Categoría: Todas las equipaciones de fútbol

GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!

All eyes are turned to Brazil, this years host of the 2014 Soccer World Cup. What is the fascination for soccer and how did we come to have the World Cup?

The first soccer fact we need to know: Americans are about the only people group that calls it soccer. Some countries call it «futbol», pronounced «football», while the rest of the world calls-and spells it- «football» «-not to be confused with our American version of football.

The first «Football Tournament», later to be called «World Cup» was held in 1930 in Uruguay and hosted only 13 invited teams. It has since grown to host a whopping 32 teams! But I get ahead of myself…

Soccer (herein to be referred to as football) was originally played in Great Britain, with the first international tournament being played between England and Scotland in the year 1872. They held two international games that season. Their first match ended with a tie, the score being 0-0, played on November 30. The second match was held on March 8, 1873 with the score ending in Englands’ favor at 4 – 2.

Skipping ahead to the 1900’s and we have the first international tournament being held outside of Great Britain. These football matches were held in Uruguay between Uruguay and Argentina. By then, it had become such a popular sport that in 1900 and 1904, they initiated it into the Summer Olympics!

In 1904 FIFA was created. Important? Yes. It stands for «Fédération Internationale de Football Association». What is FIFA? FIFA is the international body that governs the rules and regulations of soccer.

As I stated, World Cup did not come in to play (pun fully intended!) until the 1930’s. In 1932, the summer Olympics was to be held in Los Angeles, California. With football not being a popular sport in the States at this time, it was dropped from the Olympiad Program. What to do?

At this point FIFA President, Jules Rimet, decided it was time to take action and created what is now known as the «World Cup». Since Uruguay had won their past two tournaments, FIFA decided to hold the first set of matches in this country.

The Cup is the world’s largest single event competition. It is held every four years-every year with two exceptions. During World War II (specifically 1942 and 1946), the games were discontinued since all countries were more concerned about the war effort and all resources were focused there. Currently there have been 19 Cup tournaments held, with eight different countries having taken home the prize.

Want to take a guess as to which team has won the most often? That’s right. Brazil takes it with five total World Cup wins!

Past South Americas’ exotic appeal and interesting cultural make up, Latin America offers a lot of opportunities for volunteer work and especially in teaching English. This South American region offers beautiful landscape and travel opportunities to places that are more heard of than seen. Volunteering in Latin America has increased in the recent past due to a failing economy, poverty, and lack of education and political and civil wars and strife. But the fact is that Latin American nations have a wealth of natural resources, but are still considered as developing countries by those in North America and Europe.

So if you are interested in overseas volunteer work then Latin America is a place to be. Some of the relatively developed countries in Latin America like Argentina and Costa Rica have significant number of people below the poverty line. Apart from this most of Latin American countries are not well versed with English, which is slowly becoming a global language. Volunteering in Latin America can vary from country to country and it can include from community development, health education, environmental work and even sports. As an individual, you can always choose the kind of overseas volunteer work you want to participate in and the duration that you want to work for.

Volunteering in Latin America includes the following types of work:

Conservation volunteerism: This is of prime importance especially because a large part of the Amazon rain forest has disappeared and with it has disappeared many habitats. You can choose volunteering work from different types of conservation projects that include preservation of endangered species of turtles in Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago; Wildlife rehabilitation centers in Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador and save forests and environmental projects in Brazil (mostly Amazon), Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala etc. You don’t need to have any kind of degree in animal behavior, all you need is love for nature, animals and a will to make a difference and save the planet and its depleting natural resources.

Health Volunteerism: Volunteering in Latin America revolves a lot around health and related services because most of the countries there don’t have the necessary infrastructure or skilled people that include, doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners. Lack of education also means that health problems are at a rise in the backward areas and smaller towns. You can get a lot of exposure through volunteer work in hospitals in Ecuador and Honduras.

Sports Volunteerism: Sports may seem to be the unlikely area for volunteer work. South America has a lot of sporting talent especially in soccer but there is no infrastructure, coaches or training schools that can hone the skills of the youngsters or teenagers who want to enter the professional sports arena. Soccer is like a religion in some countries like Brazil and Argentina, who have also made their mark on the World stage. El futbol is considered to be a way of life, so if you have ever coached any teams or played in any league games in Europe or other parts of the world then you can volunteer as a football/soccer coach.

Volunteer Community Development: Although South America presents a pretty picture that advertises the smiles, the sun, the sand, the giant palm trees, the beautiful and exotic wildlife, there is much work to be done in terms of community development. Latin America suffers from a disparity of wealth and there are many people who dream of a better life, more money so that they can provide the basic necessities to their children or parents. Volunteering in Latin America in Community development will involve many aspects like teaching English, developing projects that will benefit the society as a whole, helping old aged people and orphans, providing education to street kids and many more. It is all hard work but the end result is gratifying because you will be one of the few people to have made a difference.

Maradona has often vied to be considered the best footballer in history with Pele. However most people agree that while Maradona had prodigious talents his behaviour off the field often left a lot to be desired,and his constant battle against drug addiction made him far from the comparatively «squeaky clean» character that Pele was during and after his twenty plus years at the top of the game during the fifties, sixties and seventies.

Like Pele, Maradona came from a very humble background in the slums of Buenos Aires. Yet despite that his prodigious talent as a footballer was there for all to see, and by the age of sixteen he was banging goals in from every angle for his local club, Argentinos Juniors. Such was his dramatic impact that there was even mention that he should be «shoed in» to the 1978 World Cup Squad even before his 18th birthday.

That was not to be, but he did make his full international debut not long after, and achieved his childhood dream of pulling on the famous dark blue and yellow soccer uniform of Boca Juniors in 1981, when he had just turned 21.

However news of Maradona’s prodigious talents has reached Europe. After just a season at Boca, there is a lot of irony involved as he was snapped up by Basque giants Barcelona, just as Messi was more than twenty years later. Yet his career and his stay at Barcelona were less than successful. Maradona was the victim of very tight marking and crude tackles, with one of them ending with Diego with his leg in plaster for several months. Rumour has it that it was In Barcelona that Maradona began to experiment with drugs, casting a shadow over his career for many years after he left the club and the city.

Both Barcelona and Maradona were relieved when the club agreed to his transfer 1984 to Napoli in Italy’s Serie A. At Napoli everything fell into place for Diego and it was there that he finally realised his potential. For about six seasons, everything that Maradona touched turned to Gold.

Napoli won their first Serie an Italian Championships in 1986/87 and again in 1989/1990, and was also runners up twice. In addition they won the UEFA Cup in 1989.

Maradona was unstoppable at the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, and he certainly used everything in his repertoire to make sure that he would get to hold up the World Cup. Maradona also made it to the final with Argentina in Italy four years later, where they lost by the only goal to a typically stodgy West Germany.

USA 1994 saw Diego and his career in decline and after failing a drug test for ephedrine doping; FIFA expelled him from the tournament.

After serving a 15-month ban for failing a drug test, Maradona had already left Napoli in disgrace by 1992, after that he did the rounds of a few secondary clubs and by 1995 at the age of 35 his career was officially over, although he had lost his magic around five seasons earlier.

A football talent that could not be denied, Maradona allowed his personal problems to take a lot of the edge of his career. When the final judgement comes down to who was the best footballer ever to grace the World Cup, there is no escaping that fact.

Decrypting Messi:

As per Henri Fayol’s theory of business administration, along with organizing, monitoring, and controlling, coordinating is one of the central functions the management. The term ‘coordination’ in this theory implies that the managers must harmonize the rules and the activities performed by the organization. This in turn means that every activity of each unit of the organization should complement and enrich the work of the other.

In an operational sense, coordination means, «an arrangement of the different elements of a complex body or activity to enable them to work together effectively». Co-ordination also could mean «the ability to use different parts of the organization together smoothly and efficiently for ensuring more efficient use of the organization’s resources in pursuit of its specified goals».

I believe that the coordination as a management function has received much lesser attention than what it merits from the practitioners, researchers, academicians, and the management itself. The term ‘coordination’ is known more in reference to the Supply Chain or the Manufacturing or the Sales function by virtue of the nature of their activities.

I was tempted to write this article based on a FIFA update recently published in the Times of India on 5 July 2014. It said that Lionel Messi is the third most productive distributor of the passes in the game and the primary scorer on his squad. For readers’ information, Messi plays generally in a very advanced position on the right-wing very much like a striker.

Like the central functions of the management, there are five key skills required for a football player. They are first-touch, dribbling, passing, striking the ball, and one-vs-one play. Passing is akin to the coordination. It determines how many scoring chances a team can create, how often a team is possessing the ball, and how quickly a team can advance the ball down the field. Without a strength in the passing competency, a team will quickly find itself «out of possession» more than «in possession».

Messi’s completed forward passes are the highest among the Argentine players. Out of total 11120 passes that he has made, he has been successful in 84% instances. What a success ratio? When to pass the ball to a particular team member is decided in a microsecond and that requires a comprehensive understanding of the ‘live’ situation on the field. What Messi is doing essentially is an effective and efficient coordination and the results are so clear.

Coordination and the Business Management:

I find a great resemblance between the coordination skill in the business management and the passing skill in the soccer game. If we go a little deeper, then we find that the coordination in fact is the most common thread cutting across all the managerial & supervisory functions. The more the Managers & Supervisors master the coordination skill; the better is their performance or output and hence, the superior is the organization’s performance.

Like communication, coordination too is an embedded aspect of the day-to-day business management and if ignored, can lead to trouble. An effective and well-defined coordination process lends credence to the roles of the employees and predictability to the organization’s functioning.

The ensuing text attempts to signify the practical details of the coordination skill with three specific instances for the Mangers & Supervisors for highlighting its importance.

Information / Data Coordination:

This is the most usual kind coordination that each employee understands. Information and data are the software of the decision-making process at every stratum in the organization.

Who will receive what information? How much information the employee will keep and how much will be passed on and to whom? How the information will move forward, backward, and sideways? When the information will be passed on? How fast the information will flow and through which medium? Who will keep what information for how long period? Which information will move faster and to whom? What types of information / data need preservation for legal and other purposes? What is the information / data retrieval procedure? What type of enterprise system is the most suitable for the business?

This is about formally coordinating the information across the organization by the specified employees to make certain that everyone receives the right information in right quantum for making the required decisions at the right time. The Managers & Supervisors must have full comprehension and control of the information coordination paths. We often come across situations on a repetitive basis, wherein a particular task could not be executed, because the concerned employee either failed to pass on or give the vital information or withheld the information for inexplicable reasons.

Project Coordination:

Most organizations set up the Coordination Cell for larger projects. Such cells are more often than not a part of the President’s or the Director’s office. Such an arrangement signifies the importance given to the coordination process for the project execution as planned.

On a routine basis, how the resources (work force, material, financial, etc.) will come and who will coordinate? Who will be the site project coordinator and to whom he will report? What setup is necessary to resolve the interdisciplinary issues? Who will coordinate with the government agencies? How often the review meetings will take place and who all will take part? What new or more skills are required for the project execution? Who will make sure the effective procurement of the materials and services? Who are the members of the back-up team?

These are a few critical points on which, the Coordination Cell decides before or along with the commencement the project. In the project execution, nothing can be left to the chance and hence, such cells are a prerequisite, especially in the resource-conscious organizations. Project coordination is also about visualizing various scenarios and preparing a plan for each.

Emergency Coordination:

The organizations have the emergency management or business contingency plans for different purposes. For instance, an evacuation plan for an earthquake or a fire or a data recovery plan when the host server is damaged or a natural calamity or disaster management plan. The purpose of such plans is to make sure the least damage to the property & human life and continuity of the business.

Execution of such plans is akin to the soccer game in terms of the decision-making speed as the time available to manage the emergency is always lesser than required. All the business standards like OSHA, ISO, IMS, etc. and various legal statutes mandate that such plans are properly documented, duly approved by the management, communicated to all the concerned employees, shared with the concerned government agencies when required, and periodically reviewed.

Conclusion:

For an effective coordination, the organization must convert all the Managers & Supervisors into Lionel Messi. Then, each Manager will compete for being the most effective coordinator or the ‘passer of the ball’. Because of his agility and clarity of direction, Messi on many occasions have taken the ball himself to the goalpost. This implies that for being an effective coordinator, the Mangers & Supervisors must have the goal-clarity, agility, knowledge of the peer’s abilities, an appreciation of the dynamic business situations, knowledge of the opponent’s strengths & weaknesses, and most decisively an ability to put the interpersonal issues aside while ‘the match is in progress’.

The secret of success is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. There would always be opportunities that will come, but the question we must honestly ask ourselves, is this: «Are we ready for that golden opportunity»? Some opportunity may come in form of challenges, and we all know that many folks shy away from challenges. Some individual may have just one opportunity to turn their destiny around. How then can we utilize opportunities that come our way?

Be prepared for Opportunities: Some individuals are presented with opportunities on a platter of gold, but they cannot discern it. I once had an uncle who worked in an oil Firm for close to eight years. While he was there, he was earning more than a thousand dollars monthly ($1000) as salary. Unfortunately for him, he was not prepared for the opportunity he had. In 2008, he fell a victim to downsizing of the oil firm, and became jobless. He neither had a building of his own, nor did he have any form of investment to fall on. He was not prepared for what had hit him, because he failed to tap into the opportunity he had.

Use that opportunity: To succeed in life, you must not only see an opportunity, but use it. Opportunities can be compared to a door key. As long as we do not use the key to open any door, the key will remain useless.

There was this young actress who went to visit an uncle in the office for some personal issues. While there, she had a chance encounter with a movie director, who jokingly asked her if she would be interested in a role in his upcoming movie. She had a flair for acting and did not hesitate to give an answer. She was invited to auditioning and became the lead character in the movie. That single opportunity transformed her life and career! She not only saw an opportunity, but used it fully to her advantage.

Wait patiently for that opportunity: Patience is a virtue which so many individual are not prepared to cultivate. So many are hasty to attain stardom, and ultimately miss the opportunity to become what God have destined them to become. Emmanuel Amuneke, the most celebrated Nigerian soccer player, possessed this virtue in abundance. At the 1994 African Nations Cup held in the beautiful country of Tunisia, he never got to play any of the group matches. The Nigerian Coach- Clemens Westerhof knew what he was doing, and Emmanuel Amuneke was not in haste to jump into the field. He waited patiently for the opportunity to shine. At last the opportunity came in the final against a young Chipolopolo of Zambia, and Emmanuel Amuneke was introduced into the game as a joker. He ended up scoring the two clinical goals that clinched gold for Nigeria. His patience had finally paid off and the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) named him the African Footballer for the year 1994. He patiently waited another two years and once again emerged the hero of the Nigerian soccer team to Atlanta Olympics game, when he scored the winning goal in Nigeria 2-1 victory over Argentina in the final. He came in as a substitute with few minutes left in the match and his exploits earned him fame and fortune world wide. You see, you never know when the door of opportunity is going to open wide. For some, the big break can come early in life and for others later on. But for all of those who become successful, there is one key similarity: They were ready. And for every one of those who were ready to wait for their time, the golden opportunity eventually came. So, the principle for us is: Be patient!

Never let that opportunity to slip away: There are thousands of individuals who patiently wait for the opportunity of a lifetime to shine, and when the big break come their way, they throw it away with their own hands! The Nigeria National Football team the Super Eagles went to the 2002 World Cup in Korea Japan and performed badly in their first two matches, losing 1-0 to Argentina, and 2-1 to Sweden. Nigeria had a certain Ike Shorunmu in goal for the first two matches, and when the third and final match against England came calling, the then Super Eagles coach- Chief Adegboye Onigbinde decided to make a string of changes, and on came Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who was the only home based player in the team He made a world class save off a well taken shot from Paul Scholes of England to cap a brilliant outing. The match eventually ended 0-0, and Vincent Enyeama cemented his place as Nigeria’s Number one choice goal keeper. He never allowed that single opportunity to shine at the world stage slip throw through his fingers. He grabbed it with both hands. In concluding, it must be noted that some may have just one opportunity in a lifetime; others may have three opportunities while some may have up to ten opportunities to shine. We must not allow any opportunity to go unutilized, because it may be the only opportunity we may ever be presented with. Be prepared, be patient and never allow that opportunity slip away!

Outright Odds: 12/1

Group C Winners: 13/8

New coach Marco van Basten has proven to be a revelation off the pitch as much as he was on it since taking over the Dutch national team. Plucked from an obscure youth coaching role at Ajax where he kept his head down and had low responsibilities when Dick Advocaat quit after Euro 2004, van Basten has made this new-look Dutch team his own.

Out with the old and in with the new seems to be van Basten’s philosophy so while former well known favourites such as Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert have been given the chop, some of the best players the Dutch Eredivisie has to offer have come in to replace them.

Players such as AZ Alkmaar’s Denny Landzaat, Feyenoord’s Dirk Kuyt and Ajax’s Ryan Babel may not be household names yet but have all won the backing of the manager. Ajax have a strong representation in the squad, with John Heitinga, Nigel de Jong, Hedwiges Maduro and Wesley Sneijder, all under the age of 23, vying for a place in the starting line-up.

The faith shown in locally-based players along with more recognisable faces such as evergreen trio Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids and Philip Cocu and the likes of Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy has paid off.

The team are showing true team spirit and togetherness, unlike the inconsistent squads of the past and in qualifying notched up 32 points, the highest of any European side. Holland finished five points clear at the top of their group that also included bogey side Czech Republic and Romania, both of whom they beat twice. Surprisingly, the only country they didn’t beat was Macedonia who they drew with twice.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was in scintillating form during qualifying with seven goals in 10 matches and now back in favour at Manchester United, could be a good investment for the top goalscorer market.

The Dutch are always one of the favourites for the tournament but never quite manage it. They have reached the final twice, the semi finals and quarter final stages but never have enough to win it outright.

The team entering this year have little World Cup experience and it would be a big ask of this team to go all the way in Germany.

BetBonus.co.uk Recommendation:

Holland offer better value to win Group C than Argentina but a lack of experience throughout the squad means they cannot be backed to win the tournament outright. Ruud van Nistelrooy could be a good each-way investment for the top goal scorer berth on his debut at the finals.

Holland to win Group C @ 13/8

E/W Ruud van Nistelrooy as top goalscorer @ 16/1

Did you know…

Soccer is the national sport of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Khin Maung Lwin (Secretary General of the Myanmar Olympic Committee) said, «As in most of the countries all over the world, football is the most popular sport in Myanmar. When our national football team became champions at the 5th Asian Games Bangkok 1966 and the 6th Asian Games Bangkok 1970, football became even more popular among our people.Apart from that, athletics, sepaktakraw and wushu are also popular in our country.»

Japan won five gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games: one from athletics and four from judo.

Susanthika Jayasinghe became the second athlete in Sri Lanka -formerly Ceylon- to win a medal in the Olympic Games when she won the silver medal in the 200m at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia. Sprinting great Susanthika won 100m and 200m gold at the 2007 Asian Championships in Amman (Jordan). At the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in 2007, she won the bronze medal in the 200m. Susanthika was born on December 17, 1975 in Atnawala, Sri Lanka.

Bangkok (Thailand) has hosted four Asian Games (1966, 1970, 1978, 1998).

Pakistan sent 32 sportspersons to the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich (West Germany). Pakistani athletes competed in six sports (athletics, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, field hockey, sailing).

Sawao Kato was one of the best gymnasts in the 20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s, Kato won several international medals in Europe, Asia and Mexico. At the 1968 Olympic Games, he won three gold medals in the individual all-around, floor exercise and team competition.

Kabbadi is practiced by millions of people in Bangladesh and India. Unfortunately, it is not an Olympic sport.

Brunei Darussalam -one of the world’s richest countries- won two bronze medals at the Hiroshima Games in 1994.

Voleyball ( men & women ) was first featured at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo ( Japan ). The host country won the women’s volleyball competition. The winners were: Yuriko Handa, Kinuko Tanida, Emiko Miyamoto, Ayano Shibuki, Massako Kondo, Yoko Fujimoto, Setsuko Sassaki, Yoko Shinozaki, Katsumi Matsumura, Sata Issobe, Yoshiko Matsumura, Masae Kasai.

The Kingdom of Bhutan -it is about 2 times the size of Massachusetts- has never won a medal in any sport at the Asian Games.

Jordan sent 7 athletes to the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. This Arab country participated in four sports: athletics (2), shooting (1), table tennis (1) and taekwondo (3).

Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) hosted the 1975 Field Hockey Men’s World Championship. Final standings: 1.India, 2.Pakistan, 3.West Germany, 4.Malaysia, 5.Australia, 6.England, 7.New Zealand, 8.Spain, 9.Holland, 10.Poland, 11.Argentina, 12.Ghana.

The United Arab Emirates won 22 medals at the 2005 West Asian Games in Doha (Qatar).

Japan is the birthplace of judo. The first judo world championships took place in Tokyo (1956). Judo made its debut as an official sport during the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan.

The most popular sports in Oman -Arab country- are soccer, volleyball, athletics and handball.

The 1962 Asian Games were held in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. As hosts, Indonesia won a total of 48 medals and 9 golds. For political reasons, Israel and Taiwan did not participate in the Games.

Ahmed Al Maktoum (United Arab Emirates) won a shooting gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, which were held in Athens, Greece. A sportswriter said, «On a remarkable day in August during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum blasted to victory in the men’s double trap shooting event, equalling the Olympic record of 189 points previously set by Australian Russell Mark at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games».

Mongolia sent two female archers to the 1972 Summer Olympics. They were Natjav Dariimaa and Doljin Demberel.

Tokyo hosted the FIVB Men’s World Championship in 2007. Final standings:

1.Brazil,

2.Poland,

3.Bulgaria,

4.Serbia & Montenegro,

5.Italy,

6.France,

7.Russia,

8.Japan,

9.Germany,

10.United States,

11.Canada,

12.Puerto Rico,

13.Argentina,

14.Czech Republic,

15.Cuba,

16.Tunisia,

17.China,

18.Greece,

19.South Korea,

20.Venezuela,

21.Australia,

22.Egypt,

23.Iran,

24.Kazakhstan.

Japan has famous athletes: Ryoko Tani (judo), Takehiro Kashima (gymnastics), Kori Murofushi (track & field), Saori Yoshida (wrestling), Ayumi Tanimoto (martial arts), Mizuki Noguchi (marathon), Kosuke Kitajima (aquatics), Ai Shibata (swimming), Hiroshi Yamamoto (archery).

Barcelona have nothing more to offer Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas to woo him away from the gunners, says Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger, the Gunners boss, has claimed that the Spain star would stay with his team for another five years.

Dusan Pernis’s plate is full, with Fulham and West Ham showing consuming interest in the Dundee United goalkeeper.

Standard Liege’s Belgium international midfielder Steven Defour could soon be richer by £10 million, with Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson about to offer him the sum, to replace Javier Mascherano. The Argentine has gone public with his desire to leave Liverpool.

Mascherano himself is set to receive twice that amount from European champions Inter Milan. Curiously, the Italian club have a former Liverpudlian, Rafael Benitez, at the helm.

Manchester City want Aston Villa’s midfielder James Milner but the sides have different perceptions on the right fee. Villa want City to up their offer from £24 million to £30 million.

Carlton Cole will not leave West Ham for Stoke after the club have rejected the £9 million offering by Stoke for the 26-year-old striker.

31-year-old striker Craig Bellamy could soon succumb to Fulham boss Mark Hughes’s persuasion to join the team at Craven Cottage. Manchester City’s Bellamy has been contemplating a counter-offer from Tottenham.

Mesut Ozil declaration of his «love» for Spain could mean bad news for Manchester United and Arsenal; both clubs are chasing the young German star of the World Cup. Real Madrid could get the lion’s share of that love. Ozil has a year to go with Bundesliga club Werder Bremen.

Barcelona could lose Aleksandr Hleb to the Premier League; Hleb is set to swallow the bait from one of many English clubs fishing for the the former Arsenal midfielder.

Cultural change can be an incredible thing to witness and examine. This is especially so when the change is something you’ve involved in, up close, and felt personally.

In 1974 as a young teenager living in Cincinnati I watched the World Cup at the Cincinnati Gardens. The games were shown on a movie screen on the basketball court with curtains draped all around. My mother managed to win a set of tickets from a local radio station and I got the thrill of my young lifetime.

The Netherlands were incredible during the tournament, smashing Argentina and Brazil on their way to the final against West Germany. I remember they looked to be the better side in the final, as well. But Neeskens and Cruyff couldn’t get the better of Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier. The West Germans were playing at home in Munich and they took the crown 2 – 1.

It seemed odd to be at the Gardens with all of those foreign voices. I was a clear minority in my own backyard.

It wouldn’t be until 1982 that the first World Cup match was televised in the United States. That’s an incredible statement given the tournament’s immensity.

Today, 36 years after the West Germany World Cup, I sat in a bar in downtown Denver watching England and the U.S. battle to a 1 – 1 draw. The odd thing wasn’t that I expected a good game. American soccer has made great strides and our guys play for some of the best professional clubs in the world. No, what was odd was to sit in a bar in the middle of the U.S., overflowing with people singing, chanting and cheering for one side tons more than the other. Hours before the match started – and I do mean HOURS – you could hear chants of «U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A» and my favorite song «Ole, ole, ole, USA, USA.»

The crowd were so loud when the teams were shown on television before they came onto the field that my ears hurt. And when the players hit the pitch it didn’t let up.

I can honestly say, as a veteran of several ’70s and ’80s hard rock concerts, when Robert Greene mishandled Clint Dempsey’s shot and allowed the U.S. to draw level, I have never heard a louder cheer.

I asked several people around me before the game what they expected and I was consistently surprised by their responses. «I’ll take a draw, but I think we can win,» was repeated to me multiple times. Expectations were very high for the U.S. team, in spite of what the media might have told you. And there couldn’t have been any doubt as to their allegiance. Most people were wearing a U.S. National Team jersey, with many wearing a headband and carrying flags.

The media will have you believe that soccer doesn’t matter in the U.S., that it never will. But the media like this story because the game doesn’t fit into the American Consumerism mould. There are two halves with 45 minutes of uninterrupted play. No TV timeouts. No breaks on the field. In the U.S. the media can’t sell the sport so it continues with its «soccer isn’t important» mantra. The corporate shills can’t find a way to take over the game so they want you to believe it – the game – doesn’t matter. In fact, they will tell you that hockey is the fourth major sport in America, even though soccer has gotten better ratings on television for several years now.

Fado’s is in downtown Denver, across from Coors Field. It is filled with Guinness, wide screen TVs in every corner and, on this day, it was filled with fans screaming and cheering for the U.S. National Team on the world’s biggest stage. But Fado’s was not unusual or unique. Several friends have told similar stories from other places throughout town. There has been a shift in our culture, in spite of what the media say. Football does matter. It is relevant. And it’s here to stay.

You don’t find groups of eight or nine showing up at an Irish pub at 7:30 in the morning to make certain they get a seat for a 1:30pm game, nor do you find women screaming for a yellow card after a bad tackle, unless your football culture has progressed beyond the «soccer doesn’t matter» meme.

At the end of the match I turned to one of my English friends who smiled and said, «After more than 15 years of living here I never thought I’d see this. I feel like I’m in a pub in London.»

This is not 1974. We no longer huddle around in small groups to watch other countries play a foreign sport. We’ve made the sport our own both on and off the field. We have sewn it into the fabric of our culture and we’ve sewn our culture into the fabric of our game.

England go ahead in the fifth minute of the game and then try to protect what they have. But that isn’t the U.S. style, is it? We are a nation that always wants more. We are tied to consumerism as tightly as the Italians are tied to pasta and the English to tea. The beauty – and the treachery – of American soccer is that we won’t sit back and defend, defend, defend when leading. If we’re one goal up we want to be two up. And we play like it. That’s who we are. We started with so little a short time ago and we have moved to the point where our culture now shows through on the field. If the American culture isn’t about never giving up and always searching for more then how else do you describe us? Forget the merits of those traits and whether you like them or not. They are us. And they are reflected in our play on the pitch.

Regardless of how the team ends up in this tournament, it is exhilarating to watch how grown up we’ve become about the sport and our place in it. We now demand excellence. We expect it. And, whether the media like it or not, we are no longer a single voice in a large crowd. We are the crowd.

1960’s – 2011 comparison (Pele)

There is no doubt that Brazilian striker Pele was the best player of the 1960’s. Pele and Maradona are the two players who are always mentioned when the common question is asked, ‘Who was the best player to have ever lived?’ Pele will often be the answer. So what was Pele like? Pele was a natural goal scorer, the Santos striker was incredibly athletic and his dribbling/balance combination was unstoppable for defenders. His ability to go past defenders at such speed and maintain such balance credited him with many goal scoring opportunities, which more likely than not Pele would score emphatically. Pele had technique, the passing ability of a central midfield maestro, the engine of a Marathon runner and the power of a steam train. His statistics are sensational, 1281 goals in 1363 games.

No one can live up to Pele’s name; Manchester United’s George Best in the 70’s was a similar type of player to Pele but was more a winger than a forward. In the modern era, few have been compared to Pele but none have lived up to the reputation that Brazilian Pele possessed. Alexandre Pato of AC Milan was tipped to be the Pele of this era, but he has to yet to show any phenomenal form to even label him the one of the best strikers today let alone ever lived. Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is the closest of this decade that we have compared to Pele. Rooney possesses the same power and physique that Pele does, the same ability to pick out a 70 yard cross field ball and the same vision and technique. England striker Rooney just doesn’t have same amount of pace that Pele did which combines with the factor that Rooney doesn’t particularly go past players with skill and flair.

Wayne Rooney has scored goals that you wouldn’t think were possible with the stunning volley against Newcastle and the recent potential goal of the season overhead against rivals Manchester City. Pele scored stunning goals in the 60’s and 70’s for Santos and Brazil, one ‘nearly’ goal that would’ve been one of the greatest goals of all time. His dummy against Uruguay that left the keeper for dead when the ball went one way and Pele went around the other way, but his shot off balance and on a tight angle just went wide.

1970’s – 2011 comparison (Johann Cruyff)

Johann Cruyff was part of the Ajax side that inherited the ‘total football’ philosophy introduced by Dutch coach Rinul Michels. Former Barcelona and Ajax front man Johann Cruyff’s style of play was influenced by the total football approach he conducted to his game. His natural position was centre forward but because of the tactical way the Ajax side played the game, he roamed around and ended up playing on the wing and central midfield more often than not. The Holland striker spent half of the 1970’s at Barcelona for Rinus Michels, where he was crowned European Footballer of the Year at his time at Barcelona in consecutive years.

Cruyff was dubbed the ‘Pythagoras in boots’ because of his ability to pick out passes from angles that looked impossible. Not only did he have an eye for a pass but he had tremendous speed and his ability to accelerate away from defenders which was helped by the ‘Cruyff turn’ named after the Dutch maestro is still a turn associated with football 40 years later.

I don’t think any striker could grace Cruyff’s ability to play in multiple positions to maximum effect so I’ve chosen a playmaker and speed merchant who would grace Cruyff’s technical and physical attributes to his game, Ryan Giggs. Both players in their prime had the ability to go past players with flair and tremendous pace creating goal scoring opportunities. Giggs isn’t as prolific as Cruyff as a finisher but Giggs certainly lives up to the playmaking abilities that Cruyff possessed. Ryan Giggs in his prime was lightening over 5-10 yards and could maintain such frightening pace for 40-50 yards which he shared with Cruyff.

However as football has changed much over the years since Cruyff’s successful days at Ajax and Barcelona, the style of play has changed and there aren’t many similar type of players of Cruyff’s calibre that could play naturally upfront and drop back deeper and still be extremely effective.

1980’s – 2011 comparison (Diego Maradona)

Maradona or Messi? There is no doubt that of today’s game, Lionel Messi is the nearest if not potential candidate to surpass Maradona’s ability as a footballer. Former Barcelona striker Diego Maradona along with Pele is one of the best players to have ever graced this planet. He wasn’t as clinical as Pele but taking nothing away from Maradona he still had a very good goal scoring record for club and country. The style of play on the ball for Maradona and Messi is identical. They both dribble with extreme pace and a very low centre of gravity; they both possess extreme dribbling skills with the ability to have 5-10 touches in the space of seconds to make it impossible for defenders to tackle. Many have questioned whether Lionel Messi could do what Maradona did at Napoli. Maradona won what is now the Italian ‘serie A’ with Napoli with what was a very average squad, Maradona being the pivotal part of the Napoli side and no doubt wouldn’t have been title winners if Maradona wasn’t on their books. Could Messi do a similar fate at Blackburn of the English Premiership, Udinese of the Italian Serie A? Many doubt whether Messi could.

In contrast Messi has achieved a lot more than Maradona at this age having already won the Spanish La Liga 4 times and Champions League 2 times. Messi is only 23, Maradona at 23 won the treble with Barcelona in 1983 and an Argentine title with Boca Juniors in 1981 but that was it. So Messi so far has had a better career on silverware success but Maradona’s achievements at Napoli and on the international arena set him aside to Messi. Infamously, Maradona also has a World Cup to his name in 1986 which Maradona made his name.

There is no doubt that Barcelona winger Messi scores goals from all sorts of angles and all sorts of scintillating runs but Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup has been regarded as the goal of the century by many people. Maradona travelled with the ball 60 metres and took on six English players in the process, rounded England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and scored from a tight angle to beat England 2-1 in the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup which they went on to win. The ex-Napoli striker also scored the very controversial ‘hand of god’ goal in the same game which has been spoken about ever since. Messi hasn’t really shined on the international stage and if he does, it might be what takes him past his boyhood hero’s status.

1990’s – 2011 comparison (Ronaldo)

He was a natural goal scorer of his era and by far the best striker in his generation for simply scoring goal after goal. Ronaldo played at the highest level through the 90’s and early 00’s, he represented PSV, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan in an illustrious career that was disrupted by serious knee injuries.

Brazilian striker Ronaldo was a born goal scorer, he had the ability to go past players with his skill and power but defiantly his threat was in the box. He scored 62 goals in just under 100 appearances for Brazil and has been voted Brazil’s best ever striker since Pele by numerous judging panels. Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo was indestructible, if he got in the box it was inevitable he was going to score.

As Ronaldo has still being playing till quite recent, there hasn’t been long for anyone to potentially replace Ronaldo’s prowess for being a known goal scorer. However, there a few players that this season in world Football has started to develop their reputation. Javier Hernandez of Manchester United is one striker that could have the potential to live up to Ronaldo’s abilities in front of goal. He already has 16 goals for Manchester United in his first season and is a predator in the box similarly to Ronaldo. It’s doubtful whether Mexican forward Hernandez will have the impact on world football that Ronaldo did, but the Mexican is a very similar striker to what Ronaldo was in his prime.

Barcelona’s David Villa is another striker who is known for his potential in the box. Spanish hit man David Villa has earned his trade at Valencia for several years and finally sealed a move to Barcelona where he already has 21 goals to his name. Villa has also lived up to Ronaldo’s international reputation, having already won the European Championships in 2008 and the World Cup in 2010 with Spain being a key member of the winning side in both tournaments with his contribution of goals.

2000’s – 2011 comparison (Zidane)

One of the most gifted players of this century was French midfielder and former Juventus/Bordeaux midfielder Zidane. One of the most natural players at playing the game, Zidane glided through the game in a nonchalant manner that saw him one of footballs most composed players ever to have graced the game. An out and out central midfielder, Zidane possessed a goal scoring ability from midfield and also the ability to craft out magic in midfield to launch attacks for his side.

Zidane joined Real Madrid from Juventus in 2001 for a world record fee at the time of around 50 million pounds. Zidane enjoyed success in Real Madrid, winning the Champions League and the Spanish La Liga in his 6 years at the club. Not to mention becoming a World cup winner with France in 1998 and a runner up in 2006. Zidane was a tall, strong midfielder at 6’1 he was no fool at defending and wasn’t afraid to challenge for an aerial battle but Zidane came alive in the attacking half and his deft touches on the ball and he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head at times with his awareness of space around him.

Not many footballers have composure as a skill to their game because of the extreme amounts of pressure footballers are put under and now with all the money at stake. However, Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov is one of very few footballers that possess superb composure on the ball which is a very gracious skill to have. Bulgarian striker Berbatov and French midfielder Zidane also share the same style of control and first touch, with Berbatov having one of the greatest techniques in the world today similarly to Zidane in his prime. Although ex-Tottenham striker Berbatov is an out and out forward and Zidane never played upfront, the abilities they both have are very similar. Even their mental approaches are very alike, both are very quiet and don’t particularly talk much when competing competitively. Both have tremendous control on the ball, both have the ability to go past players with the skill on the ball rather than speed or strength.

Great players are easy to come by; it’s the magical players that are hard to come by. Who’s going to replace Barcelona’s Messi’s or Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s of today’s game in a few years? Football has the ability to produce stars to show on the world stage which is what makes football such an amazing sport to watch.