyment from the game, and will be less likely to injure themselves.

Youth soccer gear includes a solid pair of soccer cleats, well-fitting soccer shorts, and socks that match the team jersey. Soccer shinguards will provide lower leg protection, and a soccer jersey, to top it off. Let's look a little deeper at each item of youth soccer gear.

Soccer Cleats and Shoes

Cleat or shoe types include removable cleats, molded cleats, indoor soccer shoes and turf shoes:

Molded Cleats have non-removable, pre-formed rubber or plastic cleats on the bottom. Metal cleats are not allowed. They can be used on all outdoor field types but will not perform as well on turf, or wet, soggy fields.

Removable Cleats are made of a hard plastic. These studs can be replaced as they wear down. Players of a higher skill level usually use this type of cleat on longer grass, or wet soggy fields.

Indoor soccer shoes look similar to a sneaker, but they are very different. They are made with exclusive compounds in the sole that provide improved grip over sneakers. They are cut lower to prevent rolling off the ankles as your child makes the moves that soccer requires. They are made for firm surfaces like gyms, but not for indoor artificial turf.

Turf Shoes are specifically for playing on artificial turf. It doesn't matter if it is indoor or outdoor turf. The sole has been specially designed with studs that are shorter than molded or removable cleats. They are multi-directional in nature. This helps provide the grip necessary for playing on artificial turf.

Shinguards

Soccer shin guards are made from a variety of materials. These materials can include:

Plastic.

Polyurethane.

Foam rubber.

Fiberglass.

Foam/lycra.

Shin guards are required as part of youth soccer gear and one of the best ways to prevent injury. In soccer most of the action is at your feet. It is sometimes suggested that different positions need to wear a different type of shin guard. I will provide the information, but only you and your child can decide what is best.

Defenders - thicker model with more protection.

Midfielders - protective, lightweight, and more rounded in style.

Forwards - more ankle protection and very light.

This guide will be helpful in choosing the proper shin guard size for your child:

X-Small: up to a height of 3 feet 9 inches

Small: up to a height of 4 feet 5 inches

Medium: up to a height of 5 feet 1 inch

Large: over 5 feet 2 inches

Youth Soccer Socks

These socks are not much different from the socks that older players wear. They are just smaller. They are needed to hold the shin guards in place, and to match the team's uniform.

Less expensive socks are usually made from a polyester-acrylic blend. Sometimes cotton is added for comfort, but don't expect a lot of cotton. But you can find 100% cotton socks.

Choosing top quality socks made with synthetic microfibers will pull perspiration away from the foot. They will have a padded sole to enhance foot comfort as well.

TIP - If your child's foot sweats a great deal, put talcum powder or foot powder in the sock to help soak it up. This will help prevent blisters.

Youth Soccer Jerseys

Most jerseys today are made from a combination of light-weight microfibers that are and do not absorb much moisture. When it comes to youth soccer, the team or association usually supplies the jerseys. So for that reason, I will leave the jersey choosing to you and your soccer association. Unless you are looking for replica soccer jerseys.

Soccer Shorts

Even though they may be cool to your kids, baggy shorts are not good for the soccer field. If they are too long, they can restrict easy movement. If this happens your child may get injured, or may not play up to their ability. The less restriction, the better it is for their game. They also have to fit your team's uniform. Some associations will provide shorts and socks as part of the team uniform.

If you use this information as a guide you should be able to get the right youth soccer gear for your child.

Wayne MacLean has over 30 years of experience in the game of soccer. As a soccer coach, soccer player, soccer referee, and all-around soccer fan, Wayne is now adding a new dimension to his love of soccer. He now writes many articles and creates soccer videos to help those that are involved in soccer, are new to soccer, or just want to know more about soccer. Check out my Youth Soccer Gear page.

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

Soccer Uniforms - Look Great While You Play Great

2008-03-09T20:51:00.003-07:00

Soccer uniforms are worn by millions of soccer players around the world every day.

They wear the colors and logos of professional soccer teams, or a color scheme of their own club. The options are endless.

If you are helping your child's youth soccer team to pick out uniforms, or are new to the game, you should understand that a soccer uniform is more than just a soccer jersey.

The uniform consists of:

Soccer Jersey

Soccer Shorts

Soccer Socks

The Soccer Jersey

Choosing a soccer jersey color will depend on your local clubs preferences, or of course your team's sponsor. You can now get your uniforms in any color or design that you want. Be bold if you like. This is your team's identity we are talking about.

Most jerseys now are made from synthetic material that will prevent moisture from being absorbed. However these will be more expensive.

If your team wants to be more traditional you could go with the original. Cotton. Just remember that on rainy days the cotton will really suck up the water and weigh you down.

Soccer Shorts

The soccer shorts should complement the color scheme of the jersey. They also should not be extremely baggy as this will not help your performance. You don't want them to bunch up and cause you to trip, ever!

Baggy shorts may be all the rage, but they don't belong on the soccer field. Choose a length that is comfortable enough so that players get freedom to make the moves that they will need to make during a game. The last thing a soccer player wants is to feel that their movement is restricted.

Soccer Socks

These socks are knee high and flexible so they will serve the tow purposes for which they were designed. They should complement the jersey and shorts, and they have to be long and strong enough to hold your soccer shinguards in place.

Soccer Goalies

Keep in mind that soccer goalies wear a uniform that is different than the field player. Soccer goalies must wear a color that is different from their own team, and the opposing team, so a referee can easily identify the goalkeeper.

A soccer goalie also gets to wear a long sleeve shirt, with some elbow padding, and shorts that usually have some padding on the sides. This helps to absorb some of the pressure of those frequent dives for the ball. They will sometimes wear long goalkeeper pants depending on field and weather conditions.

Goalkeepers also get to wear goalkeeper gloves to ensure that they get a good grip on those shots that rain down on them.

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

Soccer Goalies - Where Would You Be Without Them?

2008-03-09T20:51:00.001-07:00

The Last Line of Defense

Without your fearless soccer goalies, where would you be? They may scream at you, but that is part of their job, and maybe you deserve it? And I am sure that you are not going to go back there and dive on the ground, and on other bodies, to save the ball.

As the soccer goalie you do get some special privileges. You are the only one who can legally use your hands in soccer. Of course you can only do that in the penalty area, also known as the 18 yard box.

Putting It On The Line

Yes, soccer goalies do put it on the line:

Dive hard to keep the ball from going into the net. And sometimes the field is pretty hard.

Jump into the air trying to win the challenge for the ball. And other players often land on them.

They will face down a shooter from just 12 yards away on penalty kicks. 12 yards! And you expect them to stop that penalty kick every time.

They should be respected.

What a Goalkeeper Needs

Soccer goalies, like all soccer players, will need the right soccer goalkeeper gear in order to play properly. Some people will call it soccer goalkeeper equipment. I leave that up to you. What soccer goalies need:

A durable, comfortable pair of soccer cleats, or soccer shoes. It will depend on the playing surface

Soccer shin guards will protect their lower legs.

Soccer socks to cover the shin guards and keep them in place.

Padded soccer shorts or goalie pants. These have padded hips to absorb the impact from dives and falls.

A soccer goalie jersey. It is always a different color than your team's jersey. This is so the referee can distinguish you from every other player. These also have padded elbows to reduce the shock of impact with other players and the ground.

Soccer goalie gloves will provide that extra grip you need to make those fingertip saves.

The Difference

A skilled soccer goalkeeper can make the difference between winning and losing. Their priority is to stop the ball. Obviously, as a soccer player you can help him by keeping the ball out of your end, or covering for him when he leaves his line to win the ball.

However, a soccer goalkeeper must train differently than other players due to his unique role. Performing special soccer goalkeeper drills and using medicine type balls for practice will help you to keep balls out of your net.

Keys To The Position

There are some basic keys that will get a goalie started off on the right foot, no matter what level you play at.

Use your hands to form a "W" in front of you. Put your thumbs together and your index (first) finger together. Face your palms toward the shooter. Applying this technique when facing a shot head on will prevent the ball from slipping between your hands.

Let the ball meet your hands. Do not try to grab the ball as if you are trying to squash a mosquito between your hands.

Keep your body between you and the soccer goal.

When you catch the ball bring it tightly into your body and cradle it. Or of you end up on the ground, protect that ball as if it was gold. You do not want any chance that the ball may come loose or drop to the ground, because you are always very close to the goal if you can grab the ball.

Stay balanced. Mentally and physically.

Not Just For Defense

Although we have been talking about how this position is about stopping the ball, it doesn't end or begin there. Soccer goalkeepers can start a play build-up with a punt, or by tossing the ball to another player.

Haven't you seen a goalkeeper leave his goal for a corner kick late in the game? They can scores goals too! Traditionally keepers have made very good strikers. Is it their independent attitude? Or maybe because strikers and goalkeepers face each other often in a 1 vs 1 situation?

Leadership Role

Many goalkeepers will be made the captain of their team. Besides, who sees more of the field than a goalkeeper? And he is the boss in the 18 yard box, so do what the keeper says. If you don't, you could get hurt by your own goalie. So be sure to work out a communication with your goalkeeper. If he calls the ball, let him have it. He can see, you may not see him.

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

Soccer Goal - Practice Anywhere, Anytime That You Want

2008-03-09T20:50:00.001-07:00

Soccer goal options include pop up, folding, regulation, indoor, rebounders, and portable models.

Improving your soccer players skills, or helping yourself to improve your soccer game is very rewarding. If you help your players, you get the feeling of satisfaction and you see it happen under your teaching. Improving your own game will give you that excellent feeling of conquering a new skill.

Practice is a great way to do that. And by using regulation goals, or portable soccer goals, you can improve your accuracy and talents. Here are some of the different types:

Portable

Great for players, coaches, or school phys ed classes.

Easily moved from place to place.

Start a game or practice within moments.

Smaller size helps improve accuracy.

Affordable.

Comes complete with soccer nets.

Creates lots of fun.

Use indoor or outdoors.

Adjustable Goals

Last a long time.

Great for many ages and skill levels.

Can be adjusted to suit the size of the field.

Great for learning how to score.

Excellent learning tool for soccer goalkeepers.

Use indoor or outdoors.

Soccer Rebounders

Easy to transport.

Simple set up.

Train alone or with friends.

Work on giving and receiving.

Use indoor or outdoors.

Regulation Size

In-ground or movable.

Different sizes available.

With or without nets.

Square or round posts.

Having good tools for your soccer training will help you to improve your game. Just make sure you use the tools, otherwise they are just ornaments.

Although Vince Lombardi is from as different type of football, you should remember what he said. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Wayne MacLean has over 30 years of experience in the game of soccer. As a soccer coach, soccer player, soccer referee, and all-around soccer fan. Wayne is now adding a new dimension to his love of soccer. He now writes many articles and creates soccer videos to help those that are involved in soccer, are new to soccer, or just want to know more about soccer. Check out my Soccer Goal page.

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

Is Rafael Benitez Liverpool's Main Deterrent?

2008-03-02T19:02:00.001-08:00

By Nathaniel Warner

For the last 17 years Liverpool fans have been starving for success in their league but unfortunately for them it hasn't happened.

The best they've seen in that period was a second place finish in the 2001/02 season. Although, they eventually finished 2nd in that season their title chances had faltered midway through the season, after leading the league, up until December that year. Since then they haven't even mounted a serious challenge on the title, having to settle, for battling it out for a spot in the top 4 to qualify for the champions league.

This year however Liverpool fans are optimistic that they genuinely believe that this will finally be their season (again!!). But for once their belief isn't foolhardy.

Rafa Benitez has finally assembled a squad that should challenge for the title. He's acquired someone in Fernando Torres who can guarantee him 20 goals a season (provided he gets the chances). He's also got Steven Gerrard who is rated as the best central midfielder in the world. They also have probably the most solid back 4 in England right now. This might sound crazy, but in my opinion Rafa's the problem.

He is too adamant with his rotation policy. The guy rotates his best player for the sake of rotation. Even if a guy gets a hat trick he still might end up on the bench in the next game. Another thing is that Rafa's system won't work at all times. He always sets up "not to lose" instead of "trying to win". This fine difference is what separates him from the Wenger's and Fergie's of this world, who always try and instruct their teams to take a game by the scuff of its neck. Facts back it up. In the last 3 games against Portsmouth, Birmingham and Wigan they've had 3 very unimpressive displays in which they had a couple of 0-0's and a narrow 1-0 win. Now that's hardly championship form. This is with more or less a full strength squad barring Xabi Alonso's metatarsal injury, while their rivals our inflicted with a spate of injuries.

Unless Rafa starts adopting a more adventurous system against the lesser teams, they will get caught out, and they among the big three, (yes big three and not four) will be most vulnerable to drop points. Along with that he has to play his best 11 in each and every game regardless of their opposition. You simply cannot rest Torres or Gerrard in the league.

But this is very unlikely to happen because he never has and may well never will back down from this rotation policy of his.

So the only way Liverpool might well be in the running for the Barclays Premier league towards the sharp end of the season is if their rivals start faltering.

Nathaniel Warner is currently a mainframe freelance writer and loves writing about all things soccer.

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

Soccer Jerseys - For Your Team or Supporting Your Favorite Side

2008-03-02T19:01:00.003-08:00

"The Game of Soccer is Identified by the Jersey"

Soccer jerseys are easily noticed from a distance. They are distinct and are unique to soccer. Because they are a source of pride, many people wear them for any occasion. Not just watching a game.

They are a great way to reflect your individual team's identity, or to show what club or national side you cheer for. The pride that you take in your team, is reflected by the jersey on your back.

Soccer jerseys fall into 2 categories:

Replica Jerseys

Available for all club teams and national teams around the world.

Available in sizes to fit children to adults.

Many are becoming available especially for women, as they are a huge part of the fan base.

Home and away versions.

A fun way to support your favorite club.

Great gift idea for soccer fans.

Soccer Uniform Jerseys

The most important part of soccer uniforms.

Reflects your teams identity.

You can get replica jerseys for your team.

You can choose standard team colors.

Many sellers will create a design just for your team.

Materials!

Original soccer jerseys were made of cotton. These soccer jerseys could be thick and soak up a lot of moisture. Whether it was rain or sweat, your jersey got a lot heavier as the game wore on. That could affect performance as it stuck to your body.

As soccer grew, the jersey material also evolved. Soccer groups worked with clothing manufacturers to create materials that would absorb less moisture and were lighter. That is when synthetic, and dry technology material took over.

Designs!

Just as the materials were simple, the designs were simple too. At the start, solid colors of white and dark were the norm. Could you imagine that most jerseys even had collars? Or laces and buttons? However most are now without collars.

Now the designs are limited only by the imagination. Club teams and their sponsors treat their soccer shirts as marketing vehicles to promote themselves. While sales of individual soccer stars jerseys continue to increase in popularity.

Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Beckham, Zidane, and Thierry Henry are some of the more popular ones.

"Whatever your need, replica jersey, or soccer uniform jersey, you will be able to find one to wear with pride."

Check out my Soccer Jerseys page.

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

Soccer Cleats - Different Types for Different Reasons

2008-03-02T19:01:00.001-08:00

Soccer cleats are certainly the most important part of your soccer gear. Although you must use your head as an important part of soccer, the majority of the game is played on the ground. That means that your soccer footwear should be tough enough to make sure that it can take what you are going to give it.

How about when someone else steps on your toes? It is definitely going to happen.

What Types!

They can also be called soccer boots, or soccer shoes. It depends who you talk to. However, soccer shoes are mostly referred to when you are talking about indoor soccer, or playing on turf. Cleats, or boots are referred to for outdoor grass games.

This is about soccer cleats.

Molded Cleats

Is the standard soccer cleat type.

Hard plastic or rubber molded.

Pre-molded, non-removable studs.

Perfect for beginners, or players with minimal experience.

Good for most field types and weather conditions.

Removable Cleats (studs)

Easily replaced when individual studs get worn down.

Different lengths for different field and weather conditions.

Made with hard plastic or plastic with metal tips.

Mostly used on wet or soggy fields.

Also good for long grass fields.

What Is In Them!

There are 2 main materials used to make soccer cleats.

Synthetics.

Synthetics are great for soccer players just starting to play as they are less expensive than leather. They are also usually waterproofed to prevent absorbing water on wet days. Synthetic shoes are much easier to clean than leather shoes.

Leather.

Leather provides the best fit and feel of any soccer cleat. They may be more expensive, but will provide better feel for the ball for those that take the game more seriously. Leather shoes will absorb more water than their synthetic counterparts but there are many waterproofing treatments available to keep them looking good and to help lengthen their lifespan.

When deciding what to choose consider this:

How much time will I be playing soccer?

What field will I be playing on?

What are the dominant weather conditions in my area?

How serious am I about my game?

Answering these questions will help you decide what choice is best for you.

It doesn't matter if you choose Nike soccer cleats, or those from Adidas or Puma, knowing what type you will need puts you a step closer to your goal.

Check out my Soccer Cleats page.

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

Soccer Shoes - No Heels, But a Great Kick!

2008-03-02T19:00:00.003-08:00

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"For Turf and Indoor Soccer"

Soccer shoes are certainly not high heels but they definitely can be stylish. But also functional.

When we talk about soccer cleats or soccer boots we talk of molded soles or removable cleat soccer footwear for use on grass fields.

So let's turn our attention to indoor or artificial turf footwear.

Why Special Shoes?

When you are talking about indoor soccer shoes, you talk about soccer gear that is made for a specific purpose. The sole provides a better grip on the indoor surface so you can speed by your competition with your moves. Some people think that they can get away with sneakers, but you will think again after you have been burned a few times on the indoor soccer field.

There are many companies that manufacture these products. They include Lotto indoor soccer shoes, Adidas, Puma, and Nike.

Soccer turf shoes are made to be used on artificial turf. Some people will try wearing soccer cleats, but the studs may grip too well and you could end up twisting something that you didn't want to. Soccer turf shoes have shorter molded rubber studs and will provide good grip but will also help prevent injury.

Traction!

Having good traction in soccer is extremely important. With the moves that we try we need to make sure that we get the grip that we need. That is why special soles are made for turf shoes and indoor shoes. They provide the best grip on their specific surfaces.

Material!

Like soccer cleats, the materials used are either real leather, or synthetic leather. Real leather will provide a better feel for the ball, but may cost a little more. They will also usually last longer than synthetic models. You will have to decide where to draw the line.

Looks Can Be Deceiving!

These shoes can resemble sneakers, but don't kid yourself. They will perform much better than sneakers, and give you the confidence of knowing that your soccer footwear is good for the job.

Check out my Soccer Shoes page.

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

Selected Weekend Match Previews

2008-03-02T19:00:00.001-08:00

By Dennis Neri

Premiership

Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Arsenal have not had the best of times recently culminating in the dreadful injury suffered by their striker Eduardo Da Silva at Birmingham but I expect them to get back on track and win this game.

Aston Villa by contrast are going through a purple patch but I just cannot see anything other than an Arsenal victory as they would want to put the last few weeks behind them.

They have answered their critics every time with bouncing back with wins and this should be no exception.

The only drawback is that they might be distracted by the fact that they have to play AC Milan on Tuesday.

Birmingham City vs Tottenham Hotspurs

Both teams would be coming into this game with confidence after having rather interesting and headline grabbing weekends.

City would be buoyant as they grasped a draw from a game they should have lost and Spurs would still be on a high from their Carling cup success.

All would depend on how much celebrating Spurs have been doing and if the exertions of playing on Thursday and Sunday including extra-time would affect them.

If they are fresh and mentally attuned enough then I expect Spurs to win, if not then a draw is on the cards.

Fulham v Manchester Utd

This game should be anything other than an away win as Fulham are just a dreadful side and are now genuine relegation candidates.

It would not be a 5-1 victory as United enjoyed against Newcastle because Roy Hodgson is more astute than that but I expect a win nonetheless.

Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers

I bet when Kevin Keegan was appointed as manager of Newcastle that none of the fans would have envisaged that he would have gone this long without a win.

They certainly would not have banked on Dennis Wise being appointed director of football and Chris Hughton at football coach. Neither of this 2 men have an affiliations with Newcastle whatsoever.

The fans are entitled to wonder just what is going on at the club. The good news is that they have a decent record over Blackburn and if they do not win this 1 then they are in big trouble.

West Ham v Chelsea

It would be interesting to see just how Chelsea bounce back from their disappointment in the Carling cup final.

This is not going to be an easy game for them and it is 1 they cannot afford to lose either.

I think this may end in a draw or Chelsea may even nick it whilst boring the pants of the viewers but it all depends on how fit they are and which players Avram Grant decides to put out.

Bolton v Liverpool

Amazingly Bolton have a good recent record against Liverpool and it would not surprise me in the least if they come away with a good result against the Reds.

A lot would depend on what side Rafa Benitez decides to put out and also the effects of Steven Gerrard's outbursts with his frustrations of their not being nearer the title chase thereby undermining the manager's work so far.

SerieA

Juventus vs Fiorentina

This is the game of the day in Italy as the 2 sides will be battling out for the champions league spots that are still up for grabs as it looks like the championship is staying for another year at Milan with Inter Milan.

Juventus should be billed as favourites but they tend not to play well whenever they have had a midweek game because of the age of the squad.

They would be looking to bounce back from 2 disappointing results in the last week whilst Fiorentina would be looking to hammer down their credentials for a champions league spot with Ac Milan bearing down their throats.

The loss of Adrian Mutu is huge for them but Juventus would be missing key players in Christian Zanetti, Giorgio Chiellini and Pavel Nedved; all sitting out bans.

It should end in a draw.

Ac Milan vs Lazio

Milan have had a very wretched season so far and trying to predict the outcome of their games is extremely difficult as they draw games you expect them to win easily and then win big in games you expect them to struggle with.

Lazio have had an even worse season thus far and are looking at the real possibility of relegation and I expect Milan to win this even if they would have 1 eye on their games against Arsenal.

Then again they could draw this game like they always seem to do at home.

Roma vs Parma

Roma have had a mixed weekend as they defeated Fiorentina on Sunday only to be denied at the death against runaway leaders Inter Milan with the game ending 1-1.

They have not been playing well, especially captain and inspiration Franceso Totti who is struggling for form and fitness.

They also have 1 eye on their champions league 2nd leg tie against Real Madrid in Madrid to come.

They should win this game though.

Napoli vs Inter Milan

Inter have been dicing with defeat for a few games now and they are bound to lose sometime.

They are not playing well at all at this point in time and Napoli are very strong at home but I do not think they would lose against Napoli but they would be once again unconvincing and would be hoping for no more controversies involving their games.

La Liga

Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona

Barcelona are in relatively good form as they demonstrated against Valencia and Celtic whilst Atletico are not.

Atletico are a very strange side as they good football for about 15 minutes and that's about it. They either score against the opposition then do nothing for the rest of the game or struggle to create chances if they have not scored yet.

They have so many good players that you wonder why they should struggle so much and going out in the UEFA cup to a team like Bolton must be very embarrassing to their fans.

They however have a good record against Barcelona and could nick a draw at least from this game.

Recreativo de Huelva vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid have lost 4 games out of 5 in la liga and champions league and that is not a very good sign.

They have not been playing all that badly in games but have not exactly set the world alight either.

They would want Robinho to be back as soon as possible as they are missing his creative spark.

Recreativo have had an up and down season so far and would not be pushovers but Real's needs might be the more forceful of the 2 sides and they just might want it more.

Deportivo La Coruna vs Sevilla

This game is too hard to call as it could go either way because both sides are in very good form with Sevilla being perhaps the most in-form side in Spain at the moment.

The 1 thing that may turn it in the home side's favour is the fact that Sevilla would be distracted by their champions league tie against Fenerbahce during the week as they trail 2-3.

Espanyol vs Valencia

At long last Valencia are in good form and that has coincided with the return of star striker David Villa to the side and goal scoring form.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Espanyol, who just seem to be in free fall as they are just losing matches everywhere and it is difficult to fathom why.

Valencia though do not score a lot of goals so they may either win narrowly or even draw this game.

For more Football news visit http://www.footballclubsblog.com

My name is Dennis and I have written a number of articles on how to make it big online.

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

World Cup Tickets Are Within Reach!

2008-02-15T02:18:00.003-08:00

By Anna Woodward

It's never too early to start planning your trip to see a 2010 World Cup Soccer match! In fact, the earlier you get started, the better. The pre-sold tickets are usually gone in a heartbeat, so the sooner you get the ball rolling the better your chances of getting to a game.

It's also notoriously tough to get a seat once you're at the game. Just think of how many people want that seat! You've got all the soccer fans of an entire COUNTRY vying for a spot to watch the game for real, so there's some very stiff competition.

The first step is to take a look at the schedule and decide which match you want to see. Naturally, they've already set tentative dates for most of the games. Check your team's website and see when they're scheduled to play. These dates are subject to change, of course, but at least you can get your ticket. You can always adjust your own schedule when the time gets closer!

One thing to keep in mind is that World Cup Soccer tickets are usually non-transferable, and they're pretty strict about seeing IDs. This means that you probably won't be able to get rid of the seats if it turns out you can't go.

Once you've decided where and when to go, you're ready to buy. Buying directly from teams or the soccer governing organization is a bit of a challenge. You're much better off reserving your seats online at one of the many sites that offer World Cup Tickets.

Buying tickets online can be a little sketchy, so here are some tips to make sure you're getting the real thing and not getting ripped off.

Look at customer comments and ratings. You can always check forums and other online communities related to World Cup Soccer and other sporting events. These sites will give you some idea of whether people have been happy with the company's service or not.

If they have a Better Business Bureau seal on their site, you can usually click it and get information about the company from the BBB. The BBB is your best source of information about a company, and you can always check up on them before you buy.

Only buy from companies that offer contact information on their websites. A phone number is always best, because this way you know that you can reach them if you need to. You might even call them beforehand and ask them a few questions about the ordering process. This will verify that they aren't just an order taking facility, but the actual company itself.

It's generally safest to buy tickets online using a major credit card. Credit card companies are buyer friendly, and if there is a problem, you can always reach someone and dispute the charges. With online only payment providers, the dispute process might not be so user friendly.

A bigger company isn't always better. Often, bigger ticket outlets run out faster than their smaller competitors. It's always a good idea to do lots of shopping around before you buy your ticket. You'll also find lots of variations in price.

It's time to start getting those 2010 World Cup Soccer tickets today! If you play your cards right, you'll be sitting right in the crowd watching your favorite team in 2010!

Getting to your favorite sports event can be a challenge. If you're a soccer fan, get your World Cup Soccer now. On-line vendors offer you options. Whether it's Chicago Cubs, Kentucky Derby or Dallas Mavericks tickets visit Golden Tickets to get to the game.

http://www.goldentickets.com

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

Soccer Fans, Football Fans - We're All The Same

2008-02-15T02:18:00.001-08:00

By Graham Fisher

I'm English so football means something quite different to me. Of course what I think of as football is actually soccer. However, having read many of the articles in this section, and watched a fair few games of American Football on television, I get the feeling that the experience for a Brit of going to soccer matches is very much the same as for an American going to football matches.

I'll explain the similarities between the two:

Being part of a family

If you support a team, you feel like part of one big family. In this increasingly insular world, it is one of the few places you can be thousands of other people who are all on your side and want the same thing. It is a comforting feeling.

Loving your team

You can't change your team. They are with you for life. Whatever they do and whatever happens to them, they will always be yours. Someone once said that the team you support is the only thing in your life you can't change. You can change your partner, your job, your appearance, even your name, but you can never change your team.

Cheering the good guys

These guys are our heroes. We don't know them, and they might be the most awful people in normal life, but for the duration of the game, they are heroes. A piece of skill will immediately excite thousands. They have ultimate power, and for a couple of hours each week they are our favorite people in the world. Funny how nearly all the good guys play for our team isn't it?

Booing the bad guys

We love to hate them. Most other teams have got one. The show off. The arrogant one. The one that can turn you into an insane lunatic full of hatred just because he is playing against your team. There is never a bad guy on our team, but most of the others have got one.

Letting your hair down

This is the one chance each week that most of us can behave badly, shout, cheer, boo, dance, even swear sometimes, and it is perfectly acceptable behavior because everyone else is doing it.

Eating and drinking

For you guys I guess it's pretzels and Nachos, for us it's Pies and chips. Then, of course, there's the beer. Live healthily all week, and then do your bit for increasing world obesity on match days.

Eternal gloom followed by eternal optimism

The extreme emotions that the game engenders are like no other. A defeat leaves you feeling that the world has come to an end. A poor performance and you are questioning whether you will ever go to a game again. Then, a day or so later, something happens. You start to remember the good bits. You remember how unlucky you were in the last game. You look forward and think, "A win next week and we could still make the play offs". Of course the gloom is not necessary, it's only a game, and the optimism is rarely justified.

So there you have it. I don't think there's too many differences between the American football fan and the Brit soccer fan. We all love it. The reason we all love it is because, well, actually, there's nothing better in the world.

Graham Fisher.

News, views and observations about the beautiful game. Please visit my site and see if you agree with my opinions.

http://viewsofafan.org

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

Soccer Betting Tips - Setting Your Target Right

2008-02-15T02:17:00.001-08:00

By Zack Haris

Soccer betting can now be categorized under personal investment since more and more are going into this market to make money.

It's no longer referred to as gambling since more punters are getting smarter and are able to eliminate the percentage risk involved and turn the favor to winning their bets.

Soccer betting can also be a nightmare is you could not control your loss. The idea to safely make money constantly from soccer betting is to set your target right and stick to it.

Target setting is referred to the targeted amount of money one would like to make in a day or a week or even a month. Once your target is met, you have to pull back, relax and enjoy your winning.

This is where most punters fail. They fail to pull out after winning for the day or week and end up losing all their winning at the end of the day.

Winning money from the bookie is not a difficult task. You just need to set your target right and build up the discipline to stop after meeting your target for that day or the week.

Work on this and you will see money flowing in more easily. It is all about how good you are in reading the odds and knowing when to quit while you are winning. Most punters will get carried away and thinking that they are on the roll when they are winning but I still advised them to quit while you are winning and come back again the next day for more winning.

RP is a master punter and a full time punter. He has written a few best selling soccer betting guides and revealing the winning strategy to help fellow punters to make money from their bookmaker. To read more on his work, visit http://www.soccerbettingpro.com

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

Highlights Are Always There For You When You Miss The Live Coverage

2008-01-12T21:45:00.001-08:00

By Me Vlad

For football fans nothing can be worse than missing a game for whatever reason it is. Whether you are busy with college submissions, office or personal commitments, missing a game has serious consequences. Firstly you are left with the heartbreaking thought of why you missed the match and then you hear others talking in full depth about the course of the game. It's obvious you would like to know too what all happened during the game. That's the reason why more and more people are turning to the internet and search for sites that offer highlights and game reports.

This one of a kind website ensures that nothing goes amiss. When it comes to football action every moment is precious. Missing even one good pass could mean you missed a goal. Let's say you are an ardent fan, there's got to be moves and goals that stay in your photographic memory but what happens when you want to relive that moment. There could be times you may want others to know about a brilliant goal or pass that changed the outcome of the game. You may want to discuss a certain tackle, substitution or game plan with others, but how is that possible. Honestly it's very convenient.

Whether you have missed a certain part of the game or wish to share a special move with friends, family, colleagues or other football fans, you can now enjoy the highlights at your own convenience. You no longer have to wait to watch television highlights. The best part being you can replay your football videos as many times as you wish. What's even better is there's ample football news regarding all major leagues right here on one blog. There's news and updates regarding the Bundesliga, Champions League, Serie A, La Liga, Euro 2008 and of course the English Premier league. If you have an interest in football find all related news and updates right here.

You can learn all over player bids and new contracts. Get detailed information about sponsors and player switches. If there's coach looking for a change, know all about it now. In regards to new player contracts and player acquisition there's a lot you may have not known till now. Details regarding all major football clubs can be acquired and best of all any information you get your hands upon can be shared.

Watch all match highlights or highlights of the best goals over the past week or latest season. The best thing being you will have access to live streams. This refers to a streaming video so you get to see just what's happening at the moment. So at the time of an important game don't be disheartened if you aren't at the stadium or next to a television, you'll still have live streams to give you a feel of the game as it happens.

If you are keen on knowing what's going on at any game you can keep your attention focused on live text commentary. This way you get to read everything that happens every second of the match. Whether its passes, goals, red cards, penalties, free kicks or corners, every detail of the game is converted into text and uploaded as the match commences. So now you can know, who made the right passes, fouled, or created the goal opportunity. You'll know who passed to whom and who saw the cards. You can read which way the goalkeeper jumped to save the goal and much more.

Live text commentary is a popular option when you aren't in the position to watch a live game. This could be at work, or maybe study period for youngsters. This helps you get per minute updates on which way the match is headed. You'll know all about who missed and who scored and why a penalty situation was created. In fact the text option is so realistic, it's almost as though you have watched the game.

This is a blog where no football related news or video goes amiss. As an ardent football fan there are many moments in games that you would lie to cherish for ever or at least create an opportunity where others know what you are talking about. This is where you can take that initiative further and share all details with friends and fans. Of course, if you require information about the match info, stadium, referees, betting tips, just about anything, it's all available. Obviously you may not watch each match and every league, but you can know just what happened by watching the highlights of the most important games. Furthermore, you can know all about team standings and positions each day because information here is fast moving and never stale.

A football addict is among you!

Offering football highlights, live text commentary, live streams and much more at the Football Highlights and Live Streams

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

Are Football Clubs Owned By Fans The Future Of Football?

2008-01-12T21:44:00.001-08:00

By Simon Lassam

For fifteen years now, media moguls, TV corporations and, latterly, self-interested millionaires and billionaires have ploughed cash into English football (or soccer, if you prefer), changing the upper echelons of the game beyond all recognition.

Top Premiership clubs report annual profits running into tens of millions of pounds. Players take home weekly pay checks that exceed the average annual salary in the UK - with the top players getting four or fives times that.

And the British Government mops up too, taking an estimated £4.3 billion (yes, that's right, £4.3 billion) in tax from the sport every year.

So, you'd think, with all this money flying around, everyone would be a winner? Well, no. Unfortunately not.

Whilst blank chequebooks are being waved at Premiership clubs by investors from the US, Thailand, Russia and even Iceland, only a fraction of this money trickles down to the lower leagues. Whilst the top clubs have gone from strength to strength, the clubs in the lower leagues are, if anything, slightly worse off than they were 15 years ago.

Not a season goes by without half a dozen smaller clubs having to be dragged back from the brink of bankruptcy by a last-minute deal. This season is no exception with Coventry City & Luton Town already having accepted the 10-point penalty that comes with going into administration. Bournemouth are rumoured to be close to doing the same, just as Leeds United and Boston United recover from the same experience last season. These clubs are some of many that hover dangerously close to going out of business completely - tragic endings to centuries of football tradition.

The simple fact is that the commercial aspects of lower league football in England no longer add up. Spiraling costs, ridiculous player salaries, agent fees and fierce competition from an ever-increasing number of televised games which serve to reduce gate receipts are all making the smaller clubs tighten their belts season after season. No wonder some clubs are reporting weekly losses running into thousands of pounds.

A bleak picture that is repeated at clubs up and down the country. But, amidst all the financial gloom, there are a few tales of optimism that football fans everywhere cling onto for comfort. Indeed, it is the fans themselves that are often the forgotten but essential ingredient to any football club's success, something some of the Premiership clubs could do well with remembering.

Increasingly it is the fans and, more specifically, supporters groups that are helping and orchestrating the survival of the smaller clubs in professional football.

Over 60 English football clubs are now supported financially in one way or another by a supporters trust. Some teams, such as Exeter City, only exist today because they were saved from being dissolved when supporters groups invested their own hard-earned money into their clubs.

The idea of supporter's trusts is not new. In the early 1900s, clubs such as Leicester City invited local residents to raise a 'working man's subscription' to enable the clubs to attract better players, but it's only really in the past 20 years that the concept has really been considered as a viable means of financially stabilizing a football club.

Such has been the emergence of supporters groups, that in 2006, the then UK Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, petitioned UEFA to consider the benefits of fan ownership of football clubs, not only in the UK but across Europe. Top of the list of considerations was the idea that Supporters Trusts could be used to supplement or even take full ownership of football clubs. With Mr. Caborn known to be a fan of Supporters Direct, the company that has orchestrated the creation of many of the trusts already in place, the likelihood is that more trusts will be formed over the coming years.

Indeed, at fifteen UK clubs, supporters now hold 100% of the shares and own the clubs outright and the past six months has seen this concept evolve yet further still. The emergence of fan-based web enterprises such as MyFootballClub and ThePeoplesClub.com are once again pushing the boundaries of fan ownership in football further still.

These initiatives not only allow the fans to own the club, but also to run it on a day-to-day basis. Through online voting, fans are able to make wide ranging decisions about the club including choosing the team for each match and even hiring and firing the manager.

MyFootballClub's acquisition of Ebbsfleet United in the autumn of 2007 was a groundbreaking step towards this new form of fan ownership and ThePeoplesClub.com are expected to follow suit at the end of the 2007/08 season with their own acquisition. Similar models to this have already emerged in other European counties including France, Denmark and Israel.

Whilst football traditionalists frown upon the schemes, primarily doubting the fans' ability to run the club effectively, these schemes all have the potential to bring significant levels of investment to the clubs they acquire - often upwards of £1million per annum. There are very few clubs in the lower leagues of English football that could afford to turn down an annual injection of cash of that magnitude.

In the commercialized world of football, these kinds of schemes are no longer a fad, but a necessity. Whether you agree with the concept of web-based fan models, or simply love standing on the terraces at your local club every Saturday afternoon, there may come a time sooner or later where you will need to put your hand in your pocket and invest your own hard-earned cash in order to ensure that your club survives to play another season.

There is no doubt that the billionaires and large corporates will continue to pump money into the top end of English football, but could it be that fan ownership is the way forwards for smaller clubs simply looking to survive to play another season?

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

Real Madrid - The Best Football Club In The World

2008-01-09T14:51:00.003-08:00

By Borris Becker

They are not only the most successful club in the world but also the richest in the world according to the latest survey done by the money league which publish their research results annually. Yes, its true that Real Madrid are the richest club by income for the season 2006-2007 probably for the season 2007-2008 too but the results are not completed yet.

So what makes Real Madrid not only the richest club in the world but more significantly, the most successful as well.Well the statistics don't lie and more often then not speak for themselves. For any club to be successful, only two titles could and should be given credit, The league and the Champions League,the rest are mere formalities as you all know(it does not take much to beat Sao Paulo in a cup final)so i am going to ignore the minor trophies here, lets have a look at most of the major football clubs track records against the Madrid Galacticos.

Manchester United have won only two Champions league trophy, one was way back when it was known as the European cup and the other in 1999,they have 16 league titles.

* Barcelona have also won two champions league trophies and 18 league titles

* Liverpool have won the competition FIVE times and they have 18 league titles

* Inter Milan have 2 champions league titles and 15 league titles

* Ac milan have 7 champions league titles and 17 league titles

There are some other major clubs as well but they have just started to grow so lets just ignore them for a moment.

Finally, Real Madrid has won 9 champions league titles and 30 league titles. Now I have listed all the great clubs of Europe above, not even a single club can match or come close to the records set by the Spanish powerhouse. Thus proving what i stated earlier that real Madrid is the undisputed champion of champions.

Real Madrid is the only team that holds the Cup in property, having won the title five consecutive times.

Copyrights@ Borris Becker

For more candid opinion about Real Madrid please visit my blog. www.madridgalacticos.com

Please don't copy my article without putting my blog's link. I use Copyscape, I will catch plagiarists. Thanks for understanding.

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

Receiving and Maintaining Possession of the Soccer Ball - Article 3

2008-01-09T14:51:00.001-08:00

By Al Luongo

Receiving the ball (also commonly referred to as "trapping the ball"). In this article, the term receiving and trapping will be used interchangeably. This is one of the most elementary skills necessary in control ball soccer, yet it is not used effectively enough in competitive games in much of North American Soccer, especially with young players. The reason is simple enough to observe. There is a fear of losing the ball to a nearby opponent: The ball may potentially end up between the receiver and the opponent-possibly causing a receiving error. Losing the ball to the opponent in this manner normally results in embarrassment or chastisement from the coach. The end result is that players "one touch" the ball much more frequently then is necessary and consequently produce a reduced amount ball control by the team in general. It must always be remembered that ball control is the objective in modern soccer.

How then can the player apply this receiving skill more frequently in games to control the ball? With a little proper training, practice and encouragement, a player can learn to control the ball to become a more valuable asset to the team as the season progresses. A team that does not practice ball control is confined to playing low-level soccer and the players will always be restricted to playing a type of soccer known as kickball. Their future in this sport is limited when competing against players that can effectively receive and control the ball in competitive situations. Players that master this technique however, develop self-confidence and often a passion to continue in this sport.

A method exists that makes receiving and controlling the ball relatively easy, yet it is infrequently used in non-professional soccer (and sometimes not enough in professional soccer) but it is always used effectively in basketball. This controlling technique is known as shielding in soccer. Applying two moves, one following the other, makes it: These moves are called trapping and shielding or receiving and shielding. The main type of receiving taught in practice is with the inside-of-the-foot--for ground balls.

There are, of course, many other parts of the body that are used for trapping when the inside-of-the-foot is just not practical, but this foot location method is probably the easiest receiving method to master and so it is best mated with subsequent shielding moves. The inside-of-the-foot is a useful receiving method for teaching the combination of capturing the ball and shielding it from a nearby opponent. Once a player is confident with this type of trap used in conjunction with shielding, other types of traps can replace the inside-of-the-foot trap as necessary.

Good soccer players control the ball even when under the pressure of an opponent. In Practice, receiving the ball is a relatively easy task to complete correctly when the approaching ball is slowly rolling on the ground towards the receiving player. This is the general approach taken when teaching this technique. However, in actual game situations, the conditions are different. Most of the time there is an opponent in the vicinity of a player about to receive a loose ball or pass. Even if the ball is slowly rolling towards the receiver in game conditions, it is still a difficult task to trap the ball, control it and move out into a position of advantage--when there is an opponent bearing down on the receiver. Making matters worse, the ball may be coming in fast, high and possibly from a great distance. No matter how the ball approaches, a good soccer player has developed the ability to receive and control the ball. How is this taught to players without this skill?

Trapping and shielding is a combination technique accomplished by instructing players on shielding the ball after placing it under control near the feet. The shielding is a tandem technique that follows immediately after the receiving player approaches the incoming ball, stops an instant before receiving it, and then traps the ball--which has now practically stopped near his or her foot. Note: It is very difficult to receive and control the ball while running and so trapping while running is only recommended for experienced players: See footnote1.

To be legal, a player must have control of the ball in order to screen it from an opponent; therefore, once the player successfully controls the ball, he or she immediately turns his or her body to place it between the ball and the opponent. The body can also be arched backwards (towards the opponent) to further protect the ball as long as the receiver is not aggressively contacting the opponent. In this manner, the opponent will be out of reach of the ball and will be behind the receiver who must now dribble the ball away from the opponent. If the opponent goes to the dribbler's right, the dribbler rotates himself or herself counterclockwise along with the ball, thus the ball screening is continued. The opposite move is applied if the opponent goes to the dribbler's left.

With possession of the ball, the dribbler must move into open space. Now, if the dribbler cannot move forwards with the ball (in the direction of the opponent's goal), the option is to either move across the field or backwards towards his or her own goal. Note: Players must be instructed that going forward is not always practical or safe and moving in another direction is perfectly sound as long as he or she maintains control of the ball and moves away into new unoccupied field locations. In doing so, the next move is to either pass the ball to a nearby open player or to turn while shielding with the ball. The latter tactic is more advanced and beyond the scope of this article.

For more advanced players, the same technique can be performed with other receiving methods, such as collecting the ball with different parts of the foot, parts of the leg, the body and head traps. But for the introduction of this technique (as mentioned above), the inside-of-the-foot method works best. Once the players have grasped the technique, it will be expected that they will employ it first in scrimmage games then in actual competition. Note: The coach is reminded to encourage receiving and shielding under the pressure of actual games. Allowing the players to experiment with this technique, while making errors, is not to be discouraged.

There are various drills that efficiently teach receiving and shielding, both elementary and more advanced. The basic techniques are simple and effective and most drill techniques are further incorporated with teaching the receiver to 1. Move to the moving ball, i.e., a player must never wait for it to come to him or her. See footnote 2. 2. Trap the ball. 3. Shield the ball. 4. Move to a position of advantage on the field. These semi-advanced techniques are all performed with an opponent applying various degrees of pressure, and of course receiving may employ other parts of the body for initially contacting and receiving the ball. These drills may be found in books by the author.

Footnotes:

1. A word must be said here about the level of skills in a soccer player's career. The information described above is recommended for the early to mid stages of soccer players' training. Only the most experienced soccer players should attempt trapping the ball while on the run.

Also, the ideal player's performance would be to have an "escape" plan before receiving the ball, i.e., plan to seek out the best open space to dribble into upon gaining control of the ball. Young players often begin to think of their next move only after receiving the ball and should be reminded often to think ahead before receiving it.

2. At the highest level of play, professional players are often seen standing waiting for the ball to come to them. This is not recommended for young players to emulate. It is always best to meet the oncoming ball.

Coach Al is Formerly a NJ, RI and Canada Soccer Coach, Manager, Referee and League Organizer, and Coach of a RI state championship teams. He has also played all positions in several adult soccer leagues. One son (Al) became a RI All State goalkeeper and two other sons (James and Anthony) were top players in high school and in their state.

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

The Optimal Soccer Warmup

2008-01-06T18:23:00.001-08:00

By Jeff Cozzier

The optimal soccer warmup involves complex movements and dynamic stretching. You should always have a warm up session prior to any soccer training. While you are training to increase the overall effectiveness of your skill and technique in soccer, it is important to warm up the muscles throughout the body to ensure that you reduce the chance for injury. Soccer training is physically tolling on the body and you greatly increase your risk of injury if you fail to prepare the body prior to your workout. Possible injuries include muscle sprains, muscle strains and tears. I will share with you the overall importance of a warm up prior to soccer training in this article.

Muscles that have not been proper;y warmed up are often extremely tight. The tighter that a muscle is, the more chance it has of being damaged under tension. During soccer training, you introduce your body to a wide range of tense movements. Some of these movements include turning in a quick fashion, twisting in often unnatural ways, as well as simple and complicated stretching. These types of movements can result in numerous injuries. Some examples of these injuries include muscle sprains, strains throughout the various muscles, and even tears in the delicate tissue of the muscles.

The Optimal soccer warm up will create "warmness" throughout the muscles. These warm tissues are able to be more reactive than their cold counterparts. This reduces the amount of tension that the muscles naturally contain. Engaging in a our warm up prior to soccer training is a form of relief for the muscles. Furthermore, if muscles are relaxed, your soccer game benefits. The way that it benefits is that it increases the overall speed at which you are able to perform, the power at which you move, as well as the ability to maintain a higher level control of your techniques.

Optimal soccer warm ups include forward lunge and reach, back lunge and reach, side longes and diagonal lunges. These are all very good because they warm up the large leg muscles and make you stretch through your hips and core. You should also include 90-90s, scorpion stretches and sumo squats. Once you've gone through this circuit you should do some light ballwork to fully get the brain and body engaged.

Some of the ballwork that you might do to get started iincludes rotating the soccer ball with your foot in a circular motion. This is a great way to loosen up those muscles in the legs, ankles, and feet. You may wish to stretch out your arms by holding the ball over your head and moving it in different positions, such as side to side and front to back. Using the soccer ball in conjunction with your soccer training warm up sessions can be a very effective and exciting method.

Prior to the start of your soccer training, you need to engage in warm up activities such as these. Without proper warmups there is too much risk of injury.But with proper warmups optimal performance can be achieved.

For additional soccers training tips check out http://www.OptimalSoccerFitness.com

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

Soccer Drills That Are More Fun

2008-01-06T18:22:00.001-08:00

By David Huddleston

Soccer drills don't involve competition and players don't practice drills at "Game Speed". Practice Games better prepare players for real games and are also more fun and a more effective way to practice. As a result, soccer coaches will achieve 200% to 300% more in each practice by using Practice Games instead of soccer drills and soccer players will improve faster, play better, learn how to hustle and learn how to win.

Below are the 15 standards we use to develop Practice Games:

1. They are fun. They keep players more interested, practice attendance is better and players have more enthusiasm. (The challenge is to develop games that are fun but still teach how to play soccer. We don't recommend silly games such as Crab Soccer that are fun but of limited benefit).

2. They are designed for Recreational conditions (e.g., limited practice time, players of various skill and stamina, small areas without real goals, varying numbers of players, one coach, etc).

3. They maximize activity and minimize lines. More is achieved in less time, players get a better workout and there is less horseplay. We don't use "knock-out" or elimination games that often leave the players who need the most practice standing on the sideline.

4. They teach important skills, teamwork and how to play soccer.

5. They are "self teaching" and players learn by simply playing the games (the games are truly the teacher).

6. They involve competition and pressure (which drills don't) and better prepare players to perform under pressure in "match" conditions and at "game speed". It is one thing to perform an activity without pressure, but it is very different to perform the same activity at "game speed" and under pressure. Players improve more quickly and become better players when they practice at game-speed in match-related conditions. The best way to achieve this is by playing games that are match-related and involve competition and pressure. SoccerHelp Practice Games also teach players to hustle, win the ball, play aggressively, they get a good work-out and have more fun.

7. Set-up is quick and easy.

8. They work for almost any number of players and even or odd numbers (e.g., if only 5, 6 or 7 show up they will still work).

9. They are written so even beginning coaches can understand them. They have worked for beginning coaches and for very experienced coaches; for Rec coaches, travel team coaches and adult team coaches; for coaches who never played soccer and for coaches who played college and professional soccer.

10. One coach can manage the game, assistants aren't required.

11. They are rated by age group and quality.

12. They don't require large fields, lined fields or goals.

13. Most SoccerHelp Practice Games can be played indoors.

14. For Rec players, we believe in positive motivation and don't believe in punishing a child who has tried their best but lost a practice game. SoccerHelp Practice Games don't make the losers leave the game or run laps.

15. For each hour of practice, the objective is 45-50 minutes of effective learning experience versus the 15-30 minutes that is typical for most Rec practices.

SoccerHelp Practice Games are at http://www.SoccerHelp.com

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

Soccer Goals

2008-01-03T02:06:00.001-08:00

Who's the Best? Freestyler or Footballer

2008-01-01T16:42:00.001-08:00

By Heikal Suhaili

Back in 2001, I've managed to balance the ball on my neck and I thought whoa! I did something unusual to amaze my friends. Fast forward to date, balancing the ball on the neck may look like a child's play to everyone. In fact, there are soccer tricks that's even impossible to do in the naked eye. So a couple of weeks back, I had a conversation with my friend discussing about professional football or soccer because he's just won some amateur league in Australia and to my amaze, I wanted to know more about his winning team. After the conversation I realized that he prefers professional footballers rather than freestylers. So I decided to take initiative and find out who's the best in the world of football.

First, freestylers have the ability to perform a series of soccer tricks in combination (combo) like Palle doing foot stall then the ATW followed by the crossover for example. Normally a footballer would juggle the ball with simple tricks and plants but freestylers combine these tricks to make it look like a freestyle combo. Each freestylers have their own styles of performing combos which is why freestyle allow players to express creativity and improve on ball control. In fact, I even admit that freestyle can be addictive at times especially when I managed to pull-off a combo for instance, recently I almost managed to do the Touzani Around the World (TATW) which combines the ATW and crossover. Billy Wingrove once said in his DVD that freestylers tend to create their own tricks from different angles of their upper and lower parts of their body. But the lifestyle of a freestyler is often more flexible and earn their living by performing freestyles in various TV advertisements, TV programme shows, soccer clinics and others. However in the early 21st century, Nike one of the largest contributors promote freestyle through adverts and allowing users to submit their own freestyle videos on the web. Other sites like Youtube is also the best place to learn any soccer tricks step-by-step. In general, freestyle soccer is relatively easy to learn than being professional footballer because the learning curve is less steep and may take about a month or two to learn any particular soccer trick.

Anyone can pick-up a football and play with his friends on the pitch or at the park. A footballer begins his career through playing in leagues or tournaments with his team and get selected by one of the scouts or attend football team trials whether for school team or in football academy. In fact, being selected for the team is the toughest part as footballers like David Beckham had to go through numerous trials to eventually being selected to play for that team. Thus determination and courage are important attributes to achieve a winning mentality. The positions in football are varied from goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward along with other supported positions like sweeper, winger and striker. Each position has their own relevant attributes like stamina, passing, positioning, long ball, finishing etc. Normally at an early age, kids will explore these positions and also develop soccer skills and tricks to improve their game. As they reach to higher level, the coaches will determine the positions that's suitable for them via training. But footballers are not dependent on one position and has proved the fact that great players have the ability to play in different positions such as Thierry Henry drifting wide from his forward position.

The highest level in football demands great first touch which is why I believe that freestyle complements football in improving ball control. In fact, great players from Maradona to Cristiano Ronaldo plays freestyle football as a hobby to express their creativity by inventing new soccer tricks whether juggling or ground moves while simultaneously improves their ball control as well. It's the first touch that allows a footballer to gain invaluable seconds ahead of their opponent to either make a pass, cross the ball or score a goal.

However this is only a small piece of the jigsaw and skill alone is not a single factor to determine the best players. Footballers at higher level cope with media day-in-day-out answering post-match interviews, signing autographs for the supporters, performing in front of the millions of football fans etc. Thus they have to set good example and maintain healthy diet to prolong their career as a footballer. Freestylers are more flexible and may handle less media pressure than footballers along with eating healthy diet and practicing their freestyling skills to improve their freestyle football. In fact, the lifestyle as a freestyler is less complicated than being a footballer as they have less commitments but the price of being a footballer is worthwhile when perceived as a superstar in the industry.

It's still early to say that freestylers are better than footballers as it's a growing industry and only started back in the early 21st century.

Footballers arise to these challenges and commitments to become the best player in the world of football and this factor alone determines why footballers are better than freestylers at the moment and as the saying goes ' there's more than meets the eye'.

Freestyle soccer is a new trend in this soccer community. You can learn more about freestyle soccer and tricks at http://soccer-tricks.blogspot.com

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

Wayne Rooney Can Dominate The Football World

2008-01-01T16:41:00.001-08:00

By Rajan M

Wayne Mark Rooney is the brilliant young striker of Manchester United. He is also the regular starting Centre forward for England Soccer national team. At this age of 22 he has won the hearts of millions of football lovers from all over the world. He has scored some Fantastic goals for England. Still his threatening goals for Manchester United cannot be taken lightly. He has single handedly won many matches for Manchester United and Everton his former club.

This English premier league star was born on 24th October 1985 in Liverpool. He played 2 wonderful seasons for Everton FC before being transferred to Manchester United. Sir Alex Fergusun bought him for a whooping ¤ 31 from Everton. He had a dream debut for the Red Devils scoring hat-trick in his very first Champions league appearance against Fenerbahçe.

At first he played just behind the main striker Ruud van Nisterlroy. He still managed to score some excellent goals. Now he is the United's spearhead when it comes to attacking and scoring goals. He is now assisted by Carloz Tevez and Lois Saha. He had a poor start to this season when he broke his ankle in the first premiership match of this season. He got injured against Portsmouth. He was sidelined for 3 months. But he made his return well within expected time.

He also got some hope for England in the Euro 2008 Qualifiers when they were struggling for form. He then marked his come Manchester United come back with a flurry of goals. He has scored 7 goals in the last 6 premiership appearance. He also scored in the Champions League matches he played for Manchester united this season. When he nearing his top form, he got injured in the training session and was taken out. Now he is out for another month or so.

He has struggled injuries throughout the career. But he always marked his comeback with a bang. He is expected to the same this time too when he recovers. He is expected to play against their Arch rivals Liverpool this December. That's an important match for both Wayne Rooney and Manchester united as it will decide who will win the EPL. It's no doubt that Wayne Rooney will cross all limits and go far beyond than anyone has done before.

He is still the most feared striker in the premier league. Fergusun considers him as the best striker England has ever produced in some time now. He is compared to the French legend Eric Cantonna. The chip shot used Wayne Rooney is his best weapon that has never failed him from scoring. He scored the best goal of FA Cup history last year against Portsmouth with a beautiful lob which was watch by James.

According to many soccer experts he is expected to be the uncrowned king of strikers in the coming years. He never had a great tournament for his country. He was sent in the Euro -2002 finals. He was once again sent off against Portugal in FIFA World Cup-2007 for a silly reason. But he is expected to control his emotions and win honors for his country .Wayne Rooney will dominate the football world in the coming years for sure.

For more info on Rooney and EPL goto http://englishpremierleaguenews.blogspot.com and http://waynerooneygoals.blogspot.com

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

How To Avoid Soccer Injuries

2008-01-01T16:40:00.001-08:00

By Bernie Rosellen

Soccer is a physical game that can subject players to potential injuries, some of which can be quite serious. Although physical contact between players is not a planned part of the game, the inevitable clashes during a match are as much a part of the game as controlling the ball.

From a spectator's standpoint, soccer does not seem like a physically brutal event, especially the way some players glide across the pitch like gazelles in the open range. Sometimes soccer players merely glance off each other in ballet fashion. But, for anyone who has been out on the soccer pitch in competition, the likelihood of getting hurt is ever present and there is probably not one player out there who hasn't hit the ground or bounced off of an opponent or has had cuts and bruises.

These minor incidents pose no real threat to a player's physical well-being. As all soccer parents can attest, physical contact while playing soccer is unavoidable. The obvious question, then, is - how do we keep the unavoidable contact from causing more than a few aches and pains?

There are actually two facets that come into play when considering the precautions that can be taken to keep your youth soccer player from getting seriously hurt. The one and oft thought primary consideration, of course, is shin guards, the only real physical protection that a soccer player wears. Besides shin guards, a player's body is virtually unprotected. And that vulnerability to injury is what makes the second consideration of paramount importance.

Soccer kids need to be taught how to think about avoiding injuries as part of the game. It is the mental attitude and knowledge of a player's own ability to anticipate potentially harmful situations and take actions to avoid them that can make the difference between being able to get up off the pitch and play on or get carried off.

Too often youth soccer coaches, in their zeal to compose a winning team, will spend too little time on safety. Safe play can be reinforced with pre-game and post game examples of what happens when certain actions are taken and what can be done differently to achieve a safer outcome the next time a similar situation presents itself. And kids need to understand that danger can come from not only their own actions, but that of the other soccer players on the pitch. They need to know how to avoid a charging opponent, while still maintaining control of the ball.

The key is to teach your kids an awareness of the safety aspects of the game. Then parents need not fear for their kids' safety on the soccer field when they are properly trained. Kids already have an inherent sense for avoiding harm and parents just need to make sure that their kids keep this sense sharp and how to apply it in any given situation.

The bottom line is - no potential glory on the soccer pitch is worth sacrificing the body for. There will be another day and another glory when good judgment is used.

Till Next Time,

Bernie Rosellen

Soccer From The Pitch

http://www.soccercountry.com

Bernie Rosellen has played and been involved with soccer for over thirty years. He has coached youth soccer teams for almost twenty years. He still plays on two adult soccer teams in the Richmond, VA area today. Tapping his experiences as a soccer player and soccer coach, he writes articles as, Soccer From The Pitch, and provides content for websites such as http://www.SoccerCountry.com

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

England's Pampered Soccer Players Fail Again

2007-11-29T19:13:00.003-08:00

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

2007-11-29T19:13:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-06T21:53:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-06T21:52:00.003-08:00

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

2007-11-06T21:52:00.001-08:00

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

2007-10-30T08:20:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-30T08:19:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-27T22:12:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-27T22:10:00.003-07:00

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.

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3 Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills Individually

2007-10-27T22:10:00.001-07:00

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.

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Soccer Practice Drills

2007-10-11T21:08:00.003-07:00

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.

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Top 3 - Soccer Players Salaries

2007-10-11T21:08:00.001-07:00

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.

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How To - Step By Step Soccer Moves

2007-10-11T21:07:00.001-07:00

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.

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Top 5 - Soccer Dribbling Moves

2007-10-11T21:05:00.001-07:00

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.

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Top 5 - Mexico Soccer Teams

2007-10-11T21:04:00.003-07:00

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.

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Soccer Juggling Skills

2007-10-11T21:04:00.001-07:00

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!

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Want to Learn Football freestyle?

2007-10-11T21:03:00.003-07:00

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

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10 Interesting Facts About FIFA Player of Year Award

2007-10-11T21:03:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-11T21:02:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-11T21:01:00.001-07:00

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.

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A Profile of Deco

2007-10-11T20:54:00.003-07:00

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

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Introduction to Mexico Soccer

2007-10-11T20:54:00.001-07:00

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.

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Football Shirts

2007-10-11T20:53:00.001-07:00

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.

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3 Reasons Behind 4-4-2 Formation Or System

2007-10-11T20:52:00.003-07:00

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

2007-10-11T20:52:00.001-07:00

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

Story of a Legend - Diego Maradona

2007-10-11T20:51:00.001-07:00

Life offers us some truly close choices at times when it comes to figuring out what’s best; Pepsi or Cola? Puppies or kittens? Pele or Maradona? All of these pairs have several common factors that make them great, but they’re also unique in their own way and that’s exactly the case with the Pele and Maradona comparison, a comparison that sparked enormous and passionate debates throughout modern history.

In the 1970s, Pele had already established himself as a huge name in soccer and was already being considered the greatest player to have ever lived. No one even came close to his glory, until a short, stuffed Argentinean player called Maradona walked on the soccer field for the first time.

Maradona was born in a poor family, but as with all Argentinean families of that time, soccer was a central part of their lives. Maradona and his two younger brothers started up playing soccer from an early age and he was spotted as a great talent around age 11, when he was taken to the youth squad of Buenos Aires’ Argentinos Juniors, where he would amuse spectators with his juggling tricks during halftimes in the senior squad’s games.

Soon enough, Maradona established himself in the senior squad at age 16, being called for the national team around the same time. He played his first World Cup in 1982, scoring twice in 5 matches but also receiving a red card for a vicious foul. With Argentina beaten by Italy in the second round, Maradona had to wait another 4 years to get a chance at the shiny trophy and when he got that chance, he grabbed it with both hands.

The 1986 World Cup is deemed by many as the most spectacular one in the history of soccer and Maradona has a lot to do with that. He scored 5 goals throughout the Cup and also made 5 assists, but it would be the quarter-final against England that will remain in history. Maradona scored two goals that would cement his legend as both an outstanding and a tricky player.

His first goal of the match was scored with the hand, but the referee allowed it. Highly controversial, this goal later became known as the “Maradona hand of God goal”. The second goal of the match, scored just 4 minutes after the Hand of God, is still widely known as the “Goal of the Century”. Maradona picked up the ball close to his own penalty box and started a sprint that would end up in the English goal, 15 seconds, 70 meters, 5 defenders and a goalkeeper later.

Although his career was garnished with controversy, ranging from pitch-brawling to cocaine abuse, Maradona remains one of the most important figures in modern sports and together with Pele and Johan Crujff, forms the golden trio of all time soccer.

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 additional famous soccer players here.

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Meet Antonio Saviano - Scuola Calcio North America Cooridnator

2007-10-11T20:50:00.003-07:00

By Gian Sarfin

You could easily mistake Antonio Saviano for a model instead of a soccer coach. With devilishly good looks and a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Antonio could more likely be every Italian mother’s number one son. Born in the United States, Antonio’s family moved back to Italy at a very early age. He grew up in the town of Pomigliano D’Arco in the province of Napoli. He started playing soccer about the time he could walk and began playing organized soccer at age 8. At the age of 16, Antonio signed a professional contract with Castel Cisterna where he played as a keeper.

Fast forward to 1996 to Wilmington North Carolina and Antonio has founded Soccerkix and Soccerkix Academy, a clearing house for the Italian experience. Antonio offered teams a chance to travel to Italy for tournament play and to participate in local camps, training as many as 500 players per camp. In Italy, professional soccer clubs run their own development systems or schools. They also establish “affiliate” schools throughout Italy with regional clubs. While the “affiliated school” concept is common in Europe, it was Antonio’s initiative that brought the concept to North America. Working with a Serie A club, Antonio put together a program that saw teams travel to Italy, Italian coaches travel to the US and Canada and US and Canadian coaches travel to Italy. Antonio soon became the North American coordinator of the program with his duties encompassing overseeing the affiliates program and scouting new talent. He has been the North America Director for many Italian professional soccer clubs, including Ascoli Soccer Academy, AC Parma Scuola Calcio and AC Perugia Scuola Calcio. In that capacity he has been helping, leading and developing coaching and player development programs for over 100 affiliated soccer schools across North America and Europe.

“I know of no one who can coordinate soccer events and has a vision for soccer talent and player development like Antonio Saviano”, said Gianni Borano an Italian Professional Scout expert and also an expert in the youth soccer player development field. “He is masterful in creating vision with such high value for each individual player that brings out commitment and passion from them until they see their accomplishments”. Mr. Borano went on to say, “his willingness to take responsibility for each club he works with is limitless and he is the most knowledge coach you ever get to meet and talk to”. “This is a coach who finishes what he starts and leads players and coaches with the same level of commitment and determination he has”.

Antonio is an extraordinary coach. His knowledge, love and passion for the game are so infectious that you cannot help but be drawn in. “Young players must learn through fun and games. They have to have fun and the reinforcement must always be positive or they will not come back. The game format keeps them interested while they are developing essential soccer skills”, says Saviano. “Drills need to be progressive. They need to be presented at a base, fundamental level and slowly have elements added, making sure that the students comprehend each addition. If the student doesn’t understand what is expected of them, they cannot effectively participate or make informed decisions for themselves”.

Antonio has written several books on youth development, among them, “U-6 – U-12 Development Theory”, “U-8 – U-10 Soccer School Development Manual”. He co-authored “Playing to Learn to Play, Didactic Progression for the Development of the Technical-Tactical Fundamentals in the Soccer Schools” and has produced a training video.

“Antonio Saviano is one of the top ranked coaches in the nation today”, said John Flirreni, Italian Premier Division Team’s Manager, I have personally seen him work with players and coaches, his coaching development ideas are easy to understand, he transmits what he believes to players on the field and to coaches in the classroom so they can take the information and become better in all areas of their soccer career”.

“The results and success of Scuola Calcio speaks for itself”, said Dana Siervertson, a long time friend. “This is a soccer service company that is moving forward with their many different soccer programs”.

Programs such as: All-Year Soccer Boarding School, Three weeks Soccer Camps in USA and Italy, Soccer Coaching Symposium, International Soccer Team Tour Travel, Monthly Professional Soccer Training, and much more are all offered to serious soccer players and coaches. Perhaps the greatest qualities and commitment is to develop and improve the players and coaches.

About Scuola Calcio

The Italian Scuola Calcio (Soccer School) has consolidated the experience developed from its technical staff and the experience acquired within the last few years from Ascoli Soccer Academy, A. C. Perugia Soccer School and A.C. Parma Soccer School program's technical staff. The Italian Scuola Calcio has included in the search, its own formation and exploitation of the youth soccer players, the mission is characterized to adopt an innovative politics and dynamics in the development of the actual activities. The Italian Scuola Calcio has built a network of more then 100 affiliated soccer schools, some of which in Italy and other abroad (North America) and other foreign countries such as Ghana and Brazil, and an organization of 80 professional scouts-observers, 20 regional coordinators and 5 International coordinators. These are people in charge of different areas, all of them coming from an extensive carrier in the professional youth soccer sectors. Each sportive season the Italian Scuola Calcio technical staff conducts over 400 technical visits to the affiliated soccer schools and organizes over 50 yearly selections (try-outs) for young soccer players between the age of 12 to 16, monitoring over 13000 players. The result of this complex and organized activity allows the technical staff to individualize the better players from each affiliated soccer schools therefore introduce them to the professional clubs such of Serie A, B and C (Italian Premier, First and Second Division). At the conclusion of each sportive season, young soccer players chosen from the Italian Scuola Calcio are introduced in the professional youth sector areas of the professional soccer clubs.

The Italian Scuola Calcio is a consortium of football organizations located on National and International territory that proposes to put its network and experience of scouting and its skills in making the most of young players at the availability of those professional clubs which request this service. Italian Scuola Calcio’s technical structure specializes in scouting, supporting the ‘Youth Sector', and teaching basic activities, paying particular attention to youth soccer players between the ages of 6 to 16. Italian Scuola Calcio’s structure represents all the non-professional organizations that develop new talent. Its activities are aimed to promote the technical growth of soccer schools, as well as increasing the value for their ‘youth sector'. Italian Scuola Calcio's activities maintain a permanent focus on scouting and monitoring the National and International territory. The network of affiliated soccer schools guarantees that the both territories are fully monitored.

The following is an overview of the Scuola Calcio consortium:

- 85 National and International Affiliated clubs (Europe - USA - Canada - West Africa)

- 15 Technical Area Manager

- 80 Technical Observers

- 400 Technical Stages for Players of Affiliated Clubs

- 40 Formation/Development Stages for Instructors of Affiliated Clubs

- 50 Yearly meeting to scout new talent

- 13000 Athletes involved in the organization

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

Gothia Cup 2007

2007-10-11T20:50:00.001-07:00

By Mark Coolio

It was amazing... football, football and MORE football. Teams from all over the world came to Sweden, Gothenburg to compete in the youth tournament Gothia Cup. This is the adventure of the whole year for a lot of the teams. During a whole week it was so much football in Gothenburg.

Games were played all over Gothenburg on all decent pitches. At Heden you always have something to do. There are great games played there all the time. The most interesting international teams play here. If you want to watch some great football this is the place to go during Gothia Cup.

If you don't have a game to play or you want to take a break from your football watching, well... Heden is still the place to go. This year there were a lot of activities going on. You could impress your friends with Karaoke, all kind of singers performed... good, and not so good. You could do speed shooting, then you will know by fact how hard your shot is. You could compete in your football team who's got the hardest shot. You had accuracy shooting at a goal, also a could way to arrange competitions in the team and maybe your coach could arrange a price, maybe a teddy bear.

My personal favorite this year was the McDonald's Football Fun & Freestyle stage. They had amazing performers on stage. If you wanted you could join them on stage for coaching or just doing some tricks together. Palle & Matte were their names and they did amazing things with the football. They did things you didn't know was possible. This was also very inspiring for the kids to see, some were instantly taking a ball to juggle. Some guys in the crowd already knew the performers and wanted to take pictures with them or ask for an autograph.

It was very cool and the Heden center were great this year. I don't know what will happen at the Heden center 2008, but I'm sure they will arrange something really cool!

Interested in Football Freestyle... well here's a site about the sport: http://www.freestylefactory.net

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

5 Reasons Behind the Deployment of a 4-5-1 System or Formation in A Soccer or Football Game

2007-10-11T20:49:00.001-07:00

In the modern game of soccer or football recently, a formation or system 4-5-1 has enjoyed a much higher played ratio especially by smaller clubs or clubs or nations playing away. Here are five reasons why such a formation or system is employed.

A defintion of the system is first needed. A 4-5-1 would refer to the deployment of one goalkeeper, four defenders, five midfielders and a striker. An example of a team making a success of the formation is the Greek National in European Football Championships 2004 where they emerge as champions with the deployment of such a system. And now for the reasons.

Flexibility - Football or soccer is a fast paced game where an attack can be turned into the counter attack by the opposition if possession is lost. Hence the deployment of a 4-5-1 system allows the flexibility 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 lone striker. Furthermore of the three central midfielders, one or two can also push to join the attack while the remaining midfielder would 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, a five midfield in theory would be able to pressure the opposition to win back the ball. Another example, the five man midfield would add more steel into midfield portion to win or retain possession to ease off pressure at the back.

Defending a one goal Lead - In some matches, the game can be very close one where a single goal can decide the outcome. Hence some managers would like to employ 4-5-1 formation to defend the lead in the last ten to twenty minutes of the game. The flexibility of the system is already explained under point 1. The system would also enable the team to launch counter attack if needed when the opposition throws caution to wind for an equalizer. The other purpose is to pass the ball around to run down the clock and the best way to do so is to keep possession.

Playing an Away Game - In the modern league games, a point from a game drawn especially if the game is away or against a strong opposition is crucial. The reason is simple as most home teams would go out to try their best to win at home with their supporters behind them acting as the 12th man. For example, in recent games like Liverpool verses Birmingham City or Manchester United verses Reading, both City and Reading employed a 4-5-1 system to stifle the midfield of Liverpool and United. The system would usually enable a team to come away with a point or avoid a mauling at hand of strong opposition. Such a point usually meant a victory for the smaller clubs.

Playing against Stronger Opposition - As mentioned in point 3, playing against strong opposition at home, a 4-5-1 system would be employed for the same rationale of getting a point or avoiding a heavy defeat. Such a attitude towards game can be seen as a defeatist attitude, but survival in the top leagues around the world would mean huge revenue for clubs. An example is the English Premiership where millions can be lost if a team is relegated. Hence some teams would rather employ such a formation to ensure of a low scoring defeat or a draw game for a point while a more attacking one when facing opposition of similar status.

Injuries - This is the least common reason why a 4-5-1 formation would be deployed. The reason is a very simple one. There are usually more defenders and midfielders than strikers in the club. Hence if a club has a striker injury situation, it may be more inclined to employ such a system than others. Furthermore deploying players in familiar positions would be having a much better effect than playing them in an untrained position.

Hence the above reasons should help to explain the rationale behind the employment of a 4-5-1 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

Ascoli Soccer Academy Cup - Italy, 2007

2007-10-11T20:48:00.003-07:00

By Gian Sarfin

The Ascoli Soccer Academy Cup was held in Perugia this past June 25th - 30th, 2007 for the 6th consecutive time. The tournament was open to boys of 12 and 13 years of age. A special two day soccer training session was also held for teams traveling from United States and Canada, allowing them to learn from some of the best Italian Soccer Coaches such as Bruno Redolfi, former Ascoli Soccer Academy Technical Director.

"This year's event was great! I wish we could have something similar to this throughout the US and Canada," Jeff Iacopina (parent) remarked. He went on to say "I know our players had a fantastci experience not just learning the game and playing against some of the best players in Italy, but also a fantastic cultural experience. I am sure they will never forget this"!

Only 12 teams participated in the competition. “Most of the teams were from different Italian Regions. These are teams formed after an extensive try-out process through out the year, then the players are placed on a team and attend the tournament where there are professional soccer scouts that look at them to see who makes the final cut. It is like a funnel process”, said Antonio Saviano, Scuola Calcio Technical Director.

A special thanks goes to Soccerkix for fully organizing all the logistics and supporting this event.

For the last few years Soccerkix has taken players and teams all over the world. Italy and Brazil are the most common places teams travel to. You and your team get an experience that you just can't get in the USA. Once you've experienced soccer in Italy or Brazil, you will certainly have a new and deeper understanding of the game. Soccerkix and Scuola Calcio are about soccer for life. We love the game and have dedicated ourselves to it. You will have a great time at our camps and tours and will receive the best coaching possible.

For more information visit www.soccerkix.com or email info@soccerkix.com

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

Soccer Team Tour to Italy - A "Player Experience"

2007-10-11T20:48:00.001-07:00

By Gian Sarfin

When the members of the ’94 Wilmington N.C Cape Fear Beakers Boys Soccer Club departed for Perugia, Italy, they did not know what to expect. They did know, however, that they would be training and participating in an international tournament that included players from several European countries as well as the United States and Canada. Their coach, Antonio Saviano, tried to get them to understand that many of their opponents would be bigger, stronger, faster and better skilled than the players they were used to facing. There would also be the issue of playing on a larger field with Eleven players a side, instead of the usual eight vs. eight they were used to.

When they got to Italy, their week was laid out for them. There would be two training sessions, morning and afternoon, for Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday would be a sightseeing day and a chance to rest. Thursday through Saturday they would compete I an eleven-team tournament with at least two games a day. The championship finale would take place on Saturday afternoon.

At 9:30 Monday morning they all boarded the bus buzzing with excitement as they headed off to their first session. Although jet-lagged from arriving the prior day, their enthusiasm overcame sleep deprivation. The parents spent the late morning relaxing in town, sightseeing, shopping and sipping cappuccinos. When the team bus returned for lunch, however, the lack of sleep and demanding training session had obviously taken its toll. They boys were exhausted and were told to eat lunch and go to their rooms to rest and recover before their afternoon session. Eleven year old Jack Sordellini was among more than a few players who wondered “what did I get myself into?” He rallied, however, for next session, as well as the two on Tuesday, but was always happy to return to the hotel to eat, swim with his teammates at the pool and just relax. Wednesday was a welcome day off, and many members of the team toured Rome and other parts of this beautiful country.

On Thursday the games finally began. Jack could not wait and it did not take long for him to get what he came for. Playing at the right wing, it seemed that every ball in the first 10 minutes of the match were played to his part of the field and he was forced to make several long runs. The size and speed of his opponents was as advertised and the larger field along with the pace of the game tested his stamina. Once again he wondered if he was in over his head. The game finally settled into a less frenetic pace and the boys from Wilmington realized that they could compete with their stronger opponents. This first game ended scoreless in regulation time and Wilmington won on penalty kicks. They played the balance of the schedule in a similar fashion, and although they did not make the tourney finals, they clearly earned respect. Their confidence grew with each match, both on and off the field.

Alex Gianoplus, 12, heard people in the crowd chanting his name, but who were they and how did they know his name? Were they cheering for him or against? Invited to be a guest goalie playing for an Italian team, he did not understand the words that his teammates were saying to him, but he got the general idea: keep the ball out of the net.

Even though the weather was hot, over 90 degrees, Alex was outfitted with a long sleeve jersey and his socks were pulled up over his knees. The artificial turf, which was 10+degrees hotter than the air temperature, had given both of his knees and his elbows a nice layer of raw skin. That was the price he paid as he had spent the week during practice and games hurling his body in every direction making acrobatic saves.

But now he was playing in the semi-finals as a guest goalie for Italy and he could hear his name being called from the stands. As the opposition skillfully advanced the ball toward him on the attack, he was amazed at the accuracy of their passes. As he followed the play to the left he sensed that the ball would be crossed to the other side. In a split second the ball was redirected to his right and out of nowhere one of the attackers rushed the goal in perfect time to deflect it with his head toward the net. Alex instinctively lunged to his right and extended both arms. The ball seemed to be already in the net when Alex’s out stretched arms punched it to the corner of the field, where one of his defenders cleared it down field. As he landed on his tender elbows he heard the rhythmic chant from the crowd: ALEX! ALEX! ALEX! “Hmm. I guess they are rooting for me” he thought.

When the game ended Alex came up to the stands to watch the next game. He learned that his new fan club was a group of players who had a vested interest in a victory for Alex’s team. Alex sat among his new friends getting acquainted, joking ,watching the game and exchanging sweaty jerseys as souvenirs. Although there was a language barrier, they clearly knew they had a common bond.

Later, after the top two teams played for the championship, all of the teams and their parents went down to the field for an awards ceremony. The host of the tournament stood before a table of magnificent trophies for the winning teams. He thanked all of the participants and then gave out the awards. The first one, he announced, was for the ‘giocatore piu giovane”. Jack Sordellini did not know what was being said, but he understood his own name and went up to accept his trophy for being the tournament’s “youngest player”.

The tournament director continued and then held up the next large cup which was inscribed ‘miglior portiere”. Alex Gianoplus heard his name called and found out that he was named the tournaments “best goalie”.

The next day Jack and Alex waited patiently at the airport to leave for home. They had checked all their baggage with the exception of a small carry-on and, of course, two huge trophies. As they waited for their flight, they sat and talked about their week that seemed to start so long ago.

Somehow their recollection of the week changed a little bit. The Monday and Tuesday practice sessions did not seems so grueling in retrospect. In their minds the opponents were not as large as they once seemed. The field shrunk a bit and any cramps from sprinting in the blistering hot sun could not even be recalled. Turf-burned knees and elbows were little more than a faded memory...

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

Biography of Pele - The King of Football

2007-10-11T20:47:00.001-07:00