Did England not make it?
Where's America?
Quotedcharlie, I think England's problems with playing the beautiful game begin at the youth level. In Spain, Brazil, etc. the kids play on small fields and courts for years; in England, AFAIK, they start playing on pretty sizable fields early on (just as it is in the U.S.). This encourages kids to hoof the ball down the field at a young age rather than develop truly creative play and it also makes stars out of kids who are tall and fast (basically whoever hits puberty early) but not necessarily talented players. In other words, Jack Charlton football.
we play 5-a-side from the age of about 8.
At least, i did.
Lol - it had the opposite effect on me actually, i struggle to get my head around playing 11-a-side positionally and tactically. Though you do get the tools you need and i'm still a decent player at 11-a-side, but nowhere near as useful as i am at 5-a-side
Then again, to add to that - i'm 5 ft 6 tall - so yeah, i was never a star at school but was always in the first team, but it wasn't until we got much older that anyone would consider me in the "good" category, but at futsal (especially in head height rules competitions, it plays to my low center of gravity)
Anyways, i agree - futsal gives you close control skills , means you can operate under constant pressure, puts your fitness through the roof, means you can make short triangle maneuvers, makes you cover so you learn to tackle, promotes 'egoless' team play etc etc...
I play futsal twice a week and i love it. I just wonder if it's not encouraged? talking to some of the south american teams we've played, yeah - they are all crazy about futsal. Absolutely nuts for it.
QuoteHell, we played like mad when we were kids, usually 8-hour marathon games every day in the summer, but even then it was just one core group of eight or nine of us who consistently played.
we had a large patch of green grass on our estate, so kids from the estate would play every night in pretty much 5-a-side conditions. I miss being a kid. Home from school, homework done, football until 10 ish, then games of futsal twice a week, and games for the school twice a week. Awesome.QuoteYouth participation in the sport is enormous here, but kids just aren't as crazy about it as they are elsewhere in the world. I started watching club and international matches on the TV when I was ten; no one had any idea who I was talking about when I said how creative that Zidane is or how tough that Keane is.
haha - it was cool hooking up with Arne out here. We mainly talked about football as he was starved of anyone to talk to it about and not too many people outside of work are into it. Not many of the Tokyopia/J-Gaf crew are deeply into football (Groo supports Man Utd, but that's as far as it goes).QuoteSpeaking of the disparity between positioning and maneuvering in 5-a-side and 11-a-side matches, I sometimes think that the differences are quite small. You look at how proper teams move the ball around the pitch and, unless the players face zero pressure, the quick passing resembles the 5-a-side matches: They're always supporting each other with short triangle maneuvers.
it can in small spells, but playing too many triangles can be ineffective, especially agaisnt a well regimented back line. We had a bad habit in our first season of playing nice triangles with limited penetration. Against the experienced Uni sides or Gaijin sides, they'd sit and let us pass whilst marshalling a tight back line.Quotebut that quick passing never quite translated to 11-a-side matches -- when I played for my high school team, for example, I was inwardly griping about how pathetic the whole spectacle was. I mean Jesus, no one even played the ball back to the keeper, even if it was the last defender and he was being chased down. Drop passes and through balls seemed virtually nonexistent.
you really do need a team of technical players to pull of a composed passing game that is more effective than the sunday league/semi pro stapple of sitting an attacking midfielder or two behind a tall fast target man, and then having quick strikers to feed off the balls. It really is too effective. That was basically our realisation when we tried to pass it around against younger , fitter, better Japanese Uni sides and came unstuck.
I have noticed though that too many players don't play the percentages when it comes to safety. We had a few ex-pro's on our team and a couple of semi-pro players, but the number of times even these players would either try and be too flash at the back, or would pass laterally when in their own final 1/3 , or wouldn't just hoof a ball into row Z when being chased was baffling (then again, they were older players who switched to defense from attack positions).QuoteAh well, I'm handpicking our team for our statewide games this summer, so I'm not worried. There's always a good show of teams there, with even some division 1 university players putting together their own groups.
one of the guys who was in our 5-a-side team when we were 16-18 is a coach at an American university . I should find out where. Could be some spooky coincidence :)
QuoteIt's indefensible, but our 30,000+ student population university (Mizzou) doesn't have a men's soccer program that's actually paid for by the school; instead I play with its club team. There are, however, lots of great surrounding D2 schools and one good D1 school. It's strange as it's smack in the middle of the Midwest, but Missouri actually produces the best high school teams in the nation thanks entirely to St. Louis. CBC, Chaminade, and SLUH always dominate national rankings.
wow that sucks. The university level football teams in the UK were sponsored. I was at uni in Liverpool, so getting even into the 3-team 'proper' uni set up wasn't going to happen, though i was eligable to play for the lower teams. But it made little sense, so i played Sunday League for a team near where i was living.QuoteHow is the level of youth and university play in Japan? I assume it's roughly equivalent to the U.S. One of the Japanese foreign exchange students who plays on our team here is a fantastic midfielder.
It's variable - some teams have been great, some were very average. The Japanese players themselves are weird at youth. They are all technically fantastic, fast, fit, dedicated but they all seem to lack 'footballers brain' and will often make the wrong choices, or try to be overly tricky when a simple pass would have achieved more. so yeah, not really played against many US teams, so not sure how they stack up. I'd fancy them to win futsal games though - for some reason the Japanese youths make formidable futsal teams (they have proper futsal leagues, televised too)QuoteThe city here is still quite a soccer hotspot though (simply for it being a university town with a lot of foreign exchange students). There's some semi-pro players I play with regularly in the rec leagues from pretty much everywhere -- Ireland, Egypt, even places as obscure as Qatar.
it's always good to play with people with experience. I used to play with a bunch of older semi-pro's where everyone bar me was 40+ years old. Very physical, but very slow technical game against Italians, south americans, French, Germans. It was just nice to mix up the style of play and you learn so much even if you just get kicked from one end of the pitch to the other :)
We should start Evilbore FC ! :)
:'( I miss it too. During summer I'd have this epic long football matches with the kids and teens in the neighbourhood. Ride by bike to a field and then hours on hours of playing football.QuoteHell, we played like mad when we were kids, usually 8-hour marathon games every day in the summer, but even then it was just one core group of eight or nine of us who consistently played.
we had a large patch of green grass on our estate, so kids from the estate would play every night in pretty much 5-a-side conditions. I miss being a kid. Home from school, homework done, football until 10 ish, then games of futsal twice a week, and games for the school twice a week. Awesome.
oh my god, Zidane... :'(During worldcups and Euro's and stuff I rooted for France just to see more of him.
I will always feel sad whenever I think about him.
:bow Zidane :bow2Wow @ when he takes the ball at the 1min mark with both his feet.
Greatest genius to ever set foot on the pitch, NO CONTEST. The quarterfinal match against Brazil was the greatest game any one man has ever played. He singlehandedly controlled the flow of the game and he effortlessly made the Brazilian midfield -- hailed as the demigods of soccer -- look like clueless children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvYlvkWpPy4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvYlvkWpPy4)
Good compilation here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYUtKKbBTkw&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYUtKKbBTkw&feature=related). There was a much better one, but it was taken down recently. But Jesus Christ @ 7:39...
I don't know how long it will be before we see that sort of footballing intelligence again...
I am fucking GAY for Zidane, no joke/sarcasm/irony.
(http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/5/4708/z4708895X.jpg)
So much Zidan love here....Time for some Bergkamp! My all time fav player.DENNIS BERGKAMP DENNIS BERGKAMP DENNIS BERGKAMP DENNIS BERGKAMP!! OOOOH AAAAH OOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Poor swiss, they played better imho. Also poor Frei :'(Yeah, they worked hard but had a lot of bad luck. I was rooting for them. Poor swiss :swisscry :bawl
0:2 with fucking Nazis, again :'(
Fuck this sport.
Didn't know the German team was full of Nazis. That's a disgrace.0:2 with fucking Nazis, again :'(
Fuck this sport.
Was that needed?
And one of the goal scorers was polish.
I'm like McCain. I'll never forget Nazis killing 6M Poles.
Well, he's Polish . . . so. . . .Was that needed?
And one of the goal scorers was polish.
Did he put his wrong shirt on or what?
I'm like McCain. I'll never forget Nazis killing 6M Poles.
That's not an excuse or a reason for insulting the german football team (and germany) by calling them nazis, Borys. You're not making any sense.Didn't know the German team was full of Nazis. That's a disgrace.0:2 with fucking Nazis, again :'(
Fuck this sport.
Was that needed?
And one of the goal scorers was polish.
I'm like McCain. I'll never forget Nazis killing 6M Poles.
Or
You're being a douchebag.
Hey dude I'm glad Flemish people survived the WWII without humongous casualities. Carry on.
Van Nistelrooy wasn't offside when he made that goal.
Van Nistelrooy wasn't offside when he made that goal.
There were two Holland players offsides in the first goal
Van Nistelrooy wasn't offside when he made that goal.
There were two Holland players offsides in the first goal
LOL
there was an Italian defender behind the endline. Ruud was onsides.
Van Nistelrooy wasn't offside when he made that goal.
There were two Holland players offsides in the first goal
LOL
there was an Italian defender behind the endline. Ruud was onsides.
Who buffon? The guy on the floor outside the endline doesnt count if hes not defending. Rules of Soccer. Why else would every major outlet. Yahoo, ESPN say it was clearly offsides?
The Dutch were lucky to take a 26th-minute lead after Ruud van Nistelrooy turned in Giovanni van Bronckhorst's effort despite being clearly offside.
It was a shitty call. We get it yall hate italy. Doesnt stop the refering in the game from being awfull
he Italy right-back Christian Panucci hurt himself while trying to deal with an attack and tumbled behind the by-line. As play continued, Wesley Sneijder's mishit effort ran low across the area and was turned home by Ruud van Nistelrooy from, as it seemed, a glaringly off-side position. A replay on the giant screens provoked rage in the Italian areas of the stands and Luca Toni was booked for dissent but the referee, Peter Frojdfeldt, and his assistants are adamant that they are correct.
In regard to law 11, officials are advised that a player who leaves the pitch without permission and does not return immediately must be taken into account when determining offside. Presumably, this can apply only to a specific passage of play since a footballer with, for example, a broken leg could be stranded for a very long while. Holland, in any case, derived a substantial benefit from a mere accident.
Austrian referees' commission chairman Gerhard Kapl was quoted on the Austrian Web site www.sportal.at as saying the goal was correctly awarded.
"The injured player behind the goal counts as a player on the field and therefore it was not offside," said Kapl.
11.11 DEFENDER LEGALLY OFF THE FIELD OF PLAY
A defender who leaves the field during the course of play and does not immediately return must
still be considered in determining where the second to last defender is for the purpose of
judging which attackers are in an offside position. Such a defender is considered to be on the
touch line or goal line closest to his off-field position. A defender who leaves the field with the
referee's permission (and who thus requires the referee's permission to return) is not included in
determining offside position.
The president of the Italian referee association (AIA), Cesare Gussoni, believes that Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s opener was legitimate despite a massive claim for offside.
Grecco is so so bitter. The refering was the best so far in this tournament. The guy let several players of each team off with just an angry look instead of well-deserved yellow cards. And Gattuso could have got his second yellow which makes it red, but he spared him. The referee and sideline referees were phenomenal. Seeing as how thekavorka already owned you multiple times, I'll only add that the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) also claimed it was a legit goal. But I guess all these organisations are wrong, since 'Grecco' from the internet says otherwise.
BASEL, June 10 (Reuters) - Netherlands' controversial first goal in Monday's 3-0 Group C victory over world champions Italy at Euro 2008 was correctly awarded despite many observers believing it was offside, organisers UEFA said on Tuesday.
UEFA general secretary David Taylor told a news conference the officials correctly interpreted Law 11 which relates to offside when Ruud van Nistelrooy scored after 26 minutes.
He stated that Christian Panucci played him onside although the Italian defender was off the pitch at the time.
'The goal was correctly awarded. Not many people, even in the game, and I include the players, know this interpretation (of Law 11),' Taylor said.
I wasn't insinuating anything you know....like you getting all excited watching his half nude body.Kosma, pick your country to claim superiority over Belgium: Holland or Poland, you can't combo!
PS: Tiesto, a crying Poland emoticon should be at least twice the size of other crying emoticons. Cause we have a lot to cry about.
PS2: Didn't we kick Belgium out in the qualifiers? :cookiem
I feel little woozy after the beers I drunk yesterday when Poland didn't win. Let's hope Holland ass rapes France tonight, that would make everything alright.
Can we stop putting Portugal as "favorites" forever?
Maybe not amazing, but better then Portugal. People wouldnt hate Portugal so much if Ronaldo wasnt the gayest and lamest player in history of the sport.
Did you see what Ronaldo did during the game B?
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Hey last time I checked even Poland won with Portugal :lol
So STFU.
Germany > Poland > Switzerland > Portugal
SO BITTER.
Poland - Portugal 2:1
Germany - Portugal 3:2
Switzerland - Portugal : 2-0
Yeah Portugal is the best team of the forever :lol :lol :lol And lets see against who Poland lost? Germany who beat Portugal and Croatia who beat Germany. And against whom did Portugal lose? SWITZERLAND.
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
PS: Face it , Portugal is the ultimate choke team of has beens that never accomplished ANYTHING.
QuotePortugal
World Cup
Appearances 4 (First in 1966)
Best result Third place, 1966QuotePoland
World Cup
Appearances 7 (First in 1938)
Best result 3rd place (1974, 1982)
OWNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD :lol :lol :lol
Poland > Portugal. History has spoken. Now go cry elsewhere.
I'm tuned into this Croatia-Turkey matchup. I think soccer is ridiculously boring, and wouldn't sit through an entire game really - but the end of these 0-0 games are intense in overtime periods. Ending these things on penalty kicks seems a little ridiculous IMO ... did it always used to be like this?This game was rather boring up until the overtime. It's not a great example of exciting football.
I like the nation versus nation stuff though, you rarely have this in other sports.
Is there going to be an Olympic battle this year for all the countries? Is that essentially what the World Cup is?
Turkey wins, wow. So what does this Euro Cup winner mean in regards to everything? Do they get locked in the World Cup in a couple years or something?I don't think so, they do get locked in to the next Euro Cup.
Russia being a really nice surprise.
Holland deserves nothing from this game. But i'm sure they will win it and people will say they are the greatest.
Russia being a really nice surprise.
Holland deserves nothing from this game. But i'm sure they will win it and people will say they are the greatest.
Portugal sucks.
i wish USA could play, we would at least make the semi finals, if not win it all
we will also win South Africa world cup... at least semi finals, and 75% chance of finals and 50% chance to win the finals, imo
usa will shock the world. it's funny because nobody here gives a shit about soccer yet our team is pretty good. imagine if we cared... imagine kobe bryant, allen iverson, ladainian tomlinson as soccer players. we would dominate the entire world
wrika how long is the overtime? 15 or 30 min
Quoteusa will shock the world. it's funny because nobody here gives a shit about soccer yet our team is pretty good.
back in the Japan/Korea world cup, yeah, you were a great team and didn't deserve to lose to Germany.
but the last world cup exposed the USA quite badly.
the draw with an out of sorts Italy was the high spot, but the Czechs and Ghana rolled you over.
I'm not saying you are a bad team, you just aren't as good as you were 6 years ago.
The lack of experience at any level of soccer competition would mean he gets schooled.
Holland failed to deliver. The magic was gone :'(You can't untake it? :(I guess Kosma isn't going to take that vacation day after the finale :(
I already took the day off :-\
Quoteit's not like that's any different from what the US have already. and i think kobe learned how to play soccer when he grew up in italy. so he already knows how to flop and play dirty
no matter how bad kobe may be, it can't be any worse than what we've already got sitting on the bench
you're kidding yourself if you think Kobe is anywhere near the standard required. Hell, he might be a good "kick around" player but man, international class ? no chance.
As for todays match... Spain vs Italy.i wish i could watch, i dont have cable... but thankfully the finals are on abc next week. not sure if the semifinals are as well
As for todays match... Spain vs Italy.i wish i could watch, i dont have cable... but thankfully the finals are on abc next week. not sure if the semifinals are as well
Powerslave your bitter tears are awesome
(Penalty Kicks Suck).
WTF powerslave. Faghead.
WTF powerslave. Faghead.
what????
Sup Grecco, Italy just lost the fucking game :)
They are going home :)
and i dont see how spain "deserved" it thats a really silly statement when it was 0-0 till penalty kicks, PKS are just luck.
Lol so 100% Italian there. The whole game Spain attacks and Italy bends over and I bet you would have claimed they deserved to win if they magicly scored a goal ;)
Italy is just meh. There isn't one memorable moment that Italy provided in this tournament.
Italy is just meh. There isn't one memorable moment that Italy provided in this tournament.
Or the last tournament.
Or the last tournament.
In fact I can't remember Italy playing nice attractive football on a tournament, ever.
Or the last tournament.
In fact I can't remember Italy playing nice attractive football on a tournament, ever. I stopped rooting for Italy as my third team when I discovered this after 1994 WC when I cheered for Baggio only.
Itsaaa meee Luca Go Homeeeeey :'(
Quoteso what if he's taken someone's place as a sub. they probably wouldn't even play in the match anyway.
erm... you seem to be missing the point. Any sub that could possibly play for the US (i'm looking at a couple of Fulham players, a watford player, either Howard/Keller as sub goalkeeper) are not going to be given up for someone whose talent is going to be "might be able to score on a header and would leave us, effectively, with a non player on the pitch". The equivalent is having Payton on the Lakers bench so that, if in the last seconds you need someone to throw a 3 pointer from your own out-line, he can do it cus he throws good. Except of course you could potentially sub him back out. Imagine a situation where Payton has to stay on the field for overtime and think what would happen and why.
I don't know how i can help here. Even if he practiced for headers and became really great at it - it -wouldn't matter-. Every single attacking line player on your bench would still be an infinitely better header of the ball than Kobe. And him jumping higher isn't going to help him - ignoring that he won't get off the ground in the first place because an international class defender would destroy him - let's say he jumps up and some how manages to get a free header outside the 6 yard box, he's done this because he's been able to reach the looping corner because he can jump to an effective 8-9ft height....
... now he only needs to angle a header downwards , with power, to beat at least an international class goalkeeper and each post defending defender. And that would be without a defender making physical contact throughout the execution.
kobe is the greatest athlete in the world. anything he puts his mind to, he will succeed (except beating the celtics)
bo jackson was the greatest athlete of all-time