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The 1995 tournament held in Canada was a bitter pill in the mouth of the Golden Eaglets, and they were determined to make amends at the 1989 tournament which was hosted by Scotland. In a group comprising 1987 host Canada, China PR and tournament favorite Argentina, the Golden Eaglets were expected to progress to the Quarter-finals with ease. Book makers were already tipping the Nigerians to clinch the trophy before the tournament even began.

They lived up to their billing in their first match, when they stunned Canada 4-0, with Kayode Keshinro scoring a brace in the 27th and 75th minutes before Babajide Oguntuwase and Victor Ikpeba put the game beyond the Canadians with two superb goals in the 56th and 78th minutes. They then drew 0-0 with Argentina in their second match. In their must win last group game against China, the Golden Eaglets defeated China PR with an emphatic 3-0 bashing, and they sent jitters down the spine of other countries who were already avoiding the Golden Eaglets. Olusegun Fetuga, Victor Ikpeba and Sunny Umoru were on the scorers sheet in an encounter that saw the Nigerians completely dominating proceedings.

In the Quarter-finals, the Golden Eaglets were paired with Saudi Arabia, and most sports analyst labeled the encounter as a rematch of David versus Goliath.

They were referring to the physically big Saudis, compared to the smaller sized Nigerians. The Golden Eaglets were however not going to be intimidated, as they battled the Saudi Arabians to a 0-0 score at regulation time.

The game had to be decided via penalties as it happened two years ago.

It was a game filled with so much intrigues, as the Golden Eaglets were face to face with the giant goalkeeper from Saudi Arabia. The game eventually ended 2-0 in favor of the Saudis, who went ahead to lift the Trophy. The Nigerians were so unlucky, as Bobolayefa Edun, Sunny Umoru, Patrick Mancha and Chiedu Anazonwu all missed their spot kicks, while Saud Al Hammali and Jabarti Al Shamrani scored for Saudi Arabia to take the game beyond the hopeful lads from Nigeria.

Some players from the Nigerian team to Scotland 1989 later progressed to the senior national team after blossoming in their various club-sides. Top on the list was Victor Nosa Ikpeba who was nickname «The prince of Monaco». Victor Ikpeba eventually won the African footballer of the year award in 1997. Benedict Akwuegbu, Godwin Okpara and Precious Monye are also notable names who excelled both in club and country.

As you probably know, soccer is the most played, watched and televised sport in the history of mankind. According to FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) there are currently 270 million people that are actively involved in the game of football. (That is about 4% of the world population) So why has this sport become such a grand interest for me and people alike? What is the history behind this widely spectated event?

Soccer which is referred as «football association» in Wikipedia is a sport that has roots dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century. The earliest form is said to have originated in China; a game called «cuju». FIFA, the governing body of football, officially stated that China was the birthplace of its game in 2004.

In the latter decades, many other forms of the sport have been spotted in other regions of the world, such as «Harpastum» (Roman), «Kemari» (Japan), and «Knattleikr». (Iceland) These games were of course a lot different from what modern football is all about. It was not until the 19th century that various forms of football became somewhat an organized event played mostly by prestigious public schools in England. There was much improvement in the course of the sport when Thomas Arnold (head of the ‘Rugby School’ helped to establish the first standardized rules of Rugby.

In Rugby, they allowed players to kick opponents legs below the knees (which was banned in the later years), handling the ball was also permitted. Following this development, football and rugby split on December, 1863. The modern game of football was born in England with the formation of the F.A. (Football Association) which is the governing body of football in England. Ebenezer Cobb Morley was a founding member of the Football Association in which he stressed out the importance of a governing body for football. After the F.A. was established he laid down the «Laws of football» that implemented the rules the game is played today. On January 9th, 1864, the first exhibition football game was played at the Battersea Park. In only eight years, the F.A. had 50 member clubs and grew rapidly allowing a competition to emerge in 1972. The F.A. Cup is the first football competition and in England regarded as the most prestigious one. The ‘Wanderers’ were the first team to win the cup, beating the ‘Royal Engineers’ 1-0.

Football popularized slowly in other countries with the help of British influence. It was not until 1889, other countries (Netherlands and Denmark) would embrace this wonderful game. Football started growing rapidly with the following countries; New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile, Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (1900), and Hungary (1901) adopting football associations of their own.

In 1904, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) was formed in Paris to regulate international fixtures and there were seven founding members (France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). The first international football competition was introduced at the 1908 London Summer Olympics with Great Britain winning gold, Denmark silver and the Netherlands bronze. The emergence of World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) brought the growing sport to a halt resuming years after the war. By 1950, FIFA had 51 member countries. Before the creation of the World Cup (the most prestigious football competition), FIFA organized a football competition within the Summer Olympics. In 1930, FIFA would manage their own tournament in Uruguay; the host nation to be the first football team to have won the cup that would be the most spectated than any other professional tournament today.

Football today, is a much growing sport with 208 national teams recognized by FIFA, in addition there are thousands of club teams competing with each other in various leagues and cups for global dominance. The sport has become an addiction for many people around the world, helping nations and people get together as they cheer their team away hoping one day, their team will bring home a trophy. The future of football always has room for improvement and hopefully will grow interest in the U.S. as elsewhere. «Fair-play» is the name of the game.

World cup 2010 is finally upon us and soon the whole country will be going football crazy as the hopes and dreams of every England supporter will be in the balance. Every world cup the supporters follow their team through the thick and thin of it all but will this year finally be the repeat of 1966 for the England boys?

I know that every girl out there will be dreading the the 27 days of constant football games as they will all become football widows but every man out there is counting down the days till that first game on the 11th June and i would suspect that most have booked the time off work or making sure their employer has a tv set all ready to go. But the biggest question on all English fans lips is – will this year be the year that the boys can do it?

So girls what are the things we need to know to make us fit in?

Capello the England manager is with us for the long run, or so reports say but as it stands he is the man that has our hearts in his hands for 2010, so for us I hope this year it doesn’t end in heart break or if it does please don’t let it be through penalties I am not sure the boys will be able to watch this again.

So with Capello in the driving seat who will be steering the team forward, John Terry we would believe will be our captain and is he the man for the job, I certainly think so you only have to look at his track record and his determination as a player to see his commitment to the team and his country.

So how can we prepare for the big date on the football calendar, well for starters lets get well and truly behind the boys and show our ongoing support to them, I for one will be getting all the world cup merchandise! I can and ensuring everyone out there knows I am behind the team 100% even if 50% of the commitment is to be having fun in the pub with the lads.

Here is to the world cup 2010.

In every football-playing country, there is a league system. The most competent clubs play in the top division league. The sport being the most popular one in the world, top-tier football leagues are watched by the crazy fans from all over the globe. In fact, the most exciting league matches find the highest number of viewers. These five leagues are as follows:

· Barclays Premier League

· Spanish League or La Liga

· Italian League or Serie A

· German League or Bundesliga

· French League or Ligue 1

Among these five leagues, Barclays Premier League is considered the most exciting one. A decade ago or so, Serie A was widely considered the most competitive league in the world. However, things have changed over the last few years since Manchester United lost their monopoly. The Red Devils – Man U are often referred to as their famous nickname – were simply unstoppable under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson. Once their golden era is over, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal are some of the big names dominating the English Premier League landscape.

This 2015-16 season, Leicester City have emerged as the Premier League champions. Premier League is no longer predictable like what we have been watching in Serie A or Bundesliga where Juventus and Bayern Munich have been champions for several years in a row. In addition to the above-specified names, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Southampton are other big names in the first-division English League. Tottenham have finished their campaign second on the league table. Chelsea have suffered a lot and failed to make a great start to the last campaign. It led to sacking of their manager Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea or the Blues managed to drive themselves back from their woeful run under manager Guus Hiddink but due to their earlier drop, they failed to break into the top four. According to reports, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are among the 20 wealthiest clubs in the world. These leagues are most televised in a number of countries. The TV rights earn the clubs millions of pound. The prize money earned by the league winner is the best in any country. The players earn the most attractive wages that can be offered in any league.

History of English League

English League has become the giant one after starting as a small one in the 19th century. They have also earned success in the European competition. Years ago, the star players from Brazil and Argentina used to prefer playing in the Serie A or La Liga. They did not think twice to snub offers from Premier League in order to show their skill in other countries. The story is completely different now. Both the Brazilian and Argentinean players now love to ply their trade in the Premier League. In fact, the star players from several football-playing countries are now eager to prove themselves in England.

English football league is marked by both pace and skill. Every year, a new club wins the Premier League title and that makes the charm of watching the league alive.

Lionel Messi is arguably the best soccer player in the world. He has won the B’lon Dor three times in 2009, 2010, 2011 and has played with the club FC Barcelona for years winning La Liga five times and Champions League three times while he was there.

His honors and success are substantial and have a lot to say about him as a player but today we’re going to dive deeper into Messi’s life to talk about his behavior open up a more intimate conversation about the young man.

He’s not very outspoken, neither is he very loud or overbearing when he is interviewed. He seems more withdrawn when he’s in public and he’s very soft spoken. To understand why he is this way you have to go back and look at the history and his beginnings at his training ground at La Masia in Spain.

The Argentinian caught the attention of scouts at a very early age. He was a young boy then. He was recruited and sent over from Argentina leaving his family and friends behind. When he first came to La Masia to train he was described as very quiet and shy, often indicating the longing of his parents. The first few years at La Masia were very hard for him as he wasn’t in the same boat as the other players because his family wasn’t very close to him distance-wise. Most of the other children were from Spain but they were very supportive of him and tried their very best to cultivate and nurture the growing Argentinian.

He grew up playing soccer and it’s his relaxation and also his job. Soccer is not a job to him as it is simply what he does at play. As he grew older he continues playing.

The environment at La Masia encourages humbleness. They never try to make money or fame an important aspect of life, instead they try very hard to create an environment that provides for a player to grow up well rounded. The go to school together and learn together. Part of the reason is because at La Masia you earn respect through humbleness. Academy Director Carles Folguera said, «… you can be humble if your surroundings are but it’s tough.» At La Masia they encourage a lot of camaraderie. Folguera also stated, «..the most important qualities for the boys is comradeship and humbleness.» Seems like this has been drilled into them at La Masia as part of their player creation process.

Coming from a poor background of a father who was a steelworker and a mother who was a cleaner, the Argentinian had a lot to thank for at La Masia. His former coach Guardiola was very happy to be at La Masia at the age of 13 because they were a very organized establishment that they «helped me grow up» and had «very good food.» From this you can see that there were fond memories to be had at La Masia, it’s a place where you needs are taken care of and coming from a poor family you have a lot to be thankful for such as having a good place to learn, play and train and also have good food to eat. Aside from that at La Masia there is 75 staff members including doctors and trainers to help with the needs of the players as they grow older. These all inclusive associates help develop a more balanced personality that does not need to feed on fame or fortune to feel appreciated and respected as the «family» has already ascertain and taken care of all your needs. All you have to do is play.

Messi still idolizes other players. His favorite soccer player he followed as he grew up was Pablo Aimar, someone he used to watch videos of and try to mimic his skills. To this day he still idolizes this man, someone who Messi has beaten in terms of records of achievement. At the age of 23 a TV show interviewed Pablo Aimar on his thoughts of Lionel Messi and had the interview recording replayed to Lionel Messi as he watched in awe and silent joy. This shows that he’s still a young person inside, someone who is very much still adhering to those feelings and emotions he had as a child.

So as you can see, La Masia never turned off the need for a person to hide their individuality and childishness. There are other things that are more important to La Masia such as respect through humbleness that bring out a different and very docile, humble and respectful person upon graduation of the program. Lionel Messi simply happens to be one of many very well rounded and nice players that graduated to play for Barcelona and other teams.