Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Select your timezone:
It has long been a source of unparalleled pride, a common bond uniting a disparate nation, something Brazilians could always point to - even in times of economic ruin or authoritarian rule - that made them the best in the world.
But these days, Brazil, the most successful nation in World Cup history, home to legends like Pele and Ronaldo, is finding little comfort in "the beautiful game."
In the most unexpected of ways, Brazil's obsession with soccer has become a potent symbol of what ails the country. Ever since protests began sweeping across Brazil this week, demonstrators have taken to the streets by the hundreds of thousands to vent their rage at political leaders of every stripe, at the reign of corruption, at the sorry state of public services.
Now, pointing to the billions of dollars spent on stadiums at the expense of basic needs, a growing number of protesters are telling fans around the globe to do what would once seem unthinkable - to boycott the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In a sign of how thoroughly the country has been turned upside down, even some of the nation's revered soccer heroes have become targets of rage for distancing themselves from the popular uprising.
"Pele and Ronaldo are making money off the Cup with their advertising contracts, but what about the rest of the nation?" asked one protester, Gabriela Costa, 24, a university student.
Protesters lambasted both men after Pele, whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, called on Brazilians to "forget the protests" and a video circulated on social media showing Ronaldo, whose name is Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, now a television commentator and sports marketing strategist, contending that World Cups are accomplished "with stadiums, not hospitals."
With hordes of protesters rallying outside soccer matches, clashing with the police and setting vehicles on fire, FIFA, soccer's international governing body, took pains to reassure the world Friday that it had "full trust" in Brazil's ability to provide security and had not considered canceling either the 2014 World Cup or the Confederations Cup, a major international tournament currently taking place in Brazil.
But the fact that soccer officials even had to address the issue was a major embarrassment to Brazilian officials, who had fought so hard to land international events like the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in order to showcase what a stable, democratic power their nation had become.
Now instead of being the culmination of Brazil's rise, the events - and the enormous expense of hosting them - have become a rallying cry for the protesters to show how out of step their government's priorities are with what the people want and need. While the government says it is spending more than $13 billion to prepare for the World Cup, including related construction projects, most of the stadiums are over budget, according to official findings.
"I love soccer," said Arnaldo da Silva, 29, a supervisor at a telecommunications company, who celebrated back in 2007 when Brazil landed the World Cup but was also among the protesters in the streets this week, denouncing spending
on stadiums when the infrastructure around those structures, like sidewalks, is crumbling. "It's as if we're divided between our heart and our head." As far back as the 1930s, fans here swelled with pride over the feats of players like Leonidas da Silva, a striker known as the "Black Diamond" who stunned European opponents with remarkably creative plays. Some Brazilian players like Socrates, the hard-drinking medical doctor who was captain of Brazil's 1982 World Cup team, transcended the sport by taking part in the pro-democracy movement against Brazil's military dictatorship. But now Brazil's star players, even those speaking favorably of the new wave of protests, are suddenly finding themselves under scrutiny in new ways.
"Brazil, wake up! A teacher is worth more than Neymar!" thousands of protesters shouted at a demonstration this week outside the new stadium built in Fortaleza in northeast Brazil, referring to the wealth of Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., the 21-year-old star who recently joined Barcelona, the Spanish soccer club.
On the field, the national team finds itself in the doldrums, dropping to a historic low of No. 22 in the rankings of FIFA. And at the Brazilian Football Confederation, which oversees the sport in the country, the longtime president, Ricardo Teixeira, resigned in 2012. He cited health reasons, but he had faced allegations of corruption.
Meanwhile, his successor, Jose Maria Marin, 80, has come under fire over his support for Brazil's military dictatorship and being shown on video slipping a medal from a youth tournament into his pocket. Later, he said the medal was given to him.
"Brazil was coming into the preparations for the World Cup with a swagger from its growing economic clout," said Alex Bellos, a Briton who has written widely on Brazilian soccer. "But there's the sense now that the sport is beset by various problems, even before the protests erupted."
In its bid to win the 2007 Pan American Games, Rio de Janeiro promised that it would build a new highway, a monorail and miles of new subway lines, but none of those projects came to fruition. The games themselves were over budget, and a number of the venues were so poorly constructed that they are either being knocked down or reconstructed for the Olympics.
The Engenhao stadium, built for track and field and then used by Botafogo, a Rio soccer club, was to be the main venue for the 2016 Olympics. But that is now in doubt after technicians ruled that the roof could collapse in windy weather and ordered it closed.
"I think Brazilians are feeling insulted to see that there was political will and large investments to construct big, FIFA-quality soccer fields," said Antonio Carlos Costa, 51, a Presbyterian pastor and leader of Rio de Paz, a group that combats social inequal
But these days, Brazil, the most successful nation in World Cup history, home to legends like Pele and Ronaldo, is finding little comfort in "the beautiful game."
In the most unexpected of ways, Brazil's obsession with soccer has become a potent symbol of what ails the country. Ever since protests began sweeping across Brazil this week, demonstrators have taken to the streets by the hundreds of thousands to vent their rage at political leaders of every stripe, at the reign of corruption, at the sorry state of public services.
Now, pointing to the billions of dollars spent on stadiums at the expense of basic needs, a growing number of protesters are telling fans around the globe to do what would once seem unthinkable - to boycott the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In a sign of how thoroughly the country has been turned upside down, even some of the nation's revered soccer heroes have become targets of rage for distancing themselves from the popular uprising.
"Pele and Ronaldo are making money off the Cup with their advertising contracts, but what about the rest of the nation?" asked one protester, Gabriela Costa, 24, a university student.
Protesters lambasted both men after Pele, whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, called on Brazilians to "forget the protests" and a video circulated on social media showing Ronaldo, whose name is Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, now a television commentator and sports marketing strategist, contending that World Cups are accomplished "with stadiums, not hospitals."
With hordes of protesters rallying outside soccer matches, clashing with the police and setting vehicles on fire, FIFA, soccer's international governing body, took pains to reassure the world Friday that it had "full trust" in Brazil's ability to provide security and had not considered canceling either the 2014 World Cup or the Confederations Cup, a major international tournament currently taking place in Brazil.
But the fact that soccer officials even had to address the issue was a major embarrassment to Brazilian officials, who had fought so hard to land international events like the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in order to showcase what a stable, democratic power their nation had become.
Now instead of being the culmination of Brazil's rise, the events - and the enormous expense of hosting them - have become a rallying cry for the protesters to show how out of step their government's priorities are with what the people want and need. While the government says it is spending more than $13 billion to prepare for the World Cup, including related construction projects, most of the stadiums are over budget, according to official findings.
"I love soccer," said Arnaldo da Silva, 29, a supervisor at a telecommunications company, who celebrated back in 2007 when Brazil landed the World Cup but was also among the protesters in the streets this week, denouncing spending
on stadiums when the infrastructure around those structures, like sidewalks, is crumbling. "It's as if we're divided between our heart and our head." As far back as the 1930s, fans here swelled with pride over the feats of players like Leonidas da Silva, a striker known as the "Black Diamond" who stunned European opponents with remarkably creative plays. Some Brazilian players like Socrates, the hard-drinking medical doctor who was captain of Brazil's 1982 World Cup team, transcended the sport by taking part in the pro-democracy movement against Brazil's military dictatorship. But now Brazil's star players, even those speaking favorably of the new wave of protests, are suddenly finding themselves under scrutiny in new ways.
"Brazil, wake up! A teacher is worth more than Neymar!" thousands of protesters shouted at a demonstration this week outside the new stadium built in Fortaleza in northeast Brazil, referring to the wealth of Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., the 21-year-old star who recently joined Barcelona, the Spanish soccer club.
On the field, the national team finds itself in the doldrums, dropping to a historic low of No. 22 in the rankings of FIFA. And at the Brazilian Football Confederation, which oversees the sport in the country, the longtime president, Ricardo Teixeira, resigned in 2012. He cited health reasons, but he had faced allegations of corruption.
Meanwhile, his successor, Jose Maria Marin, 80, has come under fire over his support for Brazil's military dictatorship and being shown on video slipping a medal from a youth tournament into his pocket. Later, he said the medal was given to him.
"Brazil was coming into the preparations for the World Cup with a swagger from its growing economic clout," said Alex Bellos, a Briton who has written widely on Brazilian soccer. "But there's the sense now that the sport is beset by various problems, even before the protests erupted."
In its bid to win the 2007 Pan American Games, Rio de Janeiro promised that it would build a new highway, a monorail and miles of new subway lines, but none of those projects came to fruition. The games themselves were over budget, and a number of the venues were so poorly constructed that they are either being knocked down or reconstructed for the Olympics.
The Engenhao stadium, built for track and field and then used by Botafogo, a Rio soccer club, was to be the main venue for the 2016 Olympics. But that is now in doubt after technicians ruled that the roof could collapse in windy weather and ordered it closed.
"I think Brazilians are feeling insulted to see that there was political will and large investments to construct big, FIFA-quality soccer fields," said Antonio Carlos Costa, 51, a Presbyterian pastor and leader of Rio de Paz, a group that combats social inequal
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Robyn Gayle and Diana Matheson —veterans of Canada's bronze-medal-winning Olympic soccer team — are turning heads both on and off the pitch this season.
Gayle and Matheson are playing for the Washington Spirit in the brand new National Women’s Soccer League. Matheson leads the team in goals, Gayle is a key defender. But when the two professional athletes are not training or on the field, they are back at home hanging out with their neighbours — who are almost three times their age.
Since April Gayle and Matheson have been living free of charge in an old folks’ home in Rockville, Maryland. It's part of an innovative social experiment.
Win-win proposition
It is a surprisingly common complaint from inside retirement residences and homes for the aged: “Everybody here is old!”
Your bridge partner is old. Your hallway neighbour is old. The book club members are old. The people you have dinner with are old. The only young faces are visitors or caregivers.
Which makes the experiment at Ingleside at King Farm, a sprawling seniors’ complex in Rockville, pretty remarkable.
Marilyn Leist is the executive-director. She remembers when the idea to house seniors and budget-conscious young athletes under the same roof first surfaced.
“The vice-president of marketing and sales came to me, and she said, ‘Hey, I have this great idea.’ And I looked at her like she had three heads because I thought she was nuts.”
Then Steve Gurney, publisher of The Guide to Retirement Living Sourcebook and an elder-care advocate, told her another facility had already explored a similar idea. Josh Faiola, a pitcher with the minor league Lake Erie Crushers, moved into an assisted-living complex during the 2009 baseball season. Leist then offered Diana Matheson and Robyn Gayle a rent-free apartment and meal passes through the season.
They were playing in Cyprus when the e-mail arrived. At first they thought it was a joke. Matheson is 29 and Gayle is 27, so their average age is 28. At Ingleside digits are reversed: the average resident is 82 years old.
Then Matheson and Gayle checked out the Ingleside at King Farm website and decided to give it a shot.
There are 375 residents in 246 independent-living apartments, 43 assisted-living apartments and 26 skilled-nursing suites. But Matheson and Gayle’s fourth-floor home is like a tony condo anywhere: there are granite counters, walk-in closets and wall-to-wall carpets. Except here all the doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs.
The condos are attractive, but the decision was also a practical one. Even though Matheson and Gayle are among the best soccer players in the world, there are no limos, no five-star hotels. There is no way they could they ever afford to rent a place like this. And neither could the The National Women’s Soccer League.
The eight-team league is in its first year, halfway through its six-month season. Two previous women’s professional leagues failed. Sponsorships are hard to come by, media attention hard to get, stands sometimes hard to fill. Money for the league and its players is almost always an issue.
Living in Ingleside at King Farm means Gayle and Matheson can save money.
And make interesting new friends. Almost every day, neighbours want to help out or invite them to dinner.
“I sort of adopted them,” says 73-year-old Nancy Kaplan, “because they are away from their moms. When I first met them I went up and saw their apartment, and I sewed things for them for their rooms so they would be decorated and cozy.”
At the moment, many of the soccer league’s players live with host families. But after three months at Ingleside, Diana Matheson says she's convinced that all of the teams should be looking to house some players in seniors’ residences.
Living with a host family “is not always the ideal situation for the older girls, like 27 through 30,” she says. But by living in a seniors’ residence “you have your own space, plus you get to learn from amazing people.”
The payoff
The experiment is paying dividends for Ingleside’s regular residents, too. It’s Saturday evening. Rain pours down as the Washington Spirit face off against the Boston Breakers at the Maryland Soccerplex.
Still, it is a near sell-out: 4,027 fans — many of them little girls in soccer uniforms, along with their coaches and parents — fill the stands.
The shuttle bus that brings Inglesiders to every home game has been cancelled. Walking over slippery, wet grass was deemed too dangerous for aging bones.
But 83-year-old Ingleside resident Dr. Richard Craut wasn’t going to let anyone stop him. He asked his son Keith to drive him to the game.
“I never paid attention to it [soccer] until Robyn and Diana appeared on the scene,” he says. “So now I find myself beginning to look up the rules.
“Everybody at Ingleside continues to think that we are all still growing, and we are. It is very important for old folks to keep learning.”
And the soccer players are learning, too. When they are not on the field, Matheson and Gayle visit with friends like 92-year-old Robert Balkam and his wife Laurin.
The Balkams have been married for 71 years. Bob has his own apartment at Ingleside, just down the hall from the secure memory-care unit where Laurin lives. When Bob is with Robyn and Diana, he explains how he has learned to embrace the challenges that aging brings.
“And we talk about it too,” says Robyn Gayle, “because both our grandparents had spent time in retirement homes and nursing homes, and we’ve talked about the difference we have seen. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s, and she lived in assisted living, and this place is incredible.”
One of the first meals Gayle and Matheson had at Ingleside was with a long-married couple.
“Bruce is in fairly fragile state,” says Gayle. “He is recovering from some pretty heavy-duty stuff, and he went out of his way to pull out his wife’s chair, and it was so sweet.”
“I joked with Diana —the
Gayle and Matheson are playing for the Washington Spirit in the brand new National Women’s Soccer League. Matheson leads the team in goals, Gayle is a key defender. But when the two professional athletes are not training or on the field, they are back at home hanging out with their neighbours — who are almost three times their age.
Since April Gayle and Matheson have been living free of charge in an old folks’ home in Rockville, Maryland. It's part of an innovative social experiment.
Win-win proposition
It is a surprisingly common complaint from inside retirement residences and homes for the aged: “Everybody here is old!”
Your bridge partner is old. Your hallway neighbour is old. The book club members are old. The people you have dinner with are old. The only young faces are visitors or caregivers.
Which makes the experiment at Ingleside at King Farm, a sprawling seniors’ complex in Rockville, pretty remarkable.
Marilyn Leist is the executive-director. She remembers when the idea to house seniors and budget-conscious young athletes under the same roof first surfaced.
“The vice-president of marketing and sales came to me, and she said, ‘Hey, I have this great idea.’ And I looked at her like she had three heads because I thought she was nuts.”
Then Steve Gurney, publisher of The Guide to Retirement Living Sourcebook and an elder-care advocate, told her another facility had already explored a similar idea. Josh Faiola, a pitcher with the minor league Lake Erie Crushers, moved into an assisted-living complex during the 2009 baseball season. Leist then offered Diana Matheson and Robyn Gayle a rent-free apartment and meal passes through the season.
They were playing in Cyprus when the e-mail arrived. At first they thought it was a joke. Matheson is 29 and Gayle is 27, so their average age is 28. At Ingleside digits are reversed: the average resident is 82 years old.
Then Matheson and Gayle checked out the Ingleside at King Farm website and decided to give it a shot.
There are 375 residents in 246 independent-living apartments, 43 assisted-living apartments and 26 skilled-nursing suites. But Matheson and Gayle’s fourth-floor home is like a tony condo anywhere: there are granite counters, walk-in closets and wall-to-wall carpets. Except here all the doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs.
The condos are attractive, but the decision was also a practical one. Even though Matheson and Gayle are among the best soccer players in the world, there are no limos, no five-star hotels. There is no way they could they ever afford to rent a place like this. And neither could the The National Women’s Soccer League.
The eight-team league is in its first year, halfway through its six-month season. Two previous women’s professional leagues failed. Sponsorships are hard to come by, media attention hard to get, stands sometimes hard to fill. Money for the league and its players is almost always an issue.
Living in Ingleside at King Farm means Gayle and Matheson can save money.
And make interesting new friends. Almost every day, neighbours want to help out or invite them to dinner.
“I sort of adopted them,” says 73-year-old Nancy Kaplan, “because they are away from their moms. When I first met them I went up and saw their apartment, and I sewed things for them for their rooms so they would be decorated and cozy.”
At the moment, many of the soccer league’s players live with host families. But after three months at Ingleside, Diana Matheson says she's convinced that all of the teams should be looking to house some players in seniors’ residences.
Living with a host family “is not always the ideal situation for the older girls, like 27 through 30,” she says. But by living in a seniors’ residence “you have your own space, plus you get to learn from amazing people.”
The payoff
The experiment is paying dividends for Ingleside’s regular residents, too. It’s Saturday evening. Rain pours down as the Washington Spirit face off against the Boston Breakers at the Maryland Soccerplex.
Still, it is a near sell-out: 4,027 fans — many of them little girls in soccer uniforms, along with their coaches and parents — fill the stands.
The shuttle bus that brings Inglesiders to every home game has been cancelled. Walking over slippery, wet grass was deemed too dangerous for aging bones.
But 83-year-old Ingleside resident Dr. Richard Craut wasn’t going to let anyone stop him. He asked his son Keith to drive him to the game.
“I never paid attention to it [soccer] until Robyn and Diana appeared on the scene,” he says. “So now I find myself beginning to look up the rules.
“Everybody at Ingleside continues to think that we are all still growing, and we are. It is very important for old folks to keep learning.”
And the soccer players are learning, too. When they are not on the field, Matheson and Gayle visit with friends like 92-year-old Robert Balkam and his wife Laurin.
The Balkams have been married for 71 years. Bob has his own apartment at Ingleside, just down the hall from the secure memory-care unit where Laurin lives. When Bob is with Robyn and Diana, he explains how he has learned to embrace the challenges that aging brings.
“And we talk about it too,” says Robyn Gayle, “because both our grandparents had spent time in retirement homes and nursing homes, and we’ve talked about the difference we have seen. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s, and she lived in assisted living, and this place is incredible.”
One of the first meals Gayle and Matheson had at Ingleside was with a long-married couple.
“Bruce is in fairly fragile state,” says Gayle. “He is recovering from some pretty heavy-duty stuff, and he went out of his way to pull out his wife’s chair, and it was so sweet.”
“I joked with Diana —the
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
In-form striker Fred returns to the place where he made his name when Brazil face Uruguay in Wednesday's Confederations Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte and said he was treating the game as the final before the final.
"No doubt about it, I feel at home here," said Fred, scorer of two goals in Saturday's 4-2 win over Italy.
"I played here for America and Cruzeiro and I had great moments in this stadium. This is my first time in the new stadium (since its reform) and I am sure it will be a great atmosphere and I hope to score more goals."
"There's an atmosphere of a final about it," he added. "We know it will be a difficult game because of the rivalry we have had over the years but we are at home and we are here to win the competition and we'll dictate the rhythm from start to finish."
Brazil and Uruguay have a rich history of competitive games and even though the tiny South American nation has a population 65 times smaller than Brazil's the famously combative Uruguayans always relish facing their grander neighbour.
Fred said he was enjoying a new lease of life under Luiz Felipe Scolari after falling out of favour under previous coach Mano Menezes.
"Felipao likes centre forwards and he has given me lots of support," Fred said. "He has assured me when I've had problems and when you have people who want to help you and who believe in you then you do all you can to show them that they are right and you try your hardest to help them."
Scolari reinforced that support and said he simply wants Fred to keep scoring goals like he does at Fluminense, the current Brazilian champions.
"We know he is playing the way he does here at Fluminense, he is playing well and scoring goals," Scolari said. "He is doing what he does for the team and I am happy with him. It's great for all of us." (Editing by Justin Palmer)
Y! SPORTS
"No doubt about it, I feel at home here," said Fred, scorer of two goals in Saturday's 4-2 win over Italy.
"I played here for America and Cruzeiro and I had great moments in this stadium. This is my first time in the new stadium (since its reform) and I am sure it will be a great atmosphere and I hope to score more goals."
"There's an atmosphere of a final about it," he added. "We know it will be a difficult game because of the rivalry we have had over the years but we are at home and we are here to win the competition and we'll dictate the rhythm from start to finish."
Brazil and Uruguay have a rich history of competitive games and even though the tiny South American nation has a population 65 times smaller than Brazil's the famously combative Uruguayans always relish facing their grander neighbour.
Fred said he was enjoying a new lease of life under Luiz Felipe Scolari after falling out of favour under previous coach Mano Menezes.
"Felipao likes centre forwards and he has given me lots of support," Fred said. "He has assured me when I've had problems and when you have people who want to help you and who believe in you then you do all you can to show them that they are right and you try your hardest to help them."
Scolari reinforced that support and said he simply wants Fred to keep scoring goals like he does at Fluminense, the current Brazilian champions.
"We know he is playing the way he does here at Fluminense, he is playing well and scoring goals," Scolari said. "He is doing what he does for the team and I am happy with him. It's great for all of us." (Editing by Justin Palmer)
Y! SPORTS
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The madness has to stop.
It can be stopped if there is a will so to do. The solution is simple. The technology is already in place. The experts are already available. Let's put them together and hold the culprits accountable.
I have no idea whether Peter Finch was a talented athlete. I do know he was a formidable actor. For many, his lengthy career is summed up in one sentence: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore."
The memorable rant won him an Oscar for his role in the 1976 film Network.
I know how he felt. The first semifinal -- a 2-1 Brazilian win over Uruguay -- of the Confederations Cup was merely the tip of the iceberg. A classic South American derby between two highly talented teams was ruined by bad acting. Had it been on Broadway, rather than Belo Horizonte, it would have been panned by the critics and shut down after one night.
Neymar is a brilliant young footballer. At the age of 21 he has achieved so much in a short time. He has helped Pele's old team, Santos, regain its prestige. He has reignited Brazil's dream of a sixth World Cup and, with his best years ahead of him, has decided now is the time to spread his wings and join European giant Barcelona.
Unlike Finch, Neymar is a terrible actor.
He is not the only one. But he is the face of the future and already a role model to millions. Stardom comes at a price. For a professional athlete the cost is called responsibility. With a little good fortune, Neymar may have 10 years at the top. He needs to know the world will be watching his every step.
Officially the term is "simulation." How about we call it what it is in plain English -- cheating. Soccer is a contact sport and from time to time players collide in the battle for possession. Some tackles are mistimed, and very occasionally, premeditated and downright dangerous.
Referees dealing with epidemic
It is the job of the referee and his assistants to spot the difference. Unfortunately they are dealing with an epidemic. It only takes one player to get it started and everyone is affected. Diving has been allowed to fester to the extent that some players have become experts. They know exactly how and when to fool the referee.
Embellishment is a cancer in the game. The cure is right under our noses. The game cannot be stopped mid-stream but the "actors" can be caught. Once the game is over, a panel of former players and referees sit down to review the video. Their job is to name and shame the antagonists and recommend suitable punishment. An automatic one-game suspension would be a start.
The panel's decision is final and there is no right of appeal. If these grown men cannot behave themselves without the need to cheat their opponent, the referee and the fans, they need to be re-educated in the art of something approaching sportsmanship.
Once they know there is a risk of trial by video, it would surely act as a deterrent and players would think twice about making a mountain out of a molehill. FIFA should roll up its "My game is fair play" banners and put them in storage. When, and only when, the players understand the message can the world governing body dare to unfurl them once again.
Meanwhile, Brazil's 11th straight Confederations Cup win was anything but convincing. The loss was tough on Uruguay but when you miss a penalty kick at this level, it usually comes back to haunt you. The hosts march on to the weekend Final but their Achilles heel was unmistakably exposed.
The Brazilian defence is woefully inadequate. David Luiz' crude foul to concede the penalty was bad enough. The comedy of errors which preceded Edinson Cavani's equalizer would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious. The soft underbelly was there for the entire world to see and Brazil has a year to fix it.
Finally a word of praise for someone you've probably never heard of. Enrique Osses is a Chilean referee and deserves enormous credit for his strong and decisive performance. Despite their reluctance, he did his upmost the let the players play. Senor Osses is on FIFA's shortlist for the 2014 World Cup. On this evidence I, for one, hope he makes the cut.
Soccer cheats must be punished | Soccer | CBC Sports
It can be stopped if there is a will so to do. The solution is simple. The technology is already in place. The experts are already available. Let's put them together and hold the culprits accountable.
I have no idea whether Peter Finch was a talented athlete. I do know he was a formidable actor. For many, his lengthy career is summed up in one sentence: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore."
The memorable rant won him an Oscar for his role in the 1976 film Network.
I know how he felt. The first semifinal -- a 2-1 Brazilian win over Uruguay -- of the Confederations Cup was merely the tip of the iceberg. A classic South American derby between two highly talented teams was ruined by bad acting. Had it been on Broadway, rather than Belo Horizonte, it would have been panned by the critics and shut down after one night.
Neymar is a brilliant young footballer. At the age of 21 he has achieved so much in a short time. He has helped Pele's old team, Santos, regain its prestige. He has reignited Brazil's dream of a sixth World Cup and, with his best years ahead of him, has decided now is the time to spread his wings and join European giant Barcelona.
Unlike Finch, Neymar is a terrible actor.
He is not the only one. But he is the face of the future and already a role model to millions. Stardom comes at a price. For a professional athlete the cost is called responsibility. With a little good fortune, Neymar may have 10 years at the top. He needs to know the world will be watching his every step.
Officially the term is "simulation." How about we call it what it is in plain English -- cheating. Soccer is a contact sport and from time to time players collide in the battle for possession. Some tackles are mistimed, and very occasionally, premeditated and downright dangerous.
Referees dealing with epidemic
It is the job of the referee and his assistants to spot the difference. Unfortunately they are dealing with an epidemic. It only takes one player to get it started and everyone is affected. Diving has been allowed to fester to the extent that some players have become experts. They know exactly how and when to fool the referee.
Embellishment is a cancer in the game. The cure is right under our noses. The game cannot be stopped mid-stream but the "actors" can be caught. Once the game is over, a panel of former players and referees sit down to review the video. Their job is to name and shame the antagonists and recommend suitable punishment. An automatic one-game suspension would be a start.
The panel's decision is final and there is no right of appeal. If these grown men cannot behave themselves without the need to cheat their opponent, the referee and the fans, they need to be re-educated in the art of something approaching sportsmanship.
Once they know there is a risk of trial by video, it would surely act as a deterrent and players would think twice about making a mountain out of a molehill. FIFA should roll up its "My game is fair play" banners and put them in storage. When, and only when, the players understand the message can the world governing body dare to unfurl them once again.
Meanwhile, Brazil's 11th straight Confederations Cup win was anything but convincing. The loss was tough on Uruguay but when you miss a penalty kick at this level, it usually comes back to haunt you. The hosts march on to the weekend Final but their Achilles heel was unmistakably exposed.
The Brazilian defence is woefully inadequate. David Luiz' crude foul to concede the penalty was bad enough. The comedy of errors which preceded Edinson Cavani's equalizer would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious. The soft underbelly was there for the entire world to see and Brazil has a year to fix it.
Finally a word of praise for someone you've probably never heard of. Enrique Osses is a Chilean referee and deserves enormous credit for his strong and decisive performance. Despite their reluctance, he did his upmost the let the players play. Senor Osses is on FIFA's shortlist for the 2014 World Cup. On this evidence I, for one, hope he makes the cut.
Soccer cheats must be punished | Soccer | CBC Sports
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
International soccer is coming back to St. Louis.
After European Premier League foes Chelsea and Manchester City drew 48,263 fans to a sold-out Busch Stadium in an exhibition match on May 23, it was announced Thursday that the Edward Jones Dome will play host to two more elite European soccer clubs on Aug. 10.
Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid will play a friendly against F.C. Internazionale, otherwise known as Inter Milan, in the first men’s soccer match at the Dome.
“This is soccer royalty,” sportscaster Bill McDermott said on Thursday. “The mere mention of these two teams’ names conjures up memories from decades past and present.”
Inter Milan has won 18 Italian Serie A titles, seven Coppa Italia titles, and three European Championships, most recently in 2010. They feature stars such as Esteban Cambiasso, Fredy Guarin and Samir Handanovic.
But the huge draw in this match will be Real Madrid.
One of the most successful sports franchises in the world, the club has won a record 32 Spanish La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Rey titles, and nine European Championships. Their history includes a star-studded past of players such as David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane, and the club currently boasts one of the top soccer players of this generation.
“You have to come see this game to watch No. 7, one of the best players in the world right now, Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo,” McDermott said.
Along with Ronaldo, the club features superstars Sergio Ramos and Mesut Ozil.
“Some teams might be considered to be Florsheim shoes, and Real Madrid is Gucci,” said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, which is teaming up with Relevent Sports to put on the match. “Not that there is anything wrong with Florsheim shoes, but Gucci is that higher level, and Real Madrid is expected to draw a much larger crowd than we could hope to have with just about any other club that we could get.”
The extreme success of the Chelsea-Man City game was one of the prime factors in making this next match possible. Tickets sold out in minutes for the Premier League friendly that ended in a 4-3 win for Man City, bringing in the largest crowd ever for a sporting event at Busch Stadium.
For those who missed out in May, increased seating capacity of 67,000 at the Dome will offer a second chance, and the game also will be broadcast nationally.
However, unlike the friendly at Busch, there will be no public training session prior to the game, due to new natural turf that soon will be installed on the field.
Both clubs will head to St. Louis following the 2013 Guinness International Champions Cup, an inaugural tournament that will be played between eight clubs in six U.S. cities. The championship will be Aug. 7 in Miami.
“Although the finals are in Miami this year, we are talking about the idea of putting those finals up to a bid to cities if they wanted to host those finals in future years,” said Vicky Lynch, senior consultant for Relevent Sports.
“There are plenty of opportunities for St. Louis to continue to play a role in international soccer.”
And there are some who believe success with events such as this could eventually lead to the city landing a Major League Soccer franchise.
“Ideally, you continue to prove that St. Louis is an ideal soccer venue being in the middle of the country,” McDermott said. “Along with the St. Louis Ambush (a newly formed pro indoor soccer team), I certainly think that an outdoor franchise could coexist. That’s the end-all result. You certainly would like to get an MLS franchise so that St. Louis could indeed get back on the outdoor national soccer map.”
For now, fans will have to settle for another exhibition match to see some of the world’s best soccer players perform in St. Louis.
“This is must-see soccer,” McDermott said. “If you have even touched a soccer ball anywhere in your lifetime, talked to anybody who has played soccer, know somebody who has played soccer, you have to see this game.
“Do not miss this event.”
'Soccer royalty' will kick it here again : Sports
After European Premier League foes Chelsea and Manchester City drew 48,263 fans to a sold-out Busch Stadium in an exhibition match on May 23, it was announced Thursday that the Edward Jones Dome will play host to two more elite European soccer clubs on Aug. 10.
Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid will play a friendly against F.C. Internazionale, otherwise known as Inter Milan, in the first men’s soccer match at the Dome.
“This is soccer royalty,” sportscaster Bill McDermott said on Thursday. “The mere mention of these two teams’ names conjures up memories from decades past and present.”
Inter Milan has won 18 Italian Serie A titles, seven Coppa Italia titles, and three European Championships, most recently in 2010. They feature stars such as Esteban Cambiasso, Fredy Guarin and Samir Handanovic.
But the huge draw in this match will be Real Madrid.
One of the most successful sports franchises in the world, the club has won a record 32 Spanish La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Rey titles, and nine European Championships. Their history includes a star-studded past of players such as David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane, and the club currently boasts one of the top soccer players of this generation.
“You have to come see this game to watch No. 7, one of the best players in the world right now, Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo,” McDermott said.
Along with Ronaldo, the club features superstars Sergio Ramos and Mesut Ozil.
“Some teams might be considered to be Florsheim shoes, and Real Madrid is Gucci,” said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, which is teaming up with Relevent Sports to put on the match. “Not that there is anything wrong with Florsheim shoes, but Gucci is that higher level, and Real Madrid is expected to draw a much larger crowd than we could hope to have with just about any other club that we could get.”
The extreme success of the Chelsea-Man City game was one of the prime factors in making this next match possible. Tickets sold out in minutes for the Premier League friendly that ended in a 4-3 win for Man City, bringing in the largest crowd ever for a sporting event at Busch Stadium.
For those who missed out in May, increased seating capacity of 67,000 at the Dome will offer a second chance, and the game also will be broadcast nationally.
However, unlike the friendly at Busch, there will be no public training session prior to the game, due to new natural turf that soon will be installed on the field.
Both clubs will head to St. Louis following the 2013 Guinness International Champions Cup, an inaugural tournament that will be played between eight clubs in six U.S. cities. The championship will be Aug. 7 in Miami.
“Although the finals are in Miami this year, we are talking about the idea of putting those finals up to a bid to cities if they wanted to host those finals in future years,” said Vicky Lynch, senior consultant for Relevent Sports.
“There are plenty of opportunities for St. Louis to continue to play a role in international soccer.”
And there are some who believe success with events such as this could eventually lead to the city landing a Major League Soccer franchise.
“Ideally, you continue to prove that St. Louis is an ideal soccer venue being in the middle of the country,” McDermott said. “Along with the St. Louis Ambush (a newly formed pro indoor soccer team), I certainly think that an outdoor franchise could coexist. That’s the end-all result. You certainly would like to get an MLS franchise so that St. Louis could indeed get back on the outdoor national soccer map.”
For now, fans will have to settle for another exhibition match to see some of the world’s best soccer players perform in St. Louis.
“This is must-see soccer,” McDermott said. “If you have even touched a soccer ball anywhere in your lifetime, talked to anybody who has played soccer, know somebody who has played soccer, you have to see this game.
“Do not miss this event.”
'Soccer royalty' will kick it here again : Sports
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Good teams find a way to win. Great teams find a way to win championships.
Spain is on the verge of greatness. History is waiting to write this team up as the best of all time. But the historians, with facts and stats at their fingertips to validate the claims, must bide their time. Another year should do it.
The dress rehearsal is going well. Four straight wins at the Confederations Cup is a testament to the continuity of a group of players who have transformed the perception of a national team from talented chokers to expectant winners.
The Spaniards remain the team to beat. But in reaching Sunday's final (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 5:45 p.m. ET) after a thrilling shootout win over Italy Thursday, the world champions have only achieved what was expected in Brazil. Had Spain fallen by the wayside as it did in 2009, the inevitable post mortem would have followed, seeking an answer to a single question: is Spain past its peak?
It is a debate for another day, perhaps another year. In the meantime La Roja is focused on the job at hand -- winning another trophy. The Confederations Cup is the one piece of international silverware missing from Spain's global booty. It is not the most prized treasure on the soccer planet, but it is the next available, and that makes it the most important.
Dramatic semifinal
Spain's absorbing and dramatic semifinal win taught us two things. Firstly, Italy is a pretty formidable opponent. This was a proper game, as far removed from the embarrassing Euro2012 mauling at the hands of Spain as it is possible to get. Mario Balotelli's enforced absence was emphasized time and again as the Italians created, but failed to finish numerous chances.
Secondly, and more significantly, Spain can be rattled. Too many opponents give them too much respect and ultimately get punished for allowing Spain room and time to work its magic triangles. Trying to out-football the Spaniards is a recipe for disaster, so the Italians didn't try.
What Italy did worked like a charm. On a hot and humid late Thursday afternoon, the Italians worked their proverbial socks off to disrupt the Spanish supply line. Always aware of keeping its shape, Italy challenged for every ball -- hurrying and hustling Spain into mistakes.
Turnovers led to Italian possession. The Azzurri were quick on the break -- particularly in the first half, and but for some poor finishing and the experience of Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal, Italy's game plan would have reaped rewards.
Teams settle for extra time
Eventually the conditions had an effect. The game slowed and both teams had virtually settled for extra time long before the 90 minutes elapsed. Spain tried harder to win it without recourse to a shootout, but the lottery of penalties was always in the back of everyone's mind.
I have never been a fan. Everyone knows the rules before a ball is kicked and accepts them for what they are. There is no time for replays in tournament soccer so tiebreakers, via penalty kicks, are always a possibility. They are always nail-biting and they are always cruel on the losers.
Despite the outcome, Italy can hold its head high. It turned up for this World Cup warmup and emerged with great credit. Not only did the Italians stifle the world's best team, they did it cleanly. No repeat of the histrionics we witnessed in the first semifinal; just an honest to goodness toe-to-toe battle between two of soccer's heavyweights. Spain survived its biggest test yet. Its lack of a Plan B was stretched to the limit but the philosophy and style lives to fight another day. It held its collective nerve in the shootout with seven perfect penalties, and will draw mental strength from the experience going forward.
From the outset, a Brazil-Spain final was the one most predicted. It's not exactly rocket science in an eight-nation tournament. Brazil, with home advantage and a new generation of brilliant young talent, has resurrected itself among soccer's elite.
Spain has prevailed to take another step on the road toward soccer immortality.
Victory at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Barzil on Sunday will certainly aid the quest.
Spain survives its biggest test | Soccer | CBC Sports
Spain is on the verge of greatness. History is waiting to write this team up as the best of all time. But the historians, with facts and stats at their fingertips to validate the claims, must bide their time. Another year should do it.
The dress rehearsal is going well. Four straight wins at the Confederations Cup is a testament to the continuity of a group of players who have transformed the perception of a national team from talented chokers to expectant winners.
The Spaniards remain the team to beat. But in reaching Sunday's final (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 5:45 p.m. ET) after a thrilling shootout win over Italy Thursday, the world champions have only achieved what was expected in Brazil. Had Spain fallen by the wayside as it did in 2009, the inevitable post mortem would have followed, seeking an answer to a single question: is Spain past its peak?
It is a debate for another day, perhaps another year. In the meantime La Roja is focused on the job at hand -- winning another trophy. The Confederations Cup is the one piece of international silverware missing from Spain's global booty. It is not the most prized treasure on the soccer planet, but it is the next available, and that makes it the most important.
Dramatic semifinal
Spain's absorbing and dramatic semifinal win taught us two things. Firstly, Italy is a pretty formidable opponent. This was a proper game, as far removed from the embarrassing Euro2012 mauling at the hands of Spain as it is possible to get. Mario Balotelli's enforced absence was emphasized time and again as the Italians created, but failed to finish numerous chances.
Secondly, and more significantly, Spain can be rattled. Too many opponents give them too much respect and ultimately get punished for allowing Spain room and time to work its magic triangles. Trying to out-football the Spaniards is a recipe for disaster, so the Italians didn't try.
What Italy did worked like a charm. On a hot and humid late Thursday afternoon, the Italians worked their proverbial socks off to disrupt the Spanish supply line. Always aware of keeping its shape, Italy challenged for every ball -- hurrying and hustling Spain into mistakes.
Turnovers led to Italian possession. The Azzurri were quick on the break -- particularly in the first half, and but for some poor finishing and the experience of Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal, Italy's game plan would have reaped rewards.
Teams settle for extra time
Eventually the conditions had an effect. The game slowed and both teams had virtually settled for extra time long before the 90 minutes elapsed. Spain tried harder to win it without recourse to a shootout, but the lottery of penalties was always in the back of everyone's mind.
I have never been a fan. Everyone knows the rules before a ball is kicked and accepts them for what they are. There is no time for replays in tournament soccer so tiebreakers, via penalty kicks, are always a possibility. They are always nail-biting and they are always cruel on the losers.
Despite the outcome, Italy can hold its head high. It turned up for this World Cup warmup and emerged with great credit. Not only did the Italians stifle the world's best team, they did it cleanly. No repeat of the histrionics we witnessed in the first semifinal; just an honest to goodness toe-to-toe battle between two of soccer's heavyweights. Spain survived its biggest test yet. Its lack of a Plan B was stretched to the limit but the philosophy and style lives to fight another day. It held its collective nerve in the shootout with seven perfect penalties, and will draw mental strength from the experience going forward.
From the outset, a Brazil-Spain final was the one most predicted. It's not exactly rocket science in an eight-nation tournament. Brazil, with home advantage and a new generation of brilliant young talent, has resurrected itself among soccer's elite.
Spain has prevailed to take another step on the road toward soccer immortality.
Victory at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Barzil on Sunday will certainly aid the quest.
Spain survives its biggest test | Soccer | CBC Sports
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
A bomb planted near a yard where people were playing soccer in Iraq killed 12 people on Sunday, police and medics said.
A further 24 people were wounded in the blast in the town of Nahrawan, south of the capital Baghdad.
The violence is part of a trend of increasing militant attacks since the start of the year, which claimed more than 1,000 lives in May alone, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006-7.
In recent days, men playing in local soccer fixtures and watching matches have been the targets - after spates of attacks on Sunni and Shi'ite mosques, markets and the security forces.
The reason for targeting soccer players is not clear.
On Saturday, bombs targeting soccer players and young men who had gathered to watch a match in Iraq killed seven people.
Concerns that Iraq may lapse back into full-scale sectarian conflict have mounted in recent months amid tensions fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to overthrow a leader backed by Shi'ite Iran.
Sunni insurgents, including al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, have been regaining ground, recruiting from the country's Sunni minority, which resents Shi'ite domination since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Bomb kills 12 soccer players, fans in Iraq | Reuters
A further 24 people were wounded in the blast in the town of Nahrawan, south of the capital Baghdad.
The violence is part of a trend of increasing militant attacks since the start of the year, which claimed more than 1,000 lives in May alone, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006-7.
In recent days, men playing in local soccer fixtures and watching matches have been the targets - after spates of attacks on Sunni and Shi'ite mosques, markets and the security forces.
The reason for targeting soccer players is not clear.
On Saturday, bombs targeting soccer players and young men who had gathered to watch a match in Iraq killed seven people.
Concerns that Iraq may lapse back into full-scale sectarian conflict have mounted in recent months amid tensions fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to overthrow a leader backed by Shi'ite Iran.
Sunni insurgents, including al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, have been regaining ground, recruiting from the country's Sunni minority, which resents Shi'ite domination since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Bomb kills 12 soccer players, fans in Iraq | Reuters
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
FIFA and UEFA should share their fast-growing television revenue with players' unions to help protect footballers who struggle when clubs fall on hard times, FIFPro board member Joaquim Evangelista said on Monday.
Evangelista, also head of the Portuguese Professional Footballers Association, said he would urge fellow board members at world players' union FIFPro to support his call for action at the general assembly in the Netherlands later on Monday.
"FIFA and UEFA should stop the rhetoric and support players concretely," he told Reuters in an interview.
"We deal with the biggest problems in football: human dramas. So those who benefit the most from players (FIFA and UEFA) should also show solidarity," added Evangelista, referring to the ruling bodies of world and European soccer.
The Portuguese Footballers Association has been flooded with requests from players under financial and legal strain over the last year and Evangelista said resources needed to be directed to the players rather than just clubs and football federations.
"A percentage of TV rights revenues should go to help players through the unions," he said.
The sale of broadcasting rights for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil has generated an estimated $437 million while this year's FIFA Confederations Cup has beaten television audience records.
"I like (Real Madrid and Portugal winger) Cristiano Ronaldo very much and he is my friend but my job and that of other FIFPro unions is to stand by those who need us the most," Evangelista said.
Despite millions of euros being spent in transfers and salaries at the top clubs, soccer in recession-hit Portugal has been plagued by wage delays and clubs' financial woes, partly due to poor management.
Evangelista said FIFA cannot do without the daily work of the unions.
"We have to answer to human dramas every day. FIFA should help us cater for the most dramatic cases or support some specific programmes like our summer training camps for out-of-contract players," he added.
FIFPro is the worldwide organisation for all professional players, representing more than 50,000 footballers.
Y! SPORTS
Evangelista, also head of the Portuguese Professional Footballers Association, said he would urge fellow board members at world players' union FIFPro to support his call for action at the general assembly in the Netherlands later on Monday.
"FIFA and UEFA should stop the rhetoric and support players concretely," he told Reuters in an interview.
"We deal with the biggest problems in football: human dramas. So those who benefit the most from players (FIFA and UEFA) should also show solidarity," added Evangelista, referring to the ruling bodies of world and European soccer.
The Portuguese Footballers Association has been flooded with requests from players under financial and legal strain over the last year and Evangelista said resources needed to be directed to the players rather than just clubs and football federations.
"A percentage of TV rights revenues should go to help players through the unions," he said.
The sale of broadcasting rights for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil has generated an estimated $437 million while this year's FIFA Confederations Cup has beaten television audience records.
"I like (Real Madrid and Portugal winger) Cristiano Ronaldo very much and he is my friend but my job and that of other FIFPro unions is to stand by those who need us the most," Evangelista said.
Despite millions of euros being spent in transfers and salaries at the top clubs, soccer in recession-hit Portugal has been plagued by wage delays and clubs' financial woes, partly due to poor management.
Evangelista said FIFA cannot do without the daily work of the unions.
"We have to answer to human dramas every day. FIFA should help us cater for the most dramatic cases or support some specific programmes like our summer training camps for out-of-contract players," he added.
FIFPro is the worldwide organisation for all professional players, representing more than 50,000 footballers.
Y! SPORTS
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
This is cool! Barack Obama played with a Soccket Ball in Tanzania on Tuesday.
This ball, when kicked around for 30 minutes, yields several hours of battery power.
We’ll get to how this works, but first the important POTUS x Soccer visuals. It was actually during a tour at a power plant here that Obama and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete got a look at the “soccket ball” — a soccer ball that has an electric generator placed inside of it. Invented by two Harvard University graduates, the balls can generate electrical power for lights and cell phones after they are played with for a while.
Obama told reporters that his administration will use the balls as part of its effort to make electricity more accessible across the continent.
“We Are Truly Living In The Future,” I always say.
This ball, when kicked around for 30 minutes, yields several hours of battery power.
We’ll get to how this works, but first the important POTUS x Soccer visuals. It was actually during a tour at a power plant here that Obama and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete got a look at the “soccket ball” — a soccer ball that has an electric generator placed inside of it. Invented by two Harvard University graduates, the balls can generate electrical power for lights and cell phones after they are played with for a while.
Obama told reporters that his administration will use the balls as part of its effort to make electricity more accessible across the continent.
“We Are Truly Living In The Future,” I always say.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Chinese soccer fans have already become used to disappointing performances from their national soccer team. But a recent shameful loss has stirred national anger -- and pushed discussion about the country's soccer system to a new level. On June 15, in a friendly against 142nd-ranked Thailand, the 95th-ranked Chinese team lost 5-1. Making matters worse for China, it was the Thai U-23 (under-23) squad delivering the drubbing. It was also a home game for China. In addition to anger outside the stadium that night, frustration filled Sina Weibo. Unlike the typical complaints, which usually die down after a day or two, discussion of this most recent loss has continued. That's partly because the after-effects continue to cascade: the termination of the head coach Jose Antonio Camacho soon after the loss, as well as the publication of a letter of apology from the Chinese Football Association, a de facto department of the Chinese State General Administration of Sports.
User @白雨童鞋 asked, "Why bother to keep defaming the national soccer team? If I'd bet on its losing over the last three years, I could afford to buy a house by now." @是时候改个好名字了 joked that Chinese soccer has at least been consistent. "Though our skill is the worst on earth, we have the thickest face [Chinese slang for indifference to humiliation]! And our results have also been stable!"
People have been so quick to lampoon their own team in part because they feel a sense of hurt pride. Chinese Web users often criticize their government, but they also evince a strong sense of national identity, and are highly sensitive about their country's image. Team-based sports such as soccer and basketball should, theoretically, represent the unity of the Chinese state. Instead, as taxpayers who subsidize the national soccer team, Web users feel as if they have made a failed investment.
As @bbschn wrote: "I don't know why the national soccer team exists ... I don't know what else it does besides wasting taxpayers' money, losing face internationally, and bring us Chinese down." @ 夏末__秋至 had this advice: "Disbanding the team and the Chinese Football Association is the simplest and most effective way. Don't hesitate, just let it go if we can't do it, don't make we the people share the shame with you."
The team's putrid performance against Thailand also underscored the contrast between Chinese sports and its improving performance in other areas, like the country's high-octane economy. In fact, the best season on record was 2002, when the team advanced to the World Cup -- which took place in South Korea and Japan, making it easier for China to get in -- for the first time. In that tournament, the Chinese men's team scored not a single goal, lost all three group matches, and was promptly eliminated.
Some within China have at various points argued that genetic differences could be to blame -- perhaps Asians are just worse at soccer. But the fall to Thailand ripped off that last shred of the national soccer team's proverbial fig leaf. A popular phrase spreading on Weibo: "Japan keeps proving that Asians can play soccer, while the Chinese National Soccer Team has been working hard to refute it."
User @一条河934 described the contrast: "Watched the FIFA Confederations Cup between Italy and Japan this morning. Though Japan lost a close one 4-3, it was with honor. Their hard offensive, fine skills and unspoken cooperation are a combination of the Brazilian style as well as the bravery of the Germany team. They have won global respect and admiration. Also from Asia, the Chinese national team lost 5-1to Thailand and the whole nation feels shameful."
This feeling of helplessness, tinged with bitterness, is often directed not just at the players, but at the country's soccer system, and even the society that surrounds it. "Chinese national soccer is actually a snapshot of society," @逸仙周刊 wrote. He continued:
About 20 years of Chinese soccer markets' 'professionalism' has created a market freak with a strong bureaucratic flavor: an administrator-controlled 'pseudo-professional' league where officials hook up with businessmen. It's an insider's embezzlement job ... The administrators pursue political achievements, [and] the goal of professionalism is always [subordinate to] the goal of winning the gold medal.
This is not a rootless complaint. In reality, collusion has been a crux of Chinese soccer's problems, and anti-corruption actions have stirred up Chinese soccer before. In 2009, the Ministry of Public Security began a large-scale investigation into the sports betting, bribery, match-fixing, and other violations. The vice chairmen of the Chinese Football Association, Nan Yong and Yang Yimin, were dismissed and arrested.
User @逸仙周刊 concluded that the ultimate disease is social, not systemic: "Chinese soccer was ruined by the system, and what ruined the system is the social sentiment of pursing quick success, the unwillingness to be unsung heroes, and an impetuous attitude." @ToneMan illustrated the problem with an anecdote:
Have been in Thailand for 6 days and finally figured out why we lost 5 to 1: In China, a child fell in love with soccer, but his parents told him that playing soccer can't make money and would break his leg; his teacher told him not to play soccer because he needed to study hard for exams; and his friends told him there was no field to play soccer. So he went home.
Why Is China's National Soccer Team So Bad? - Rachel Wang - The Atlantic
User @白雨童鞋 asked, "Why bother to keep defaming the national soccer team? If I'd bet on its losing over the last three years, I could afford to buy a house by now." @是时候改个好名字了 joked that Chinese soccer has at least been consistent. "Though our skill is the worst on earth, we have the thickest face [Chinese slang for indifference to humiliation]! And our results have also been stable!"
People have been so quick to lampoon their own team in part because they feel a sense of hurt pride. Chinese Web users often criticize their government, but they also evince a strong sense of national identity, and are highly sensitive about their country's image. Team-based sports such as soccer and basketball should, theoretically, represent the unity of the Chinese state. Instead, as taxpayers who subsidize the national soccer team, Web users feel as if they have made a failed investment.
As @bbschn wrote: "I don't know why the national soccer team exists ... I don't know what else it does besides wasting taxpayers' money, losing face internationally, and bring us Chinese down." @ 夏末__秋至 had this advice: "Disbanding the team and the Chinese Football Association is the simplest and most effective way. Don't hesitate, just let it go if we can't do it, don't make we the people share the shame with you."
The team's putrid performance against Thailand also underscored the contrast between Chinese sports and its improving performance in other areas, like the country's high-octane economy. In fact, the best season on record was 2002, when the team advanced to the World Cup -- which took place in South Korea and Japan, making it easier for China to get in -- for the first time. In that tournament, the Chinese men's team scored not a single goal, lost all three group matches, and was promptly eliminated.
Some within China have at various points argued that genetic differences could be to blame -- perhaps Asians are just worse at soccer. But the fall to Thailand ripped off that last shred of the national soccer team's proverbial fig leaf. A popular phrase spreading on Weibo: "Japan keeps proving that Asians can play soccer, while the Chinese National Soccer Team has been working hard to refute it."
User @一条河934 described the contrast: "Watched the FIFA Confederations Cup between Italy and Japan this morning. Though Japan lost a close one 4-3, it was with honor. Their hard offensive, fine skills and unspoken cooperation are a combination of the Brazilian style as well as the bravery of the Germany team. They have won global respect and admiration. Also from Asia, the Chinese national team lost 5-1to Thailand and the whole nation feels shameful."
This feeling of helplessness, tinged with bitterness, is often directed not just at the players, but at the country's soccer system, and even the society that surrounds it. "Chinese national soccer is actually a snapshot of society," @逸仙周刊 wrote. He continued:
About 20 years of Chinese soccer markets' 'professionalism' has created a market freak with a strong bureaucratic flavor: an administrator-controlled 'pseudo-professional' league where officials hook up with businessmen. It's an insider's embezzlement job ... The administrators pursue political achievements, [and] the goal of professionalism is always [subordinate to] the goal of winning the gold medal.
This is not a rootless complaint. In reality, collusion has been a crux of Chinese soccer's problems, and anti-corruption actions have stirred up Chinese soccer before. In 2009, the Ministry of Public Security began a large-scale investigation into the sports betting, bribery, match-fixing, and other violations. The vice chairmen of the Chinese Football Association, Nan Yong and Yang Yimin, were dismissed and arrested.
User @逸仙周刊 concluded that the ultimate disease is social, not systemic: "Chinese soccer was ruined by the system, and what ruined the system is the social sentiment of pursing quick success, the unwillingness to be unsung heroes, and an impetuous attitude." @ToneMan illustrated the problem with an anecdote:
Have been in Thailand for 6 days and finally figured out why we lost 5 to 1: In China, a child fell in love with soccer, but his parents told him that playing soccer can't make money and would break his leg; his teacher told him not to play soccer because he needed to study hard for exams; and his friends told him there was no field to play soccer. So he went home.
Why Is China's National Soccer Team So Bad? - Rachel Wang - The Atlantic
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
It is a system filled with cash and craziness, a meat market of sorts where contracts can be meaningless, prices vary wildly, middlemen work as many angles as possible and the superstar either has all the power or none of it, depending on one’s perspective. This is the “absolute absurdity” of the European soccer transfer structure (as one team executive described it), and so while 12:01 a.m. on July 1 was treated with a certain breathlessness in the United States because it marked the opening of the N.B.A.’s free-agency period, the reality is that none of the major North American sports leagues truly approach the outlandish off-season of global soccer.
After all, with players constantly crossing international borders, any sort of overarching regulation is virtually impossible. Salary caps? Nonexistent. Loyalty? Hard to come by. Team payrolls? Often astronomical (despite recent attempts at financial stability) and, at the least, impossible to actually calculate because there are no requirements that contract figures be disclosed publicly.
In addition, money is not the only accepted currency: in the past, players have been dealt for a box of team warm-ups or, in a particularly memorable transaction, about 30 pounds of meat.
“You’re dealing with multiple countries, languages and time zones,” said Lyle Yorks, an agent who represents a number of top players globally. “Just trying to synchronize all that is nuts, but somehow you have to find a way to make it work.”
In Europe, most top leagues finish their seasons in May, and the transfer market is open from July 1 through Aug. 31 (and then again in January). During the open period, teams can shop for players, with agents often serving as matchmakers.
Theoretically, any player can be acquired; even if a player is under contract with one team, another team can purchase negotiating rights to that player for an agreed-upon price, at which point the second team has the ability to sign the player to a new deal.
Yorks recalled the intensity (and insanity) of last August, when one of his clients, the United States captain Clint Dempsey, moved from Fulham to Tottenham Hotspur of England’s Premier League on the final day that the market was open. Yorks, who is based in the United States but lives in Europe during the transfer-heavy month of August, said he was talking with Arsenal and Liverpool, in addition to Tottenham, as the 11 p.m. local time deadline approached. He and Dempsey had also rejected an inquiry from Aston Villa the night before.
“Tottenham and Fulham agreed at like 9:45 p.m.; we rushed over and did a deal with the club after that and faxed in the paperwork at 10:59 and 30 seconds,” said Yorks.
Yorks added that he had had numerous other close calls, including the time he had a player sign off on a contract while sitting in the back seat of a car on the way to the club’s offices and the day he closed a deal while riding on the Eurostar train from Paris to London (“We got it done just before the train went into the Chunnel.”)
Yorks laughed. “This is the kind of thing that happens all the time over here,” he said.
The circumstances surrounding Dempsey’s move were typical. Technically, he had another year remaining on his contract with Fulham, but both sides knew Dempsey had interest in moving to a bigger club.
Rather than keep Dempsey and lose him a year later with no compensation, Fulham opted to trade him — but could only do so to a club where Dempsey would agree to sign a new contract.
Such is the push-pull nature of influence in the transfer system. In professional sports in the United States, teams, much of the time, can simply trade a player and his contract to whomever they like. Not so in soccer.
For example, Aston Villa reportedly offered the largest transfer fee for Dempsey (said to be £7 million or about $10 million) and Fulham accepted, but Dempsey did not want to play for Aston Villa, so the deal was scuttled. Ultimately, Fulham agreed with Tottenham on a fee believed to be £6 million, and Dempsey happily signed a new contract with the north London club. This summer, Yorks is working to find a new home for another American forward, Jozy Altidore, who scored 31 goals last season for the Dutch club AZ. Yorks said he was negotiating with two Premier League clubs (one of which is believed to be Sunderland), as well as teams in Italy and Germany. Earnie Stewart, the director of football at AZ, said making the right decision on player moves was a delicate balancing. “We would like to keep Jozy, but we also know that everyone has a price, and there may come a time when, from a business standpoint, you have to do something,” he said. “It’s something you learn over the years, how to feel when the time is right. And if your scouting is good, any time you lose a player you have a No. 2 option already in place.”
One of Dempsey’s Tottenham teammates, the star midfielder Gareth Bale, has been the focus of transfer talk in recent weeks. Tottenham Manager Andres Villas-Boas had stated repeatedly that he wanted to keep Bale, the top player in the Premier League last season. But those assertions did not keep powerful Real Madrid from swooping in anyway and trying to determine if it could pry him away with a lavish offer.
That Bale still had three more years left on his Spurs contract did not seem to matter.
It would be virtually unthinkable in the United States for a team to feel that it had no choice but to give up a star player still signed for three more seasons, but in soccer, it is different. As it turned out, Tottenham made it clear that it would not be pressured or tempted or seduced by any amount of money to surrender Bale, at least for now, and he will stay at Tottenham for the 2013-14 season.
Of course, that will not keep Real Madrid from trying again next summer, perhaps with Bale lobbying to leave at that point and perhaps with Madrid being willing to fork over more than the recor
After all, with players constantly crossing international borders, any sort of overarching regulation is virtually impossible. Salary caps? Nonexistent. Loyalty? Hard to come by. Team payrolls? Often astronomical (despite recent attempts at financial stability) and, at the least, impossible to actually calculate because there are no requirements that contract figures be disclosed publicly.
In addition, money is not the only accepted currency: in the past, players have been dealt for a box of team warm-ups or, in a particularly memorable transaction, about 30 pounds of meat.
“You’re dealing with multiple countries, languages and time zones,” said Lyle Yorks, an agent who represents a number of top players globally. “Just trying to synchronize all that is nuts, but somehow you have to find a way to make it work.”
In Europe, most top leagues finish their seasons in May, and the transfer market is open from July 1 through Aug. 31 (and then again in January). During the open period, teams can shop for players, with agents often serving as matchmakers.
Theoretically, any player can be acquired; even if a player is under contract with one team, another team can purchase negotiating rights to that player for an agreed-upon price, at which point the second team has the ability to sign the player to a new deal.
Yorks recalled the intensity (and insanity) of last August, when one of his clients, the United States captain Clint Dempsey, moved from Fulham to Tottenham Hotspur of England’s Premier League on the final day that the market was open. Yorks, who is based in the United States but lives in Europe during the transfer-heavy month of August, said he was talking with Arsenal and Liverpool, in addition to Tottenham, as the 11 p.m. local time deadline approached. He and Dempsey had also rejected an inquiry from Aston Villa the night before.
“Tottenham and Fulham agreed at like 9:45 p.m.; we rushed over and did a deal with the club after that and faxed in the paperwork at 10:59 and 30 seconds,” said Yorks.
Yorks added that he had had numerous other close calls, including the time he had a player sign off on a contract while sitting in the back seat of a car on the way to the club’s offices and the day he closed a deal while riding on the Eurostar train from Paris to London (“We got it done just before the train went into the Chunnel.”)
Yorks laughed. “This is the kind of thing that happens all the time over here,” he said.
The circumstances surrounding Dempsey’s move were typical. Technically, he had another year remaining on his contract with Fulham, but both sides knew Dempsey had interest in moving to a bigger club.
Rather than keep Dempsey and lose him a year later with no compensation, Fulham opted to trade him — but could only do so to a club where Dempsey would agree to sign a new contract.
Such is the push-pull nature of influence in the transfer system. In professional sports in the United States, teams, much of the time, can simply trade a player and his contract to whomever they like. Not so in soccer.
For example, Aston Villa reportedly offered the largest transfer fee for Dempsey (said to be £7 million or about $10 million) and Fulham accepted, but Dempsey did not want to play for Aston Villa, so the deal was scuttled. Ultimately, Fulham agreed with Tottenham on a fee believed to be £6 million, and Dempsey happily signed a new contract with the north London club. This summer, Yorks is working to find a new home for another American forward, Jozy Altidore, who scored 31 goals last season for the Dutch club AZ. Yorks said he was negotiating with two Premier League clubs (one of which is believed to be Sunderland), as well as teams in Italy and Germany. Earnie Stewart, the director of football at AZ, said making the right decision on player moves was a delicate balancing. “We would like to keep Jozy, but we also know that everyone has a price, and there may come a time when, from a business standpoint, you have to do something,” he said. “It’s something you learn over the years, how to feel when the time is right. And if your scouting is good, any time you lose a player you have a No. 2 option already in place.”
One of Dempsey’s Tottenham teammates, the star midfielder Gareth Bale, has been the focus of transfer talk in recent weeks. Tottenham Manager Andres Villas-Boas had stated repeatedly that he wanted to keep Bale, the top player in the Premier League last season. But those assertions did not keep powerful Real Madrid from swooping in anyway and trying to determine if it could pry him away with a lavish offer.
That Bale still had three more years left on his Spurs contract did not seem to matter.
It would be virtually unthinkable in the United States for a team to feel that it had no choice but to give up a star player still signed for three more seasons, but in soccer, it is different. As it turned out, Tottenham made it clear that it would not be pressured or tempted or seduced by any amount of money to surrender Bale, at least for now, and he will stay at Tottenham for the 2013-14 season.
Of course, that will not keep Real Madrid from trying again next summer, perhaps with Bale lobbying to leave at that point and perhaps with Madrid being willing to fork over more than the recor
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
My roommate, bless his heart, offered up some info about the U.S. National soccer team Friday.
“You do know,” he said, “that it’s the B team that’s playing tonight, right?”
I sighed. Of course I knew that. It was the men’s team, after all.
That’s right – America’s true soccer stars were nowhere to be found at Qualcomm Stadium Friday night, but that had nothing to do with the meaningless nature of the game. Our country’s most-celebrated shin-guard sporters were absent in the friendly versus Guatemala, but not because they were in need of any rest.
The U.S. Men’s National Team may contain soccer’s fastest and strongest – but it doesn’t have the biggest. Nope, in this country, the beautiful game belongs to the fairer sex.
How long this will continue to be true, I don’t know, but it’s been the case for a good 14 years now. And you can disregard the fact that the men routinely outdraw the women in World Cup qualifying or exhibitions on domestic soil.
Watching a team – as more than 20,000 fans at the Q did Friday – is one thing. Embracing one with every square inch of your soul is quite another.
Now, if you are die-hard-core men’s soccer enthusiast who can break down every cap of…hang on a sec…Mix Diskerud's career, you may be clenching your fists in disagreement right now. But walk into a sports bar and ask a random patron to list the finest U.S. men’s soccer players, and your shaking head will soon be nodding.
I asked that very question to fans in the Qualcomm parking lot Friday, and while the first said “I don’t know,” and the second said “David Beckham,” both quickly answered “Mia Hamm,” when I asked about the women.
Granted, Hamm has been retired for nearly a decade now, and most casual sports fans would know Landon Donovan. Nevertheless, such responses do reflect the current state of the U.S. men’s game, whose star power is in desperate need of a charger.
Names such as Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan mean something in this country. They are as transcendent as Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy were in 1999. Americans were transfixed two years ago when Wambach headed in a last-second goal against Brazil to keep the team’s World Cup hopes alive, and they flooded Twitter a year later when the U.S. beat Canada in the Olympics' finest contest.
What it is about women’s soccer, I don’t know. Female gymnasts, swimmers and softball players have all captivated the American public at some point, but never as collectively and as fervently as the ladies on the pitch.
The 1999 World Cup final vs. China? One of the most iconic moments in American sports. The 2011 final vs. Japan? One of the most devastating. The 2007 semifinal vs. Brazil, when Solo was pulled in favor of 35-year-old Briana Scurry? One of the most bizarre.
But considering the emotional swings featured in each tournament, all were among the most memorable. The men can’t make similar claims. Sure, there was Donovan’s at-the-buzzer goal to beat Algeria in the 2010 World Cup – a spectacular moment that sparked euphoria among fans across the country who had awoken at the crack of dawn to cheer their team. But come on – that was against Algeria, and all it meant was a trip to the round of 16.
“I think that’s the thing about the women, is that we can get to know them,” said Don Morrill, a soccer fan in attendance Friday. “When they play, they stick around for a while.”
Who knows? Perhaps one day the men will be able to hypnotize the U.S. in a way the women never could. Given the international regard for soccer, it certainly has the potential.
But for now, the reality is this: Ladies first.
Men, a distant second.
Where was the REAL U.S. Soccer team Friday? Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego-com
“You do know,” he said, “that it’s the B team that’s playing tonight, right?”
I sighed. Of course I knew that. It was the men’s team, after all.
That’s right – America’s true soccer stars were nowhere to be found at Qualcomm Stadium Friday night, but that had nothing to do with the meaningless nature of the game. Our country’s most-celebrated shin-guard sporters were absent in the friendly versus Guatemala, but not because they were in need of any rest.
The U.S. Men’s National Team may contain soccer’s fastest and strongest – but it doesn’t have the biggest. Nope, in this country, the beautiful game belongs to the fairer sex.
How long this will continue to be true, I don’t know, but it’s been the case for a good 14 years now. And you can disregard the fact that the men routinely outdraw the women in World Cup qualifying or exhibitions on domestic soil.
Watching a team – as more than 20,000 fans at the Q did Friday – is one thing. Embracing one with every square inch of your soul is quite another.
Now, if you are die-hard-core men’s soccer enthusiast who can break down every cap of…hang on a sec…Mix Diskerud's career, you may be clenching your fists in disagreement right now. But walk into a sports bar and ask a random patron to list the finest U.S. men’s soccer players, and your shaking head will soon be nodding.
I asked that very question to fans in the Qualcomm parking lot Friday, and while the first said “I don’t know,” and the second said “David Beckham,” both quickly answered “Mia Hamm,” when I asked about the women.
Granted, Hamm has been retired for nearly a decade now, and most casual sports fans would know Landon Donovan. Nevertheless, such responses do reflect the current state of the U.S. men’s game, whose star power is in desperate need of a charger.
Names such as Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan mean something in this country. They are as transcendent as Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy were in 1999. Americans were transfixed two years ago when Wambach headed in a last-second goal against Brazil to keep the team’s World Cup hopes alive, and they flooded Twitter a year later when the U.S. beat Canada in the Olympics' finest contest.
What it is about women’s soccer, I don’t know. Female gymnasts, swimmers and softball players have all captivated the American public at some point, but never as collectively and as fervently as the ladies on the pitch.
The 1999 World Cup final vs. China? One of the most iconic moments in American sports. The 2011 final vs. Japan? One of the most devastating. The 2007 semifinal vs. Brazil, when Solo was pulled in favor of 35-year-old Briana Scurry? One of the most bizarre.
But considering the emotional swings featured in each tournament, all were among the most memorable. The men can’t make similar claims. Sure, there was Donovan’s at-the-buzzer goal to beat Algeria in the 2010 World Cup – a spectacular moment that sparked euphoria among fans across the country who had awoken at the crack of dawn to cheer their team. But come on – that was against Algeria, and all it meant was a trip to the round of 16.
“I think that’s the thing about the women, is that we can get to know them,” said Don Morrill, a soccer fan in attendance Friday. “When they play, they stick around for a while.”
Who knows? Perhaps one day the men will be able to hypnotize the U.S. in a way the women never could. Given the international regard for soccer, it certainly has the potential.
But for now, the reality is this: Ladies first.
Men, a distant second.
Where was the REAL U.S. Soccer team Friday? Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego-com
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Police say enraged spectators invaded a football field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body after he stabbed a player to death.
The Public Safety Department of the state of Maranhao says in a statement that it all started when referee Otavio da Silva expelled player Josenir Abreu from a game last weekend. The two got into a fist fight, then Silva took out a knife and stabbed Abreu, who died on his way to the hospital.
The statement issued this week says Abreu's friends and relatives immediately "rushed into the field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body."
Local news media say the spectators also decapitated Silva and stuck his head on a stake in the middle of the field.
Police have arrested one suspect.
Soccer referee decapitated after stabbing player to death in Brazil
The Public Safety Department of the state of Maranhao says in a statement that it all started when referee Otavio da Silva expelled player Josenir Abreu from a game last weekend. The two got into a fist fight, then Silva took out a knife and stabbed Abreu, who died on his way to the hospital.
The statement issued this week says Abreu's friends and relatives immediately "rushed into the field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body."
Local news media say the spectators also decapitated Silva and stuck his head on a stake in the middle of the field.
Police have arrested one suspect.
Soccer referee decapitated after stabbing player to death in Brazil
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The play of the week was made by a financial analyst.
Former Northwestern University star striker Matt Eliason, who is currently a financial analyst in Chicago, scored a magical bicycle kick goal in a charity soccer match that was meant to be played by stars of the world’s best teams.
At a charity soccer game organized by Lionel Messi called Messi & Friends, the organizers were left scrambling after many of the high profile players backed out of the game at the last minute. So they turned to former Northwestern University players to fill up the roster, including Eliason, who stole the show with this wonder goal.
Amateur soccer player steals show against Lionel Messi | For The Win
Former Northwestern University star striker Matt Eliason, who is currently a financial analyst in Chicago, scored a magical bicycle kick goal in a charity soccer match that was meant to be played by stars of the world’s best teams.
At a charity soccer game organized by Lionel Messi called Messi & Friends, the organizers were left scrambling after many of the high profile players backed out of the game at the last minute. So they turned to former Northwestern University players to fill up the roster, including Eliason, who stole the show with this wonder goal.
Amateur soccer player steals show against Lionel Messi | For The Win
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Police in rural Brazil have detained one man and were seeking two others in the slaying of a soccer referee who was killed, dismembered and decapitated by spectators after he stabbed a player to death mid-match, a police official said Monday.
Paulo Storani, a professor and security expert who spent three decades in Rio's police forces, called the slayings "an isolated incident" and said they don't reflect on Brazil's ability to ensure security at during the World Cup.
"It's something that's completely out of the ordinary which took place in an isolated area of the poorest state in the country, an area where violence is very widespread," said Storani. "While it's true we are used to soccer violence in Brazil, this is completely off the charts of what we usually see."
Police look for suspects in Brazil soccer beheading
Paulo Storani, a professor and security expert who spent three decades in Rio's police forces, called the slayings "an isolated incident" and said they don't reflect on Brazil's ability to ensure security at during the World Cup.
"It's something that's completely out of the ordinary which took place in an isolated area of the poorest state in the country, an area where violence is very widespread," said Storani. "While it's true we are used to soccer violence in Brazil, this is completely off the charts of what we usually see."
Police look for suspects in Brazil soccer beheading
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The removal of permanent soccer goal posts by Davis School District employees while teams were practicing Tuesday in Kaysville has some soccer parents upset.
“The teams were in the middle of their practice when district guys showed up with backhoes and torches, and within 20 minutes the goal posts were gone,” said Robert Taylor, club president of Wasatch Soccer Club.
The soccer club rents the district’s fields for games and practices, Taylor said.
District officials had met with Taylor as well as with representatives from American Youth Soccer Association and South Davis Soccer Association Forza Futbol Club in April to discuss problems with the goal posts, which include an increase in claims because of injuries.
District officials plan to meet with soccer representatives several more times during the year to discuss the issue.
Taylor said he left before the April meeting had ended but thought the agreement was that the district would remove the goal posts gradually over the next few years to give organizations, like his, time to come up with funds for portable goal posts. New portable goal posts cost between $3,000 and $4,000. The Forza representatives, whose teams play in the south end of the county, said it would be OK for the district to remove the goal posts this summer, said Gary Payne, administrator of the district’s facilities administration.
Then on Tuesday, district employees removed soccer goal posts from soccer fields at Columbia and Creekside elementary schools, and Kaysville and Fairfield junior high schools. All four schools are in Kaysville.
Immediately, the district received numerous phone calls from concerned parents, Payne said.
“We told our workers not to remove any more goal posts until next year,” Payne said.
Craig Carter, the district’s business administrator, said the district’s maintenance crew misunderstood the list the district had given on which goal posts to remove.
After being inundated with phone calls and emails Wednesday from concerned parents whose children use the soccer fields at the four schools, district officials said they will furnish those fields with portable soccer goal posts.
Carter said there are several reasons why the district wants to remove the soccer goal posts.
The first one has to do with the turf around the soccer goal posts. The grass is not growing, and the areas have seen an increase in injury claims, district officials said.
Also, when the goal posts were put in, soccer and football were the only sports being played in the county. Now other organizations — for sports such as lacrosse, rugby, football and cricket — want to rent the fields. The goal posts make it difficult for those teams to use the fields, Carter said.
The goal posts removed from the south part of the county have been taken to the district’s maintenance shops. They will be remade into portable goal posts and bought by Forza Futbol organization to use, Carter said.
Payne said portable soccer goal posts allow officials to set up three or four games in a space where only two games were previously played.
Goal post removal angers soccer parents
“The teams were in the middle of their practice when district guys showed up with backhoes and torches, and within 20 minutes the goal posts were gone,” said Robert Taylor, club president of Wasatch Soccer Club.
The soccer club rents the district’s fields for games and practices, Taylor said.
District officials had met with Taylor as well as with representatives from American Youth Soccer Association and South Davis Soccer Association Forza Futbol Club in April to discuss problems with the goal posts, which include an increase in claims because of injuries.
District officials plan to meet with soccer representatives several more times during the year to discuss the issue.
Taylor said he left before the April meeting had ended but thought the agreement was that the district would remove the goal posts gradually over the next few years to give organizations, like his, time to come up with funds for portable goal posts. New portable goal posts cost between $3,000 and $4,000. The Forza representatives, whose teams play in the south end of the county, said it would be OK for the district to remove the goal posts this summer, said Gary Payne, administrator of the district’s facilities administration.
Then on Tuesday, district employees removed soccer goal posts from soccer fields at Columbia and Creekside elementary schools, and Kaysville and Fairfield junior high schools. All four schools are in Kaysville.
Immediately, the district received numerous phone calls from concerned parents, Payne said.
“We told our workers not to remove any more goal posts until next year,” Payne said.
Craig Carter, the district’s business administrator, said the district’s maintenance crew misunderstood the list the district had given on which goal posts to remove.
After being inundated with phone calls and emails Wednesday from concerned parents whose children use the soccer fields at the four schools, district officials said they will furnish those fields with portable soccer goal posts.
Carter said there are several reasons why the district wants to remove the soccer goal posts.
The first one has to do with the turf around the soccer goal posts. The grass is not growing, and the areas have seen an increase in injury claims, district officials said.
Also, when the goal posts were put in, soccer and football were the only sports being played in the county. Now other organizations — for sports such as lacrosse, rugby, football and cricket — want to rent the fields. The goal posts make it difficult for those teams to use the fields, Carter said.
The goal posts removed from the south part of the county have been taken to the district’s maintenance shops. They will be remade into portable goal posts and bought by Forza Futbol organization to use, Carter said.
Payne said portable soccer goal posts allow officials to set up three or four games in a space where only two games were previously played.
Goal post removal angers soccer parents
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The online gambling company Bwin has recently signed a three-year 'digital sponsorship' deal with Italian soccer champions Juventus. Bwin is one of the world’s leading names in online betting and real money gaming. It boasts exciting live sports betting odds, online poker, games and casino. This is its fourth partnership with a top European team. For the past six seasons Bwin had been shirt sponsor of Spain's Real Madrid and is proud of its soccer sponsorship ranks.
Deciding to change strategy, in order to gain popularity with online fans, it began looking for a broader spread regarding deals. This new deal enables them to now build market share with some of Europe's best-supported teams. At present Bwin didn’t give any specifics regarding the worth of this deal with Juventus, the deal nicknamed the Old Lady in Italian soccer. With historic links to a powerful family, Agnelli, based in the northern city of Turin and on the Forbes list of Italy’s billionaires, Juventus is the most successful club in Italian soccer.
Since Bwin has connections on other club websites to their sports betting pages it allows for digital linkups with those such as Real Madrid, English champions Manchester United and Champions League winners Bayern Munich. In the near future Bwin is anticipating more announcements and collaboration in European markets adding even more to its sponsorship ranks. Markets where they may choose to look include Belgium, France and Greece.
Clubs who are high in the ranks can charge per season for shirt sponsorships which give brands global exposure. This can be as much as 25 million euros (21.5 million pounds). Dubai-based airline Emirates, demoted to the second division in 2006 replaced Bwin on Madrid's shirts.
Concerned with lower than expected returns in its second-quarter review for which Bwin blames sports betting and competition in bingo and Britain and Italy, it decided to make the new deal.
Online Gambling Bwin to Sponsor Juventus
Deciding to change strategy, in order to gain popularity with online fans, it began looking for a broader spread regarding deals. This new deal enables them to now build market share with some of Europe's best-supported teams. At present Bwin didn’t give any specifics regarding the worth of this deal with Juventus, the deal nicknamed the Old Lady in Italian soccer. With historic links to a powerful family, Agnelli, based in the northern city of Turin and on the Forbes list of Italy’s billionaires, Juventus is the most successful club in Italian soccer.
Since Bwin has connections on other club websites to their sports betting pages it allows for digital linkups with those such as Real Madrid, English champions Manchester United and Champions League winners Bayern Munich. In the near future Bwin is anticipating more announcements and collaboration in European markets adding even more to its sponsorship ranks. Markets where they may choose to look include Belgium, France and Greece.
Clubs who are high in the ranks can charge per season for shirt sponsorships which give brands global exposure. This can be as much as 25 million euros (21.5 million pounds). Dubai-based airline Emirates, demoted to the second division in 2006 replaced Bwin on Madrid's shirts.
Concerned with lower than expected returns in its second-quarter review for which Bwin blames sports betting and competition in bingo and Britain and Italy, it decided to make the new deal.
Online Gambling Bwin to Sponsor Juventus
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Chris Wondolowski is making a case that he should be included in the United States roster when World Cup qualifying resumes in September.
Wondolowski - with his jersey name spelled correctly this time - scored two more goals to raise his total to five in two matches, and the Americans overcame a slow start to beat Cuba 4-1 Saturday and advance to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.
Landon Donovan tied the score late in the first half when converted his second penalty kick of the tournament for his 53rd international goal. Joe Corona got his first international goal early in the second, and Stuart Holden made his first start in nearly three years for the U.S. (2-0), which has reached the quarterfinals of all 12 Gold Cups.
While Wondolowski has led or tied Major League Soccer in goals for three straight seasons, he hadn't scored for the national team in 11 appearances before getting his first in an exhibition win over Guatemala on July 5.
"I'm very confident in my play," Wondolowski said. "Just even getting the goals is so huge. I feeling more confident in my passing and in my touch and things like that where it's helping me to raise my level."
Wondolowski scored a first-half hat trick in Tuesday's 6-1 win over Belize, when his jersey was misspelled "Wondowlowski." He started this match on the bench, then replaced Herculez Gomez in the 58th and scored the final two goals in the 66th and 85th minutes. Superstitious, he had an extra "W" stitched on the inside of his jersey.
U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said the 30-year-old San Jose forward was a bit disappointed he wasn't in the starting 11.
"He's hungry, and he's working a lot," Klinsmann said. "It's not only that he has the instincts to know where the ball will be in the box. It's also the runs he makes to open things up. It opens channels for the other guys."
Wondolowski, Donovan and Holden all are making a case to be included in the player pool for World Cup qualifiers at Costa Rica on Sept. 6 and at home against Mexico four days later.
Donovan, a veteran of three World Cups hasn't played for the national team in 11 months before the Guatemala match because of injuries and a four-month sabbatical from soccer that ended in late March.
Holden made his first start for the U.S. since an exhibition against Colombia on Oct. 12, 2010. A knee injury the following March sustained from a tackle by Manchester United's Jonny Evans limited the Bolton midfielder to one club match in the next 22 months.
The Americans, who have not won the North and Central American and Caribbean championship since 2007, complete the first round Tuesday against Costa Rica in East Hartford, Conn., then play their quarterfinal at Baltimore on July 21.
Cuba, ranked 82nd by FIFA - a full 60 spots behind the U.S. - gave the Americans an unexpected test.
Before a crowd of 17,597 at Rio Tinto Stadium, Jose Ciprian Alfonso put Cuba (0-2) ahead in the 36th minute. He beat defender Oguchi Onyewu to a cutback pass from Ariel Martinez, who has rounded left back Edgar Castillo near the end line. Ciprian Alfonso then sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
Donovan tied the score in the second minute of stoppage time with a penalty kick, extending his U.S. scoring record.
Corona finally gave the Americans lead in the 57th when he latched onto a loose ball and let loose a curling a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
"We were trying to get a quick goal in the second half, so we could get that confidence back and try to play our game and try to get more goals," Corona said.
Wondolowski made it 3-1 with his a close-range flick off a cross from Kyle Beckerman. He finished off the scoring from the center of the penalty area.
Read More: Chris Wondolowski scores twice as U.S. beats Cuba - Soccer - SI-com
Wondolowski - with his jersey name spelled correctly this time - scored two more goals to raise his total to five in two matches, and the Americans overcame a slow start to beat Cuba 4-1 Saturday and advance to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.
Landon Donovan tied the score late in the first half when converted his second penalty kick of the tournament for his 53rd international goal. Joe Corona got his first international goal early in the second, and Stuart Holden made his first start in nearly three years for the U.S. (2-0), which has reached the quarterfinals of all 12 Gold Cups.
While Wondolowski has led or tied Major League Soccer in goals for three straight seasons, he hadn't scored for the national team in 11 appearances before getting his first in an exhibition win over Guatemala on July 5.
"I'm very confident in my play," Wondolowski said. "Just even getting the goals is so huge. I feeling more confident in my passing and in my touch and things like that where it's helping me to raise my level."
Wondolowski scored a first-half hat trick in Tuesday's 6-1 win over Belize, when his jersey was misspelled "Wondowlowski." He started this match on the bench, then replaced Herculez Gomez in the 58th and scored the final two goals in the 66th and 85th minutes. Superstitious, he had an extra "W" stitched on the inside of his jersey.
U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said the 30-year-old San Jose forward was a bit disappointed he wasn't in the starting 11.
"He's hungry, and he's working a lot," Klinsmann said. "It's not only that he has the instincts to know where the ball will be in the box. It's also the runs he makes to open things up. It opens channels for the other guys."
Wondolowski, Donovan and Holden all are making a case to be included in the player pool for World Cup qualifiers at Costa Rica on Sept. 6 and at home against Mexico four days later.
Donovan, a veteran of three World Cups hasn't played for the national team in 11 months before the Guatemala match because of injuries and a four-month sabbatical from soccer that ended in late March.
Holden made his first start for the U.S. since an exhibition against Colombia on Oct. 12, 2010. A knee injury the following March sustained from a tackle by Manchester United's Jonny Evans limited the Bolton midfielder to one club match in the next 22 months.
The Americans, who have not won the North and Central American and Caribbean championship since 2007, complete the first round Tuesday against Costa Rica in East Hartford, Conn., then play their quarterfinal at Baltimore on July 21.
Cuba, ranked 82nd by FIFA - a full 60 spots behind the U.S. - gave the Americans an unexpected test.
Before a crowd of 17,597 at Rio Tinto Stadium, Jose Ciprian Alfonso put Cuba (0-2) ahead in the 36th minute. He beat defender Oguchi Onyewu to a cutback pass from Ariel Martinez, who has rounded left back Edgar Castillo near the end line. Ciprian Alfonso then sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
Donovan tied the score in the second minute of stoppage time with a penalty kick, extending his U.S. scoring record.
Corona finally gave the Americans lead in the 57th when he latched onto a loose ball and let loose a curling a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
"We were trying to get a quick goal in the second half, so we could get that confidence back and try to play our game and try to get more goals," Corona said.
Wondolowski made it 3-1 with his a close-range flick off a cross from Kyle Beckerman. He finished off the scoring from the center of the penalty area.
Read More: Chris Wondolowski scores twice as U.S. beats Cuba - Soccer - SI-com
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
* Stoke City's Jones sets Trinidad on course for last eight
* El Salvador edge out Haiti to also advance
July 15 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago took full advantage of a lacklustre Honduras performance to advance to the CONCACAF quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory in Houston on Monday.
In the first game of a Group B double-header played earlier at the BBVA Compass Stadium, El Salvador edged out Haiti 1-0 to also advance at the expense of their opponents.
Honduras had already secured top spot in the group after victories in their opening two matches, allowing Trinidad and Tobago to capitalise on their complacency with an inspired second half display.
Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones scored a goal and added an assist to lead the way, setting his side on course for the knockout phase when he converted a penalty in the 48th minute after Orlin Peralta had fouled Cornell Glen in the box.
Jones then helped his side double their advantage in the 67th minute when he set up Kevin Molino to score from inside the penalty area.
The loss did not hurt Honduras as they moved on thanks to earlier wins against Haiti and El Salvador. Trinidad and Tobago finished in second place following the victory.
Haiti had a chance to advance earlier in the evening but a late goal sent them tumbling out of the tournament.
Rodolfo Zelaya initially missed a late penalty but poked home the rebound as El Salvador finished the group stage as one of the two best third-place finishers.
El Salvador entered the match tied for third in the group with just a single point, while Haiti, on three points, only needed a draw to advance.
The game turned late in the second half when El Salvador were awarded a penalty after Haiti's Jean Marc Alexandre was penalised for a foul in his own area.
After vehement protests from Haiti, Zelaya's 76th minute spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Frandy Montrevil but the forward followed up to give El Salvador a decisive lead.
It was the third goal of the tournament for Zelaya, who also hit the post twice on Monday.
Y! SPORTS
* El Salvador edge out Haiti to also advance
July 15 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago took full advantage of a lacklustre Honduras performance to advance to the CONCACAF quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory in Houston on Monday.
In the first game of a Group B double-header played earlier at the BBVA Compass Stadium, El Salvador edged out Haiti 1-0 to also advance at the expense of their opponents.
Honduras had already secured top spot in the group after victories in their opening two matches, allowing Trinidad and Tobago to capitalise on their complacency with an inspired second half display.
Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones scored a goal and added an assist to lead the way, setting his side on course for the knockout phase when he converted a penalty in the 48th minute after Orlin Peralta had fouled Cornell Glen in the box.
Jones then helped his side double their advantage in the 67th minute when he set up Kevin Molino to score from inside the penalty area.
The loss did not hurt Honduras as they moved on thanks to earlier wins against Haiti and El Salvador. Trinidad and Tobago finished in second place following the victory.
Haiti had a chance to advance earlier in the evening but a late goal sent them tumbling out of the tournament.
Rodolfo Zelaya initially missed a late penalty but poked home the rebound as El Salvador finished the group stage as one of the two best third-place finishers.
El Salvador entered the match tied for third in the group with just a single point, while Haiti, on three points, only needed a draw to advance.
The game turned late in the second half when El Salvador were awarded a penalty after Haiti's Jean Marc Alexandre was penalised for a foul in his own area.
After vehement protests from Haiti, Zelaya's 76th minute spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Frandy Montrevil but the forward followed up to give El Salvador a decisive lead.
It was the third goal of the tournament for Zelaya, who also hit the post twice on Monday.
Y! SPORTS
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
.jpg?v=1.014689139)
.png?v=1.014689139)
Ghana native and soccer prodigy, Ema Boateng, wasted little time making his mark on UCSB’s soccer team. He made an immediate impact in his first season last fall, scoring four goals, three of which were crucial game changers against UCLA, San Diego, and Sacramento State. Recognized as Big West’s Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Big West, he has quickly risen to Gaucho stardom. “Well, I wouldn’t call myself a celebrity,” he said modestly after I asked him if he felt famous on campus because of his success on the field.
He landed in the area in 2009 at age 15 to attend Cate School, a private prep school in Carpentaria, after Right to Dream Academy identified him as one of the top 16 players in Ghana and fully funded his high school education in the United States.
Founded in 2000, Right to Dream Academy is a growing charity organization that offers scholarships to talented young people all over West Africa. By combining education with sport, it seeks to “help provide children from extreme poverty with the opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families.”
“When I was nine, my coach would come to my house,” he said. Even though he was so young, his parents worried he’d give up on school entirely to play soccer. But the Academy lets him do both. Unlike some of the corrupt agents that exist in Africa, the Academy is a credible organization and has given more than 100 kids from Ghana the opportunity to obtain scholarships from colleges in the U.S. or play on professional soccer teams around the world.
The Academy also set Boateng up with the Schwartzes, his host family of two parents and three teenage “siblings” in Carpinteria. A big part of the family now, they continue to see each other weekly. They’ve scheduled family vacations to Hawaii, Beaver Creek, and Europe around his soccer commitments and included him in their family photo for their yearly Christmas card. They even took a trip to Ghana two summers ago where they met the entire family. He recalled, “My parents were so happy to meet them and thank them.”
While attending Cate School for three years, Boateng led the soccer team in every game, which had a combined 42-2-1 record during his sophomore and junior year. Also, he was named VIP in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland where he played for the California Strikers in 2011. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012. He skipped his senior year of high school to attend UCSB.
Despite scholarship offers from Princeton, Stanford, and Yale, he chose UCSB because he said he believed it was the best place to pursue his professional career. Plus, he’s been part of the S.B. community for years.
“UCSB is where I thought I could become more of myself,” he said. After visiting the East Coast one winter, Boateng explained, “I had to wear three or four sweatshirts. I’m not into that.” So Santa Barbara has become home. “I couldn’t imagine leaving,” said Boateng, who returned to Cate’s graduation ceremony a few weeks ago to receive an honorary diploma.
As for his family and friends back in Ghana, he visits every summer for a few weeks. He also talks to his family for about a half hour every Sunday and Wednesday.
“I talk to my sister a lot,” he said and laughed a little. “Sometimes too much.”
During off season, he practices three to four hours a day. “I haven’t been off the ball for more than two weeks in the past seven years,” he explained, though he does manage to have a social life.
“Every time I step on the field, that’s where I want to be,” he said.
Boateng is also featured in The Beautiful Game, a 2012 documentary about the power of soccer in modern Africa. “It has a following larger than any one religion,” Reverend Tutu shares in the film. In Africa, “If you don’t play it. You watch it. You support it. You pray for it.”
The film portrays the lives of six Africans in their pursuit to use the sport to lift up themselves and their communities. The film follows him for four years and touches on sentimental moments in his life, like saying goodbye to his family in Ghana and ultimately leaving the Academy once he was accepted to UCSB.
According to the trailer, “Football is life. Football speaks all languages.” Victor Buhler, the director, said the six incredible characters show the power of futball across Africa, showing examples that it is the resilience of the “resourcefulness of Africans.”
When I asked Boateng where he’d ideally like to play, he said, “That’s a no-brainer: one day I want to play for Ghana’s international league.”
Honestly, I know very little about soccer — or rather football. But once he said that, I realized, of course it’s not just sport. His passion made his life. His story speaks for itself. Exhausted just listening to his story, I finally asked him if it all was ever too much.
“No, I love it,” he said.
Meet Soccer Star Ema Boateng The Santa Barbara Independent