My Football Scrapbook

"Colombia hizo un Mundial al nivel de la grandes competiciones de la FIFA y lo mejor que le podemos..."

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:39:44 -0400

““Colombia hizo un Mundial al nivel de la grandes competiciones de la FIFA y lo mejor que le podemos decir desde la FIFA a la organización, al gobierno y a su población, es que Colombia está preparada para hacer una Copa Mundial de mayores, pero deberá esperar al 2026””

- Sepp Blatter sobre la organizacion del mundial sub-20 en Colombia

staff: The slow-motion disaster of the food crisis in the Horn...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:43:09 -0400

staff:

The slow-motion disaster of the food crisis in the Horn of Africa is truly horrifying. Last Wednesday the United Nations declared a famine in two large regions of Somalia; 3.7 million people, nearly half the country’s population, are affected. The crisis is larger than just Somalia. Right now the devastating drought in the region means that more than 11 million people need food aid across Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

You can help by making a contribution through the Tumblr Dashboard or on the Somalia tag page, and we’ll match your support up to $10,000. Proceeds will go to the United Nations World Food Programme.

Venezuela Qualifier Fixture

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:39:51 -0400

After their Copa America performance, Venezuela now get ready for the big show. Cesar Farias side will have to come out of the gate rather quickly if their intention is to get to the World Cup for the first time ever.

The Vinotinto will start out their World Cup journey heading to the altitude of Quito to face Ecuador on October 7. They will then host a most-likely revamped Argentina side four days later.

They cross the border to Colombia in November and will face Bolivia on their home soil. Venezuela will get their first bye on October 12th as that was the date when they were scheduled to take on Brazil. As we all know, the Canarinha are automatically qualified for the tournament as they are the host nation.

A quick start out of the gate will help the Venezuelans be well en route to the magical 24 points that will be needed in order to even have a shot at qualifying for the World Cup.

Their second friendly match will take place in South Florida against Honduras at Lockhart Stadium. Remember that CONMEBOL get 4 automatic spots as well as a playoff spot (this is excluding Brazil) against the fourth place CONCACAF team.

Could this be a possible future showdown for a final spot in the World Cup?

VENEZUELA FIXTURE

Are We That Bad With The Diving Issue?

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:17:43 -0400

Hearing Hope Solo talk about not having to go into “theatrics” to win a game made me feel bad for her. She’s not my saint of devotion in the goalkeeping cathedral, but if she was truly injured in today’s final, then the concept of “cheating” is completely out the window.

The goalkeeper is the one that has to be the most solid both mentally and physically. Sharpness is of the essence. The position is also one full of nicks, hits, and some encounters where they will have their bodies exposed to some tough knocks.

Although we know about her notorious penchant for the spotlight, I can’t fully blame her for saying that.

Maybe I am the wrong guy to talk about this, having played rugby during my college days.

Our senses are so heightened to look for the foul or no foul. Did he dive or didn’t he? This is an unfortunate byproduct of what is wrong with the game.

Have you been kicked in the shin? Have you been stepped on? Or better, yet have you been just grazed in the nether regions or even in the eye? Uncomfortable to say the least.

The human body does have something called referred pain, but in my years of studying massage therapy and sport medicine never did I hear of a case of a player getting hit in the stomach and feeling the pain go across his face. Windburn isn’t caused by an object coming within inches of you.

The problem for me here is how toxic has the “soccer media” been in blurring the ever-graying line between injury and theatrics here in the US? Has questioning players about being actors gotten so bad that when a player is truly injured they refuse treatment?

Obviously if you fall like you just were popped in the back with a semiautomatic rifle, if you do more than two twirls in the air and three on the ground, if your shrills are three octaves higher than your voice, then you are acting.

Am I forgiving diving in the sport? No. It’s annoying. It’s just an easy way to try to get calls. It’s a cop out. At the same time, it frustrates me to see referees fall for the same divers week in and week out. I thought that they prepared the way coaches, players, broadcasters do. I thought that referees were as professional as the rest. Seems like they do not prepare for games the way they should and they make the same mistakes over and over again.

That in part is what is poisoning the waters.

Diving, or should I say, averting is fine.

So Hope, if you are truly injured, get treatment. A real knock is not being “theatrical”. Quite the contrary. If you have a rep of not going down, when the doctors do come onto the pitch, they know something is wrong. It’s not time wasting or gamesmanship.

Let’s not kid ourselves, Hope Solo is not Bill Gaudette, so if she is ever hurt… it’s not dirty tactics, it’s about caring for your teammates and doing the right thing.

I am just looking to worry about the well-being of the athlete in a game that I love, but unfortunately.. as César Luis Menotti said “has been taken away from us a long time ago.”

Talk me up on this one. I need some help.

Copa America Trophy On Display In Miami (update)

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:58:45 -0400

As we mentioned yesterday here the Copa America trophy will be in town.

This is the press release that was sent out promoting the event.

PRESS RELEASE

AUGUST 31, 2011- AVENTURA, FLORIDA

“America kicks off in Argentina on Friday, but South Florida residents and visitors will have a unique opportunity to view the soccer tournament’s prestigious trophy this weekend at Aventura Mall. MasterCard Worldwide, Copa America’s official card and preferred payment method, will display the trophy in Aventura Mall’s Center Court from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 3.

Guests will receive a complimentary photo with the trophy. Following a seven-month, 14-city journey throughout Latin America, the Copa America Trophy Tour, sponsored by MasterCard, will make its only U.S. stop at Aventura Mall. Since December, more than 130,000 people in countries such as Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru have viewed and been able to take photos with the trophy. The trophy will return to Argentina Monday in time for the kickoff of the long-awaited tournament, which runs through July 24. The Copa America Trophy was originally donated to the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) in 1916 by Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The trophy, which was crafted by a Buenos Aires jewelry shop at a cost of 3,000 Swiss francs, is silver with a wooden base and contains small plaques of each Copa America winning team. Twelve national teams from South America (plus Costa Rica and Mexico) will compete for Copa America. Soccer powerhouse Brazil is the two-time defending champion.For more information, visit www.ca2011.com“

Please follow the goings on of this event via Aventura Mall twitter page.

Copa America Trophy On Display In Miami

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:46:00 -0400

Received an email from O’Connell Goldberg PR agency here in Miami stating that the Copa America trophy will be on display this weekend.

I will have more information for this event that will be held at Aventura Mall tomorrow.

Will also find out if there are other locations where it will be presented.

Here is the tweet from Twitter

@AventuraMall Copa America trophy (presented by Mastercard) will be in our Center Court from noon to 7 p.m. 7/2, and noon-4 p.m. 7/3 http://ow.ly/i/dHMH

Uruguay's Final List For Copa América

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:33:43 -0400

Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Lazio, ITA), Martín Silva (Defensor Sporting), Juan Castillo (Colo Colo, CHI)Defenders: Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce, TUR), Diego Godín (Atlético-ESP), Sebastián Coates (Nacional), Mauricio Victorino (Cruzeiro, BRA), Andrés Scotti (Colo Colo, CHI), Martín Cáceres (Sevilla, ESP), Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica, POR).Forwads: Alvaro Pereira (FC Porto-POR), Egidio Arévalo Ríos (Botafogo-BRA), Sebastián Eguren (Sporting Gijón, ESP), Diego Pérez (Bolongn-ITA), Walter Gargano (Napoli-ITA), Alvaro González (Lazio-ITA), Nicolás Lodeiro (Ajax-NED), Cristian Rodríguez (FC Porto-POR).Atacantes: Edinson Cavani (Napoli-ITA), Diego Forlán (Atlético-ESP), Luis Suárez (Liverpool-ENG), Sebastián Abreu (Botafogo- BRA), Abel Hernández (Palermo, ITA).

Horrific First hand account AO Davis President on fan violence at the Gold Cup Final

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:02:26 -0400

Horrific First hand account AO Davis President on fan violence at the Gold Cup Final:

salsacaliente:

As the game went on we were pelted with anything you can imagine, at one point I was hit with a blowup sex doll. My friends were hit with coins, bottles and beer. One of the USA fans in our section got hit with a bottle flung in from who knows where and turned to a security guard to complain about the lack of action, the security guard stood up on a higher seat, towered over the man and screamed “Turn around and watch the fucking game!”. I wish I was exaggerating, but Im not. Turning and looking up at the crowd all I could see between things flying at my head, were fights. I witnessed a USA fan walk past our section, face bloodied, barely walking, as if he was in a war zone trying to get himself to safety, finally a security guard spotted and helped him.

I don’t want to be overdramatic or stereotype all Mexican fans for the violence of a few (and we know Americans can do violence, as well), but based on this and other first hand accounts I have heard from this game as well as others, the Rose Bowl is terrible in terms of security and ensuring fan safety, and I can’t see how CONCACAF or US Soccer could justify holding any more games there (particularly US-Mexico games) after this.

River’s relegation will have lots more questions than...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:00:48 -0400

River’s relegation will have lots more questions than answers pending for fans of the club as well as for Argentine football and even society.

Argentina Final List

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 14:51:40 -0400

Goalkeepers: Juan Pablo Carrizo, Mariano Andújar, Sergio Romero

Defenders: Ezequiel Garay, Pablo Zabaleta, Nicolás Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Javier Zanetti, Nicolás Pareja, Marcos Rojo.

Midfielders: Esteban Cambiasso, Ángel Di María, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia, Javier Pastore, Ever Banega, Fernando Gago.

Forrwards: Gonzalo Higuaín, Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Agüero, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Diego Milito.

MLS Has To Make It Easier On Fans

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:54:24 -0400

Many MLS ans might hate me for this, but they should be angrier at MLS for not being willing to step aside as their national team locks horns against Mexico at the Rose Bowl tonight.

Even though have been making strides in a big way, it’s moves like these that make you wonder where they could be. Many people will be saying right now, “But Brazil and Argentina are doing it.”

There is no argument there. Brasileirão matches are played the same day as Canarinha internationals. The only difference is that the league blocks off that time block so people can support the national team.

Argentina… man I can’t defend myself there. You can’t argue against idiocy at times. What they will do though is schedule matches with their supposed “C, D, E, and F” sides at the same time in order to even be noticed.

Where I have the problem is not just for the league to gather support for the national team. My problem lies in the fact that they should put their teams in a situation where they will benefit from time slots. All four of these matches have interesting storylines coming in and should be in a position where their respective fans and markets should get maximum exposure.

Ask New England how their fans reacted when Spain were in town a few weeks ago playing the US?

Kickoffs

Philadelphia- Chivas (PPL Park) USA 8PM

Dallas- Portland (Pizza Hut Park) 830

Sporting- Vancouver (Livestrong Sporting Park) 830

RSL-Toronto (Rio Tinto Stadium) 9PM

Gold Cup (Rose Bowl) 9PM

Will fans go? Absolutely. They can go wherever they want. They can go club over country or whatever they want. It’s their money. It’s their choice.

Fan support is not support for a team, it’s also support for the game. The problem that scheduling matches at the same time as a USA-Mexico is a tough sell for the clubs. It is also yet another dart that the mainstream media would have at their disposal to throw at the game.

Why couldn’t these matches have been rescheduled for earlier in the day? If the weather is a factor, then why not play Sunday or even Friday?

Bitter Battle Underway To Replace Bin Hamman as Asia Boss

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:22:29 -0400

Bitter Battle Underway To Replace Bin Hamman as Asia Boss

"Era un muchacho joven, con mucho potencial, querido por su manera de ser, su carácter, desde..."

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:13:07 -0400

“Era un muchacho joven, con mucho potencial, querido por su manera de ser, su carácter, desde acá… lo que puedo hacer es enviar mi más sentido pésame a la familia. Estos son golpes que en la vida hay que saber tratar de superar.”

- Ricardo Lavolpe sobre Dennis Marshall

Using The South American Average To Determine MLS Form

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:09:47 -0400

With many fans going bonkers with how the relegation promotion in South American football, well I decided to do some numbers and came up with some interesting observations.

Is it a bunch of bunk? Maybe not.

The top five teams on the list have been on top of the MLS “single table” the past three years.

I applied it to MLS to see if it is a bunch of bunk or is it something that does have some substance. Is it a system that favors the big teams?

Well if you look at things in a “sane economic situation”, it could be a good thing. What is going on in Argentina is an aberration and the aforementioned term would be considered an oxymoron instead of a simple concept.

What I did was take the past few seasons (2008-10) as well as the first few matches of this season. For the expansion teams, the numbers would be less as some are making their debut in the league this year or in the past couple of seasons.

pts. earned/matches played = avg.

If there would be one thing that would be a pain to use these numbers is that the amount of matches played by each team is a task. For example, the LA Galaxy have played 18 matches so far while Sporting Kansas City have only played 13.

Of the top five teams on this table, four of them were in the finals during this recent time period. Three of them won titles (MLS Cup: Columbus- 2008, Real Salt Lake-2009; US Open Cup: Seattle- 2009, 2010).

On the opposite end, we see Toronto FC going into the promotion battle as Philadelphia staved off having to face the third place second division team for a spot in the top flight in this alternate universe of MLS.

But there is not that much forgiveness for Toronto. Their level of play in the recent season is evident and there is no need on my end to rehash all of that.

The same thing goes for DC United who know that they don’t only have problems off the pitch. That plus Vancouver’s slow start has them at the bottom of this table.

Numbers don’t lie… let me know what you think.

Points from last three years

* as of June 22, 2011

2008

2009

2010

2011

Total Pts

2008-2011 avg

Chicago

142

1.352

Chivas USA

133

1.243

Colorado

149

1.406

Columbus

177

1.670

DC United

116

1.115

FC Dallas

153

1.443

Houston

150

1.415

Kansas City

127

1.233

LA Galaxy

174

1.611

New England

132

1.257

NYRB

134

1.276

Philadelphia

1.182

Portland

1.286

Real Salt Lake

158

1.534

San Jose

128

1.231

Seattle

120

1.558

Toronto

124

1.159

Vancouver

0.875

Relegation Table

Columbus

1.67

LA Galaxy

1.611

Seattle

1.558

Real Salt Lake

1.534

FC Dallas

1.443

Houston

1.415

Colorado

1.405

Chicago

1.352

Portland

1.286

NYRB

1.276

New England

1.257

Chivas USA

1.243

Sporting KC

1.233

San Jose

1.231

Philadelphia

1.182

Toronto

1.159

DC United

1.115

Vancouver

0.875

Carta de Callejas a Blazer

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:47:55 -0400

Estimado señor secretario general.

Tengo el privilegio de dirigirme a usted en esta oportunidad con el fin de someter a su consideración una alta preocupación de esta Federación que se sustenta sobre el caso específico de la selección de México, en la serie semifinal del torneo y al que Concacaf ha autorizado la sustitución de jugadores por aquello que fueron separados por consumo de sustancias prohubidas.
Hemos conocido que los nuevos jugadores mexicanos se han incorporado a su selección, para participar en la continuación del máximo torneo de nuestra confederación, lo que en el contexto consideramos vendría en perjuicio del buen desarrollo del mismo.

En virtud de lo anterior quisiera expresarle que Honduras como país afiliado a la Concacaf y a la Fifa y respetuoso de las leyes y reglamentos deportivos que rigen a nuestra confederación, lamenta que circunstancias como esta naturaliza trastoquen la extraordinaria organización diseñada para el torneo.
Bajo este criterio esta Federación quiere dejar constancia de nuestra insatisfacción por las decisiones tomadas alrededor del caso antes mencionado, así como los antecedentes que a corto, mediano y largo plazo signifiquen para la confederación en términos de generar conflictos inapropiados para los

intereses del fútbol del ?área.
Aprecio su comprensión a lo expresado anteriormente , agradeciendo que los elementos expuestos en esta comunicación, sean motivo de análisis para beneficio de todos los que estamos involucrados en esta y en futuras competencias, ya que la aplicación de las medidas antidoping en el pasado, han sido extraordinarias y rígidas con los jugadores, icluyendo uno de mi país.
El tema antidopin debe ser de aplicación inapelable, sea por razón personal, por descuido, por erros, acción involuntaria u omisión premeditada del jugador, cuerpo técnico o las autoridades deportivas.
Agradeciendo su fina a la presente, me suscribo de usted con muestras de mi más alta estima, respeto y consideración.

Atentamente: Lic. Rafael Leonardo Callejas.

El Hincha- The History Behind The Tribute

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:43:47 -0400

Uruguay has always been considered the most progressive country in all of Latin America. From the time that José Artigas led his troops into battle at Las Piedras, little did they know the impact that they would have in another “field”.
As far as football is concerned, they were also at the vanguard of establishing the game from a tactical as well as from a social perspective.

The tradition continues this year the South American nation is celebrating their bicentennial and the authorities at the Uruguayan FA (AUF) have decided to continue cherishing their past by looking to name a tournament to the one group of people that have been there through thick and thin- the fans.

The planned tribute is going to be personified on one of its most celebrated characters.
At that time the discipline of football was dominated in Uruguay by the English ex-pats that inhabited the region. Teams like Albion Football Club as well as the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club were the top exponents of the game at the time. They were all of English influence.

The inception of Nacional was a revolutionary concept. The game in that country was more of a foreign game and his was the primary reason for the Club Nacional de Football to come into existence in 1901. Many individuals believed that the sport needed a Uruguayan identity. At that time the sport was played by the elite (aka foreigners) that looked at the inclusion of natives with disdain.

So much was their intent to establish this, their uniform colors would be the same colors used on Artigas’ flag. Part of the teams’ constitution stated that the uniform would always have to display those three colors.

It would not take long for this club to really start taking off. In their first ful season they would end up in second place and he following season they would get over the hump. From that time on, Nacional would be one of the more successful side and even begin to challenge (CURCC), who had their headquarters in the outskirts of Montevideo- Villa Peñarol to be exact.

CONTINUE HERE…

"I don’t know who’s a friend and who’s a foe. In retrospect possibly my friends, who I thought of as..."

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:30:28 -0400

““I don’t know who’s a friend and who’s a foe. In retrospect possibly my friends, who I thought of as my friends, have been foes and possibly my foes have been friends. In fullness of time I’ll be able to see better who was foe and who was friend.””

- Jack Warner in interview talking about being betrayed by his friends

"Mr Warner is leaving FIFA by his own volition after nearly 30 years of service, having chosen to..."

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:39:04 -0400

“Mr Warner is leaving FIFA by his own volition after nearly 30 years of service, having chosen to focus on his important work on behalf of the people and government of Trinidad and Tobago as a Cabinet Minister and as the Chairman of the United National Congress, the major party in his country’s coalition government.”

- excerpt of FIFA release regarding Warner resignation.

Stay classy, Lothar!

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:59:08 -0400

Stay classy, Lothar!

Obrigado Wolfsburg, Obrigado Alemanha: Despedida do Grafite

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:42:58 -0400

Obrigado Wolfsburg, obrigado Alemanha

Depois de quatro anos, 107 jogos da Bundesliga e 59 gols e talvez o mais alemão dos brasileiros Edinaldo Batista Libânio, chamado Grafite, deixou VfL Wolfsburg e vai jogar os próximos dois anos no clube dos Emirados Árabes Unidos Al-Ahli, em Dubai.

“Gostaria de agradecer a todos vocês por quatro anos em um país grande e deslumbrante e em um clube maravilhoso. Durante esse tempo, eu fiz muitos amigos e fãs que sempre me apoiaram. Meus agradecimentos especiais vão para o VfL Wolfsburg, que foi um dos clubes mais importantes da minha carreira. Aqui, eu comemorei o meu maior sucesso ao ganhar Futebolista do Ano na Alemanha, campeão alemão e artilheiro da Bundesliga. Meu gol em 2009 contra o Bayern de Munique, os jogos da Champions League, a Copa do Mundo de 2010 na África do Sul e muito mais o que eu experimentei durante meu tempo aqui foi demais, e vai ficar comigo para sempre.

Eu sempre me senti bem na Alemanha, aprendi muito, cresci bastante, e eu ganhei muito respeito pela minha paixão e meu trabalho. Acima de tudo, meus fãs leais e maravilhoso sempre terão um lugar especial no meu coração.

Com 32 anos, junto com minha família, decidimos descobrir algo novo. Digo a todos aqueles que sempre acreditaram em mim e que estiveram sempre lá para mim, mesmo em tempos difíceis, que sempre me apoiaram, OBRIGADO! ”

Cortesia do Leonardo Scheinkman