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Posts Tagged ‘Football’
Sun, August 10, 2008 10:11 am By James Coolridge  Printer friendly version
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 SHENYANG, China (AP) _ Germany has already made a big victory on Chinese soil by lifting the women’s football title on an impregnable defense, and is now right on track for another one at the Olympics. The Germans did a magical performance last year at World Cup title in China last year without allowing a single goal in six matches. And again defense has been the key again in the Beijing Games.
Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer and her defenders have kept Germany in contention for its first Olympic gold medal. “Last year, we scored 11 goals in the first game and then we had no goals against,” Germany coach Silvia Neid said. She feels as historical and unique, and definitely something that will be very difficult to repeat. The team’s current streak without conceding a goal is at eight matches.
Germany got Brazil on draw 0-0 in its Olympic debut and edged Nigeria 1-0 in its second game, with the winner scored by Kerstin Stegemann, a defender. Angerer was key in both matches, coming up with big saves.
The ace goal keeper was successful in denying FIFA Player of the Year Marta from scoring on Wednesday, and made two crucial stops on one-on-one breakaways against Nigeria on Saturday. “Nadine is one of the most important players in our team,” feels Neid.
Nadine had proved herself last year. She knows to control the ball and to work magically in the box. She is self-motivated and she knows how to encourage the other players. Angerer stopped Marta’s penalty kick in the World Cup final last year, when the Germans were up 1-0 before eventually winning 2-0.
Agerer says that she don’t care if goal comes or not. Her primary concern is winning the match. “My goal is to win the title, not just to not allow goals. I will be just as satisfied if they score four times but we win 5-4.”
Germany will take over North Korea on Tuesday in Tianjin needing a victory or draw to secure a quarterfinal berth. It is second in Group F with four points. Brazil too carries the same number of points but leads on the number of goals scored. North Korea has three points and Nigeria is virtually eliminated with none. The top two teams from each of the three groups plus the best two third-place finishers advance to the second round.
“It will keep us going in the tournament and give us a chance to win the gold medal,” feels Angerer. Germany is now in second place behind the United States in FIFA’s rankings and the defending European champion is yet to play in an Olympic final in women’s football. Since the tournament debut in 1996 in Atlanta, it has grabbed the bronze twice in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens four years ago, losing to Norway and the U.S. in the semifinals, respectively.
Tags : Football, US, Brazil, Germany, FIFA, Beijing Olympics, women's football, Nadine Angerer, Silvia Neid
Thu, August 7, 2008 9:53 am By James Coolridge
 HYDERABAD, August 9: Rain plays villain for AFC Challenge Cup final. With the incessant rains on Saturday, the ground conditions have become unsuitable forcing the Asian Football Confederation to postpone and shift the AFC Challenge Cup final between India and Tajikistan scheduled for Sunday and Delhi is likely to host the game in a week.
An AFC delegation will be flying to New Delhi on Sunday morning to inspect the ground conditions at the Ambedkar Stadium. The decision on whether to play finals here will be taken only after that. The delegation will be deciding the date of the match within a week.
The city of Hyderabad is witnessing heavy rains for eight days. It has lashed the Gachibowli and Lal Bahadur stadiums unsuitable for the final match of the eight-nation tournament, whose winners would automatically qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup.
“Hyderabad has been ruled out and an AFC delegation will inspect the Ambedkar Satdium in Delhi tomorrow morning and take a decision in the afternoon whether to hold the final there. The date for the final and third place play-off will be decided after inspection in Delhi but the match will be held within a week,” says AFC media officer Steve Tae Kim.
All India Football Federation General Secretary Alberto Colaco will be accompanying the AFC delegation to New Delhi.
Playing in Hyderabad after a few days was not considered an option as there is an uncertainty of the stoppage of rain. It is expected to rain for a couple of days more.
New Delhi was also in the running to host the July 30-August 10 elite tournament but Hyderabad grabbed it as Delhi had organised the Nehru Cup last August.
Earlier in the day, an AFC tournament organising committee conducted inspections both Gachibowli and Lal Bahadur stadium and later issued a media release that said that “the matches on August 10 have been postponed and the amended schedule will be announced tomorrow.”
The incessant rains have deteriorated the playing surface at the Gachibowli stadium and India lost last group match against Turkmenistan. The semi-final was played virtually on a paddy field, with mud and pools of water all over the ground, which later prompted Myanmar coach Marcos Antonio Falopa to comment that their semi-final match against the hosts was like a rugby game.
India football team coach Bob Houghton is against playing at the Lal Bahadur stadium at the heart of the city and wanted to shift the game to another city. But with rain prevailing almost everywhere in the country it has become a difficult task for him to suggest any venue.
“The ground at Gachibowli was also unplayable and with the kind of rain here, it will be worse tomorrow. The match then will not be decided by football skills. It will be a shame if a final match of such an important tournament is decided by factors not connected to football,” says Houghton. According to him, Lal Bahadur stadium was no better than Gachibowli. It will be embarrassment for the AFC and AIFF if the final is played at LBS which is a cricket ground, commented Houghton at a press conference.
He feels shifting the venue to Delhi is a better option, even though it would be a massive exercise for the AFC to transport more than 60 people — players of both teams and television crew — to another city. Asked which city he would prefer to play, he said with rain throughout the country, he would not be able to choose a venue, but ruled out playing in Kolkata.
Tags : Football, India, rain, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Myanmer, Asian Cup 2011
Mon, July 14, 2008 12:02 pm By James Coolridge
 North Korea keeps World Cup Dreams Alive
HONG KONG: Hard as it is to believe, North Korea is moving ahead in football. The North Korea’s football team is firmly on course for the 2010 World Cup. It reached the last round of qualifying without la .loss or even conceding a goal.
If they do make it, it will be the North Korea’s first World Cup in 44 years. The isolated Communist country is down in world ranking of 94. Even countries like Gambia and Suriname ranks at higher level than North Korea.
This endeavor should be read along with the in-house turmoil that burns the country. This Communist country ruled with an iron fist by Kim Jong-Il, is believed to be suffering acute food shortages, reviving memories of a famine in the 1990s leading to the death of one million people. Known more for its nuclear weapons program and dubious human rights record, North Korea, have hardly endeared themselves either with their defensive brand of football. But still they made it.
In the previous qualifying group North Korea scored just four goals in their three wins and three draws. But they succeeded in maintaining a clean sheet every time with a solid rearguard action.
With big shots like Brazil sitting uncomfortably in their qualifying group on the other side of the world and other end of the football spectrum, it raises the spectre of a World Cup with North Korea. Only a few among the North Korean players boot outside the North Korean borders and one among them is 24-year-old striker Jong Tae-Se, of Kawasaki Frontale, a mid-table side in Japan’s J-League. Japan-born Jong, dubbed “Asia’s Wayne Rooney” by South Korean media, has no doubt of North Korea’s entry into South Africa 2010 despite being drawn in the harder of two final Asian qualifying groups.
Tags : Football, World Cup 2010, Brazil, North Korea, Communist country
Sat, July 12, 2008 12:01 pm By James Coolridge
 Michael Vick Moves in Court for Bankruptcy
The imprisoned quarterback soccer star Michael Vick has moved in the court for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dog fighting charges, which alleges him of being owed of between $10 million and $50 million to creditors.
He filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. As per the court documents, Vick owes a total of about $12.8 million. He is serving a 23-month prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan, as verdict guilty last year to bankrolling a dogfighting ring. All the major sponsors including Nike, has suspended all contracts with him.
The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback promises his fans of his comeback. He assures them of rebuilding both career and life after his return from jail.
The debt also includes part of a signing bonus that the Falcons is planning to recover. The Falcons is trying to recover about $20 million in bonuses that Vick earned from 2004 to 2007after the dogfighting charges. But as per the verdict by a federal judge, Vick is entitled to keep all but $3.75 million of the money paid to him for playing football through the 2014 season. As per the filings, Vick’s other debts also include $4.5 million owed to Richmond-based Joel Enterprises Inc., and $550,0000 owed to Radtke Sports Inc. for violation of contract.
In May, a federal judge had ordered Vick to pay back around $2.5 million to a Canadian bank for a loan defaultment. The Royal Bank of Canada had sued Vick in September last year, arguing his guilty plea to a federal dogfighting charge. It prevented him from the loan repayment fearing it may affect his career. There was also another default judgment for $1.08 million entered in January against Michael Vick and one of his business partner in a lawsuit filed by Wachovia Bank over a financial loan for an Atlanta-area wine shop and restaurant.
Tags : Football, Nike, Michael Vick, bankruptcy, Atlanta Falcons, legal dispute, Royal Bank of Canada, dogfighting
Tue, July 1, 2008 12:56 pm By James Coolridge
 After 44 years of being deprived of the Euro cup, Spain finally showed that it has what it takes to beat the three time champions Germany to claim victory.
On Sunday, the world witnessed a stupendous, adrenalin filled soccer match in the beautiful city of Vienna. In the 33rd-minute striker Fernando Torres’ magnificent goal powered Spain to its glorious win over the Germans. Germany, as everyone knew they would, fought hard in Vienna and occasionally threatened on the break but they could not match the sleek skills and swift inter-passing of veteran coach Luis Aragones’s team. In the end, Spain had 13 shots on goal to Germany’s four, and seven on target to Germany’s one, by far proving the Iberian supremacy.
The Spanish victory was mainly based upon the swift inter-passing of veteran coach Luis Aragones’s team. Torres, a superb striker who had been mostly misfiring in the tournament until the final with just one goal and a barrow load of misses to his name. His electric pace earned him his goal as he raced on to a great through ball from Xavi, touched it on and then sprinted round defender Philipp Lahm, stretching to dink the ball with his right foot past advancing German keeper Jens Lehmann and just inside the far post.
Germany, as Russia before them, were plainly outclassed by the superior Spaniards. The Germans played typical, solid football whereas the Spanish team played a game of flair and fantasy.
The stretched out victory in a major tournament sent fans in Madrid and in all of Spain onto the streets preparing for night long celebrations, waving red and yellow banners and singing “Viva Espana”.
Tags : Football, Germany, Sports, Euro cup 2008, Spain, Spanish victory
Thu, June 26, 2008 4:24 am By Matt Davis
 The Premier League is a British professional league for football clubs. The league is officially called as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons.
There are twenty clubs contest in Barclays Premier League. The season commences from August and continues till May. All the teams in the league play 38 games each.
The competition kick-started as FA Premier League on the 20th of February, 1992. The first game of the Premier League was played on 15th August in the same year. However, some of the clubs in the Football League First Division decided to break off from the Football League. The reason behind this was to take advantage of a profitable television right contract.
Barclays Premier League is the most well paid football league. The combined club revenue in 2005-2006 has been estimated as around $1.4 billion. Due to rising media revenues, the number reached $1.8 billion in 2007-2008.
It is, however, a head-to-head competition between the clubs. Only four out of the 40 clubs have won the Premier League title till date. The four clubs are the Arsenals, Blackburn rovers, Chelsea and Manchester United. Manchester United is the present champion. The club also won the ninth title in 2006-2007.
The English Premier League:
The English Premier League is a series of organized leagues for football clubs in England. There are around 140 leagues sub-divided into 480 divisions. The number of clubs varies every year. This is because the clubs join, leave or merge to form new teams.
It is estimated that there are 15 clubs per division. This comes to a huge total of 7000 clubs being the members of a league in the English Premier League.
Three points are given to the team for each win and one point for a draw. The ranks of the teams are decided according to the total points and the differences in the number of goals. If the teams have equal points, the goal difference and the number of goals scored are taken into consideration to decide the winner.
Tags : Football, EPL, English Premier League, Professional, Barclays, Premiership, Club
Mon, June 23, 2008 8:57 am By Dennis Hays
 If one asks you to tell which sport- football or baseball- is the number one in the United States, it may be difficult for you to give a fair reply since both the sports have wide popularity and passionate fan following. In this article, we have tried our best to give you an unbiased answer by analyzing the essential criteria that determine the popularity of a sport.
There are six main factors that help determine which sport is more beloved. They are the attendance (number of spectators in present in the match venue), ticket costs, revenue generated from television broadcast, salaries of the sportspersons, and venues of matches.
Attendance:
We can determine whether football or baseball is more popular in USA by looking at the number of spectators who present in the match venue. Let us take one instance. The average crowd at a baseball match venue in the year 2000 was 30,125 whereas around 66,077 spectators were present at a football game. This figure is based on a total yearly attendance divided by the total number of games that were played in the sport. These figures tell us that the number of people that went to football matches was twice as that of baseball games in during the year 2000.
Cost of tickets:
Ticket cost is an important criterion which can decide the popularity of a sport. Keeping this factor in mind, it can be said that baseball is more accessible and potentially more popular overall with the American families earning average to below-average income. During the year 2000, a ticket to baseball game cost $20.02, while football games cost around $54.14. We may thus say that live baseball is more affordable than live football.
Revenue generated from television broadcast:
This is another important criterion considered to analyze the popularity of a sport. We may say that football is the winner when it comes to the revenue that the sport generates from television broadcast.
According to a survey, the National Football League (NFL) has revenue of around 2.2 billion dollars generated from television broadcast in a year whereas the Major League Baseball earns about 340 million in a year.
Although football is on a few days per week while baseball is on nearly every night, the former gets more revenue from the advertisements on television. This clearly means that more people are watching football matches than the baseball games. We may thus say that if television revenue is compared, football is the number one sport.
The season of both the sports are opposite in many ways. When baseball season is long and drawn out with teams playing almost every night, football games appear only once a week. This adds to the buzz for a football game.
Tags : Baseball, Football, favorite, American, Sport
Wed, May 7, 2008 1:12 pm By James Coolridge
 One of the biggest megastars of football, David Beckham is going through a period when he has to consider retirement, but he insists time and again that he has a lot more years of football left in him. At 32, Beckham is not getting younger, though his popularity is as good as it can be. A huge turn of events when he let go of the English Premiere League for Major League Soccer, playing for LA Galaxy. Beckham, today wishes to concentrate on short terms goals for improving fitness ahead of the new season of MLS.
It has been long that we have seen him in English colors, and him not fitting in Capello’s scheme of things, is another reason why he has to be away from the National team. One of the bigger goals for Beckham is to sustain ninety minutes on the field, something that we have not seen him do recently and he is happy that he has the opportunity do it for LA Galaxy.
One if the richest footballer in the world, Beckham, wants to get back to playing for the country and he believes he can do so. So, if you are his fan, and want to see him in national colors, pray for him and you will see the ‘deadly free kick’ again.
Tags : Football, Beckham
Wed, March 26, 2008 10:36 am By James Coolridge
 Manchester City finally had a break after four matches and they finally won. Manchester City produced a spirited second-half to battle back to beat Tottenham at Eastlands and claim their first win in four Barclays Premier League matches.
Robbie Keane had put the visitors in the 32nd minute by clipping a left-footed shot past Joe Hart.
However, just before the hour Stephen Ireland poked home from close range before Nedum Onuoha’s powerful header clinched a first victory since the Manchester derby on February 10.
Ireland’s strike ended a six-hour 14-minute goal drought stretching back to that success over United and provided the catalyst for a much-improved display from Sven-Goran Eriksson’s previously struggling side.
It was City’s first win in six home matches and their first victory over Tottenham since April 2003. For the Tottenham Spurs, however, the result capped a miserable week which saw them dumped out of the UEFA Cup on penalties by PSV Eindhoven.
It had all begun so well for the visitors as Keane went close to opening the scoring in the fourth minute as, after exchanging passes with Aaron Lennon, he turned Onuoha close to the by line but curled a shot with the outside of his right foot narrowly wide of the far post.
Tags : Football, Manchester City
Tue, March 25, 2008 7:47 am By James Coolridge
 Luke Steel is in a bad state. Not all the work he put in for club Barnsley is enough for him to stay back. Steele played a major part in helping Barnsley reach the last four with a string of impressive performances during his month on loan.
He starred in the fifth round win over Liverpool at Anfield and kept a clean sheet as Barnsley knocked out holders Chelsea at Oakwell in the sixth round. West Brom goalkeeper Luke Steele looks set to miss out on an appearance at Wembley after Albion and Barnsley failed to reach an agreement on his future.
Steele is due back at The Hawthorns after talks about extending his loan at Barnsley to take in the Tykes’ FA Cup semi-final against Cardiff next month broke down.
Barnsley boss Simon Davey has admitted he is searching for alternative signings, meaning Steele faces being frozen out of the semi-finals despite having links to two of the clubs taking part. A sorry state of affairs for the chap. A real pity even after such a commendable performance.
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