Categoría: Todas las equipaciones de fútbol

Despite being known as a football-loving nation on the world stage, the republic of Peru, a Spanish-speaking country on the South American continent since the 1820s, has won the Olympian glory thanks to its international shooters, who have picked up a total of three medals in the Summer Games between 1948 and 1992. According to these results, unequivocally, the greatest Peruvian athlete is Edwin Vasquez Cam, an Olympic gold medalist.

Edwin Vasquez Cam

Edwin Vasquez Cam was born on July 28 1922, in Lima, Peru’s capital city. Encouraged by his father, who was a former shooter, he competed in several shooting competitions in Lima and other Peruvian cities. Over the next years, he spent several hours with his father, Mr. Gonzalo Vasquez, his coach and best friend. By 1938, Edwin won a school championship, but that was only the beginning.

When Edwin was only 18 years old, he finished first in the Gildelmeister Cup, a traditional event in Lima, defeating many veteran athletes. Since then, Edwin’s ambition was to become one of top shooters on Peruvian soil. The following year, he was crowned as the «best shooter» in a major contest. By latter the mid-1940s, Edwin won a gold at the Bolivarian Games at home after winning the Continental tournaments.

With limited international experience, by 1948, Edwin Vasquez and his fellow athletes made a travel to compete in the Olympics in the United Kingdom. The South American delegation competed in seven sports: athletics, men’s basketball, boxing, cycling, fencing, shooting, and weightlifting. In the British capital, on the other hand, nine shooters participated for Peru: Edwin, Cesar Injoque, Raul Valderrama, Wenceslao Salgado, Luis Mantilla, Froilan Tantalean, Enrique Mendizabal, and brothers Enrique and Guillermo Baldwin.

Peru’s champ Edwin Vasquez Cam became the first non-American/European shooter to win an Olympic title when he captured a gold in the Games of the XIV Olympiad in London, UK’s capital. In that day, on August 2, 1948, surprisingly Sweden’s marksman Torsten Ullman was beaten by Mr. Vasquez Cam. Ullman, gold medalist at the 1936 Olympics and four-time world champ (1933, 1935, 1937, & 1947), had been the favorite to win the gold in the free pistol in the Olympic Shooting Championship, a sporting event traditionally dominated by the United States and Western Europe since its inclusion in the First Games in 1896.

Edwin won with 545 points, followed by Switzerland’s Rudolph Schnyder (silver medal) and Ullman (bronze), both with 539 points. It was a day of national pride not only to Peru but also to the continent. Upon Vasquez’s win, the country became one of the first five Latin American republics to win an Olympic gold medal in the 20th Century, alongside Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, and Mexico. But within few years he was forgotten despite his status like an Olympian winner.

Peru did not win any other Olympic medal until 1984 when Edwin Vasquez’s successor, Francisco -known as «Pancho»- Boza surprisingly was runner-up at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Prior to the international Games, he had been trained by Konrad Wirnhier, an Olympic gold medalist in 1972, in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Pan American Champion

Mr. Vasquez, upon winning the global title in Britain, helped his nation’s Olympic team to win a gold medal at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires (Argentina), a world-class competition in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to these awards, he also earned many international contests.

Despite being one of the most high-profile athletes in Latin American and the Caribbean at that time, unfortunately, Mr. Vasquez and other members of the Peruvian squad, among them Julia Sanchez Deze (Pan American gold medalist in 1951), could not go to Helsinki (Finland) to participate in the Olympiad in 1952. For absurd reasons, Peru’s then-dictator Manuel Odria refused to send a national delegation to Scandinavia.

An Unknown Olympic Champion

Historically, Peru’s Olympic champ Edwin Vasquez is the only shooter from Latin America to have won an Olympic gold medal. In the last sixty years, the continent sent some notable shooters to the international Games, but none of them captured the Olympic glory. From 1972 to 1984, Helmut Bellingrodt -Colombia’s most outstanding athlete in 1974– won two silvers. In the meantime, Mexico’s Olegario Vasquez, upon winning a gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games and set a new world record, failed to earn the Olympic competition at the 1976 Montreal Games. By 1988, Chile’s Alfonso de Iruarrizaga finished second in the Olympiad in Asia. At the 25th Olympiad in 1992, Peru’s athlete Juan Giha, whose coach Bruno Sarti did not go to Spain due to a lack of resources, came in second place.

Despite being the greatest Peruvian Olympian in history of this country’s sports, Edwin Vasquez Cam, unfortunately, is still a sporting figure unknown for millions of Peruvians. On March 9, 1993, unfortunately, he passed away. Ironically, his death was largely unnoticed by the national media. In a country that has not had an Olympic champ since 1948 and never world winners, he should be an important model for Peru’s boys and girls, paving the way for a new generation of champions.

Perpetua Nkwocha remains one of the best female footballers to come out of the shores of Nigeria. At 36 years of age, this amazing lady has continued to break new records and set the female football scene on fire with a mesmerizing performance.

Presently plying her trade with Sunnanå SK in Sweden, she has remained a key member of the Super Falcons of Nigeria having represented the country at five African women championship- from 2002 to 2010. She was also a member of the super falcon’s squad that featured at the 2003 FIFA Women World cup help in USA as well as the 2007 FIFA Women World Cup held in China. A veteran female footballer who has scored more than twenty goals in her illustrious career spanning more than 10 years, she has remained a shinning example to up and coming stars who look up to her for great inspiration.

One of the features that have given her the cutting edge to be ranked among the best female footballers in Africa is her amazing pace. She can out-run opposing defenders at will, like she did in the recently concluded African Women Championship held in South Africa. In the final match against defending Champions Equatorial Guinea, she received a beautiful pass from Ulunma Jerome in the 7th minutes of the first half and out-paced her marker to net the very first goal in the keenly contested encounter.

She also possesses precise accuracy in front of goal. Prior to the match between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, the Nzalang Nacional’s Brazilian-born goalkeeper Mirian had kept attackers of opposing teams at bay. The queen of goals- Perpetua Nkwocha had other ideas, as she wasted no time in registering her presence with a well taken shot just outside the 18 yard box. It was so precise that the goalkeeper did not know what hit her.

A complete striker can score goals with both feet and head and it was not different in the case of Perpetua Nkwocha as she scored a record eleven goals from her head and both feet. Her aerial ability is second to none, as it is impossible to tell what ammunition she intends to fire at goal.

Lastly she was able to combine experience and maturity and helping the Super Falcons subdue all opponents at the recently concluded African Women Championship held in South Africa. Ever willing to fall back and help at midfield and defense, she gained tremendous recognition on and off the field of play as one of the best performers in the tournament, as her goal rate tallied 2.2 goals per match, a feat that will take quite some time to be shattered.

Barca meet Arsenal at the Emirates and spread buyers of the Gunners’ win index will be looking for revenge after the Catalans knocked the Gunners out of the competition last year. Those spread enthusiasts looking to sell the Barca/Arsenal match supremacy may be aware that before last weekend the visitor’s had not conceded a goal in five matches – scoring 17 times. There will be concern for match supremacy sellers that the Gunners have never beaten their Spanish opposition in five meetings – producing three defeats and two draws.

Those looking to sell the visitor’s win index spread may have noted that Barca have not enjoyed as much European success on the road as they have done at the Nou Camp. When Barca beat Panathinaikos in the final group game, it was their first in six away outings and that will please sellers of the club’s win index.

Those football spread betting punters that enjoy a punt on the total goals market may have seen that Barcelona have scored ten times against Arsenal in their five meetings. The highest scoring game was in North London when the visitors ran out 4-2 winners in 1999, to the delight of goal buyers that evening. The Gunners’ performance in the group stages will also offer encouragement to goal buyers given they scored 14 times in their three home fixtures.

Total goal minute spread betting punters should take note that the last time these sides met at the Emirates, all four goals in the draw arrived in the second half – reaching 259 points.

Leo Messi scored four times in the most recent clash with Arsenal and that will delight those looking for a bet on his individual performance spread. His goal minutes for that particular game accumulated 188 points on the spread. The Argentine has six goals in six European matches this year.

Tottenham travel to the San Siro once more where they face AC Milan and buyers of Spurs’ win index on the spreads will take encouragement that the opposition won only one of their three home group games.

In the group stage matches the games involving Massimiliano Allegri’s side averaged 2.3 goals and the highest scoring game was a 2-2 draw at home to Real Madrid. Sellers of the bookings spread may have seen that Spurs have only been handed four yellow cards in their three European away games. However, buyers will argue that Heurelho Gomes was dismissed in Tottenham’s last trip to Milan – the overall points for that game totaling 65 points.

Foosball is a very entertaining indoor game. In fact, it ranks up high with billiards and chess, when it comes to the most popular and most played sport in the whole world. But how did foosball really start? Where did it originate and who conceived this popular table sport?

Foosball, which was originally referred to as table soccer is believed to have originated in the land of Germany in the late 1920’s. However, it was also discovered that the French were concocting the exact same game sometime in the early 1930’s. Foosball started as a soccer game played in an old wooden box.

The first commercial foosball table was released approximately thirty-five years ago, through the company called EBSCO Amusements. EBSCO Amusements introduced foosball in America by importing two German tables. But a few years later they began making their own line of patented tables and they called it the Vulcan Fussball Table. Several other foosball table manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon. The list includes Irving Kaye Sales Corporation, which released their table in 1969.

The game caught on with many followers and enthusiasts. And as the game started to get popular, competitions were being held left and right. In the United States, the first-ever professional foosball competition took place in 1979, with as much as $250,000 at stake. The event was called the World Championships, which also marked the debut of the foremost professional foosball league. The European and German leagues held competitions as early as the 1950’s. However, there isn’t a body established for the pros during those times.

Right now, foosball is a hit not only in the West but in the rest of the world as well. Good players are now emerging from countries like North Africa, the Middle East, South America, Tahiti, and Australia. Argentina and Japan are slowly inching their way towards winning the World Cup as well.

In the United States alone, there is an estimated 1.9 million players enjoying the game. The evolution of the game from a regular indoor game into a professional sport with millions in cash prizes at stake has contributed to its rise in popularity.

And the rest is history. If you love the sport of foosball, understanding its history will make it even more enjoyable.

The hosting right for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World was awarded to Nigeria by the football governing body, FIFA in 2007 at her extra ordinary congress held in Korea. The competition will be the third FIFA organized competition to be hosted by Nigeria after the successful hosting of the FIFA U-20 Championship in 1999. The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria will be defending the title they won at Korea on home soil, but the preparation of the cadet World cup was dealt a serious blow, when the Nigeria Football Federation sacked Coach Henry Nwosu, who was then in charge of the team, and announced the appointment of Coach John Obuh and Monday Odigie as Assistant.

The team suffered further blow, when a bulk of the players were dropped due to results of the Magnetic resonance Imaging test (MRI) test carried out on the team. The set back did not however deter Coach John Obuh, who was still able to put together a bunch of talented footballers from football academies scattered over Nigeria. The competition was played in eight designated cities: Enugu, Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Calabar Ijebu-Ode, Kano and Bauchi.

The competition which was held from on the 24th of October 2009 through November 15th 2009 saw the Golden Eaglets starting the defence of their trophy with a dramatic 3-3 draw with Germany, after the Germans had gone 3-0 up. In their second group match, the young Eaglets inflicted a 1-0 defeat on a hapless Honduras side. The round of 16 tickets was secured in their final group match against Argentina with a convincing 2-1 defeat of the South Americans.

More drama was to unfold in the round of 16, where the Golden Eaglet were paired with the inexperienced New Zea-land. The match ended in a 5-0 bashing of the New Zea-land. The Golden Eaglet were not done yet, as they defeated the hard fighting boys from South Korea 3-1 in the Quarter finals, to set up a semi-final clash with the enterprising Spaniards who were spoiling for a revenge of the 3-0 defeat inflicted on them in 2007. The match was settled in regulation time with a Stanley Okoro dazzling goal and super sub Emmanuel Sanni brace to give the Golden Eaglet a convincing 3-1 victory. The Golden Eaglets were just a step away from making history as the only country to host and win the U-17 trophy as defending champion.

In the Final played at the magnificent Abuja national stadium, Nigeria failed to utilize the numerous opportunities that came her way in an entertaining encounter with Switzerland. They were to pay for their many misses, when Swiss striker Heris Seferovic scored the only goal of the match via a free header in the 63rd minute of the epic encounter.

The Vuvzela has recently been the focus of international discussion; it has become the accessory of the 2010 World Cup football tournament in South Africa. But the origin of the loud, lengthy horn is a topic of controversy. Its origin is commonly disputed as it is difficult to determine a point at which the horn was introduced but there are several parties that claim its invention.

The world Vuvuzela is itself disputed as some claim it comes from a Zulu word meaning ‘to make noise’ while others argue that it comes from a township slang phrase meaning ‘shower’. It is unknown whether this origin regards showering people with noise or perhaps using part of a shower as an instrument.

There is some who believe the instrument is a variation of the Kudu horn used in battle and worship by various African tribes. If true, the instrument would date back hundreds or even thousands of years deeply rooted in African culture but so far it is not considered credible as there is no evidence.

Another claim comes from the Nazareth Baptist Church of South African who claims they invented the instrument and it has been used in their worship as a sacred instrument since the turn of the 20th century. Their claim has been disputed as although the horn has been actively used and recognised in South African football for several decades, they only raised the issue early in 2010. They argue that as a sacred instrument used in worship, it should not be allowed to be used in sporting events with no religious relevance. Leaders of the church have threatened legal action against the heads of FIFA to stop fans playing the instrument during matches.

South African football fan Freddie Maake claims to have invented the instrument in 1965 when adapting a bicycle horn, he later crafted a longer version from aluminium which he took to many local games and international events. Maake has pictures of himself dating back to the 1970s to support his claim and he even took it to the 1998 world cup in France. There is no doubt he was using a vuvuzela horn as far back as 1970 but still no hard evidence to support the claim that he invented it. The exact same horn was recorded being used in the 1978 world cup in Argentina, a country Maake had never visited but the instruments directly resemble that of his 1965 aluminium creation.

Ex -professional football player Neil van Schalkwyk saw an opportunity to make money when his company, Masincedane Sports, patented the design of a plastic version of the horn to market to local football fans but he had no idea it would be as popular as it has been. So far, Masincedane Sports has sold over 600,000 vuvuzelas, 100,000 of which were in the first week of the 2010 World Cup.

The infamous loud drone produced by the horn has proved unpopular with many visiting football fans in South Africa and even more watching on television around the world. FIFA officials are yet to enforce any rules on the use of the instrument but FIFA CEO Dr Danny Jordaan stated that «2010 will be the loudest world cup ever; South Africa hopes that the Vuvuzela will be recognised as a unique part of what will be a very special African world cup celebration.» Time will tell if the instruments will be used in other countries but international sales of the vuvuzela are in the millions, with only a handful of clubs and stadiums proposing to ban them at future events.

Outright Odds: 50/1

Group B Winners: 9/4

Sweden battled their way through an awkward qualifying group which included Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Iceland and qualified as one of the two best placed runners-up. The Swedes lost narrowly 1-0 to Croatia both home and away but eight wins out of eight against the rest of their opponents saw them level on points.

The Swedes boast excellent organisation at the back and their defence shipped just four goals in 10 qualifying matches. Goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson was a revelation in qualifying, arguably making one mistake against Iceland in a match Sweden won comfortably. The Rennes stopper is a worthy replacement for the veteran Thomas Ravelli who won over 100 caps for his country.

Sweden also have good attacking options to compliment a resolute back line. The current darling of Swedish football, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, blasted in eight goals in 10 qualifying games while his creativity allowed the marauding Fredrik Ljungberg to score seven goals from midfield.

Ibrahimovic came of age at Euro 2004 with a stunning back-flick goal against Italy which lead to Juventus buying him for approximately £11 million the following August. He proved his mettle for scoring when it matters the most with an injury-time winner away at Hungary in a cruch-qualifier.

Veteran striker Henrik Larsson, a member of the Sweden squad who finished third in the 1994 finals, also adds an extra option in attack as he seeks one final hurrah before retiring from the game.

Despite thrashing their opponents in qualifying, rattling in 27 goals, 13 of which came against poor Malta, the defeats against Croatia raise question marks over whether they can repeat their glorious appearances of the past.

This is Sweden’s eleventh appearance at the World Cup finals. They hosted the tournament in 1958 and scored after four minutes against Brazil in the final. However, a 17-year-old Pele scuppered their plans and the Brazilians ran out 5-2 winners. They have also reached the semi-finals in 1950 and 1994 so there is a lot to live up to.

The fans will expect them to improve on a frustrating appearance in the 2002 finals when they topped the first round group ahead of both England and Argentina but lost in the second round after extra-time against surprise package Senegal.

Recommended Bet:

It will be a tight battle between Sweden and England to win Group B, with both sides likely to decide who tops the group when they meet in the final game. Past meetings have been close and they drew 1-1 when they played in Group F’s opening fixture four years ago. A repeat performance is the recommended bet.

Sweden vs England draw @ 11/5

Sweden vs England 1-1 correct score @ 5/1

Bolivia is a country in the very heart of South America. It is surrounded by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Peru. And it has no way out to the sea. It has plenty of architectural rests of other cultures: the Tiwanaku civilization, the Incas, and a very important part of their population today are natives, such as Quechuas and Aymaras.

Because they have such a diversity of geographical regions, cultures and climate their food is varied and also their fruits and their vegetables. Though Bolivians eat three meals a day, the most important one, as in most South American countries, is lunch. Some people come from their works to their houses to eat lunch with the families, except in the mountains when they take their meals when out to work in the fields. But in the cities, they often get home for lunch.

One of the most used meats for their meals is pork. Though they also eat plenty of chicken and beef, pork is the most used. They love pastas, and rice, but definitely potatoes are a must in most meals. Like most countries belonging to the Andes region, they inherited from the Incas the potatoes and their love for them.

Bolivian food has its origin in different sources. The Incas, Quechuas, Guaranies, and all the natives from the region have left their recipes, their way of cooking potatoes, their taste for different meats. Then the Spanish came and brought many other recipes, and other ways and styles of cooking, then different immigrations, and also their neighbors added to this marvelous variety of dishes. It is a country, where every part of a cow is eaten! All of it is changed into a delicious dish.

There are certain vegetables like quinua that grows in the Andes and has a high nutritional value, which is actually part of a balanced diet in many countries and that has called for the scientific interests as a possible way to nourish people in poor countries.

Potatoes are dehydrated, or fresh, used in a thousand ways, any of the nearly 4 thousand different varieties of potatoes. The incas already had figured out how to freeze them and keep them in good conditions for a long time.

Due to the fact that Bolivia has different altitude levels, they have many different vegetables and use them in a generous way in their food. They also love to use herbs to make food tastier. Though Bolivian food is not too strong, but it has delicate tastes. They use trout from the Titicaca Lake, which prepared locally is an exquisite dish. From the same lake they take their frogs, with which they prepare many delicacies, as their frog legs are well known all over the world. Another strong point in the Bolivian food is their soup dishes, where of course, corn is always part of them.

If we were to summarize the main ingredients used by the Bolivians in their food, we would say potatoes, corn, pork, rice, trout, beef and a great variety of sauces. And adding to these ingredients, plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, and the knowledge of what they inherited and what was brought new by the immigrations. All together, it is an exceptional enjoyment eating any of their dishes.

The Ballon d’Or is an award awarded by UEFA and France Football magazine while «The Best» is awarded by FIFA, the ethically-challenged arbiter of the world’s most popular sport. Although prestigious as it is degenerate, both awards are nothing more than tangible compliments paid by the writers and experts (confederations administrators, coaches, football team captains, fans etc.) whose opinions and votes were canvassed. Presently, both awards have become an egotistical first past the post as nobody embodies the toxic and political nature of both awards than the recipients of the past decade. The comparisons of football players across and within football leagues (for these awards) is a time-honed guilty pleasure for fans. Like most sports awards, fans will always root for their favorites – but unlike many others, it’s hard to make a statistical case that one player is more valuable than another. The point is, teams are like machines. One part, no matter how important, cannot function properly without the other. That makes the award merely a measure of prolific goal-scoring but as any manager will tell you, that is probably not enough to carry a successful football team. Comparisons among football players are essentially what makes trading cards, sticker albums and fantasy soccer so popular but there should be no place for it in an official capacity. And how can we improve on what we have at present? The basic truth is we can’t, unless the awards are discontinued due to the following reasons:

Football is a Team Sport: Debate on individual footballers among football fans is fun but in a team sport with so many leagues, such individuality is impossible to measure precisely. Football (as we all know) is a team sport where eleven men from two separate squad of players compete against each other for a trophy or in modern times, to get a paycheck at the end of it all. Every football team requires world-class (supremely talented) goal-keepers, defenders, midfielders and attackers to excel and win domestic [EPL, Serie A etc.], continental [CAF, UEFA Champions League] and inter-continental [FIFA Club World Cup] trophies. No player or position is dispensable or greater than the other as they must all work in unison to achieve a common goal. Most great attackers of today (and yesteryears) would probably make terrible defenders and goalkeepers and most great defenders and goalies might be terrible attackers and midfielders in the game. It feels wrong to constantly elevate a particular set of football players over their teammates because of their position on the field of play. Football games are worn ‘Firstly’, by goals scored by a team’s strikers, midfielders, defenders and ‘Secondly’, by (potential) opposition goals stopped by that same team’s defenders and goal-keeper. No player truly wins a game single handedly except he plays all positions simultaneously – being at his penalty box defending and punching away the opposition’s shots on goal and at the same time running of to score all kinds of goals in the opposition penalty area. Most FIFA and UEFA individual awardees perform brilliantly when their team’s passing and playing style suit them thus giving them freedom like no other side would. Most managers strive to fit 11 players into the best team rather than having to fit the best 11 players into a team. There is a reason why reputable managers around the world like Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have categorically despised and blasted such individual awards in a team based sport.

Biased towards Attackers: Winners of FIFA and UEFA awards (presently and in the past) are (nearly) always players who play close to the opposition goal – such as strikers and attacking midfielders – enabling them to score hatful of goals while putting faith in their teammates (defenders and goalkeeper) to prevent the opposing team from scoring and winning the game. In football, it is widely known and accepted that attack win games but defense win titles and trophies. Very few defenders and goalkeepers are recognized for their output on the field of play and the dirty work they do (so that their attacking teammates in the opposition goal can get the ball to score.) It is quite disheartening that attackers are paid way better than defenders and goalkeepers. Goalkeepers are usually the least paid in a football team, even with the alarming level of scrutiny aimed at them, which begs the question why anyone would choose to be a goalkeeper. No one has really found a way to compare the value of goal keepers to outfield players – much to the detriment of goalies. Should a goal stopped by a goalkeeper be treated as equally to a goal scored by a striker? How much should quality defenders influence our judgement of a keeper – and how much should quality midfielders influence our judgement of a forward? There can be no denying the fact that some players do improve the overall quality and effectiveness of certain teams, but even in that case, such extraordinary players wouldn’t be able to win anything for their respective teams if, for example, the goal keeper spills every shot fired at him by the opposition. The beauty of modern football is such that every player (bar the goalkeeper) is minimally required to score goals anytime, anyhow and whenever it pleases him or (to some extent) his coach, which makes the fact that individual awards given only to offensive players does a lot of disservice to their teammates and the sport.

No specific Criteria in given out the Awards: There are no specific criteria in given out individual awards to players by UEFA and FIFA in football competitions played. Most fans, and administrators do not know which competitions – the national league (EPL, La Liga, Serie A) the continental leagues (UEFA Champions League – since all FIFA individual awardees are based in Europe) or international tournament (The FIFA World Cup) – players’ performances in are given top priority when nominees for the FIFA and UEFA individual awards are compiled. Although most nominees and awardees of such awards play for football teams that are either champions in their domestic leagues or champions in the UEFA Champions League or champions in the World Cup (in a world cup year) with their countries, some winners of such awards play for club-sides and countries that were not champions in domestic, continental and international tournaments. Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or in 2010/2011 (because he scored 91 goals in a year) without winning Spain’s La Liga or Champions League with Barcelona or the World Cup with Argentina beating other deserving players who won at least one of the aforementioned competitions.

Breeds Individualistic and Selfish Footballers: In pursuit of individual awards from FIFA, some players forego team work and effort, preferring to go solo on the field of play – to show off (as fans would say) – to the detriment of the squad. Such players do not care if the team is winning or losing a game as long as they are scoring goals, boosting their goal tallies and being in contention for awards by shooting for goal instead of passing the ball to a better positioned teammate, taking every set-piece – free kicks, penalties, corner kicks – awarded in a game even when they have poor records taking such set-piece. This creates instances where a player wins The Ballon d’Or or The Best Player of the Year Awards because he has the highest number of goals in the football season in addition to 5 or 6 man-of-the-match performances and a few awesome highlight reels of the season while his team ends that season trophy-less and second-best in competition finals.

In conclusion, if there must be individual awards (for whatever bizarre reason) then they should be based on objective criteria such as number of goals scored (best striker), number of saves (best goal-keeper) or number of tackles made (best defender) etc. Even that wouldn’t make much sense because, again, scoring a goal is about team effort. No one player can score a goal without the help of his teammates. And Yes, even the solo goals require team efforts. Therefore, it becomes unfathomable as to why football’s governing body, FIFA would hand out these awards which are destructive to the very nature of the sport it is supposed to regulate. FIFA should not be lending its name to a beauty pageant.

FIFA’s recent award of the Ballon d’Or 2014 (World Player of the Year) to Cristiano Ronaldo proves that the accolade is more about politics and personal popularity than about performance on the field.

Although players from several nationalities are nominated and win the award, they always all play for European clubs while those active in other leagues such as in South America and Mexico are generally overlooked. The best player is chosen by players and managers based on favoritism rather than merit which often creates unworthy winners. Thus the award has lost its recognition and become the object of amusement and ridicule.

The Ballon d’Or was established by a magazine called France Football in 1956 to recognize the history-makers of the game. But that is not what it has turned out to be.

LA LIGA

Between January 1 and December 31, 2014 in this competition Lionel Messi scored 35 goals in 36 matches (11 with the right foot, 23 with the left and the other with the head) while Cristiano Ronaldo scored 38 but with less versatility as only 4 were with his head and unfavorable left foot.

In addition Messi created 97 chances, 24 more than any other player and completed 164 dribbles, 63 more than the nearest rival Iker Muniain of Atletico Bilbao (MAILOnline – Why Lionel Messi should win Ballon d’Or after a record-breaking year with Barcelona; by Kieran Gill, January 12, 2015).

EUROPE

Messi conquered the continent on November 25 when he became the all-time top goal scorer in the Champions League in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was his 23rd European city, his 16th European country and recorded the 24th different stadium in which he had scored (MAILOnline etc.)

WORLD CUP 2014

At soccer’s most important competition Messi led Argentina to the final, was voted Man of the Match in 4 games (the most of any player in the competition) and won the Golden Boot as the best player of the tournament.

He had the most impact on the competition. His goals were all match-winning goals which propelled Argentina to the final. He was the third joint highest goal scorer with 4 goals and 1 assist, created the most chances, had the most successful dribbling runs, made the most deliveries into the box and produced the most through balls of any player.

In contrast, Ronaldo was a non-factor and only scored a late goal against minnow Ghana and had an assist against the USA.

HISTORY MAKER

Messi’s performance in 2014 was what the Ballon d’Or is all about, namely, history-making performances. On March 16, he became Barcelona’s all-time top goal scorer (371). One week later he became the El Clasico (matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona) top goal scorer (21) with a hat- trick.

He scored his 400th career goal on September 27 against Granada and surpassed a 59-year-old record to become La Liga’s all-time top goal scorer (253) on November 22. Three days later he overtook Raul by scoring a hat-trick to become the top goal scorer in the history of the Champions League (74).

Given all these achievements one would think that of the three nominees Messi was the most deserving to win the award. Instead he not only lost to Ronaldo but he and the other nominee Manuel Neuer got less votes combined (31.48 %) than Ronaldo (37.66%).

In 2013 Ronaldo won nothing and Franck Ribery won everything but nevertheless Ronaldo beat him.

How can all this be explained?

POLITICS BEHIND THE VOTING

FIFA’s criteria call for national managers, captains and media officials to vote for the most outstanding performer of the previous twelve months.

Not unexpectedly players vote for their team-mates and compatriots. In the 2014 contest for example, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) gave all three spots to Germans, Manuel Neuer, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller.

Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid) voted for his former team-mates Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois.

Vincent Kompany (Belgium) voted for team-mates Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard as the world’s two best players with Arjen Robben third.

The best example of the politics in all of this is illustrated by Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) who declared without giving a reason that he regretted voting for Ronaldo instead of his team-mate Neuer. This ‘change of heart’ can only be explained as coming from a player who wants to save face with team-mates in the dressing room rather than from a voter with any real conviction.

The same criticism applies to managers who only vote for national players. For example, Argentina’s manager Gerardo Martino gave all three places to his fellow countrymen namely, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria and Javier Mascherano, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots voted for Belgian Thibaut Courtous for third place, Didier Deschamps (France) gave the final spot to French striker Benzema and Holland’s Guus Hiddink gave top honor to compatriot Arjen Robben.

Players will get a lot of votes if they are popular ‘with the boys’ and can play to the cameras to advertise commercial products. Those who defend the choice of Ronaldo as best player point to the fact that in the second half of 2014 he scored 32 goals. The problem is that 9 of those goals were penalties so his non-penalty goals were 23, the same amount as Messi who had no penalties. Ronaldo is nicknamed «Penaldo» because of his mastery of drawing and scoring penalties.

In a World Cup year such as 2014 your performance in that tournament is what defines you. On the world’s biggest stage Ronaldo was a nonfactor and his supporters excuse this by saying he was carrying an injury. If that is true that is unfortunate but injury is a misfortune, not a privilege and he can only be judged on actual performance and not on speculation as to what he might have achieved had he been fully fit.

The Player of the Year award has lost its authenticity. But it does not have to be so. It is not a personality or school prom contest. It is supposed to recognize performance on the field. Maybe the officials of FIFA should themselves become the judges, give more consideration to non-European clubs and use criteria like achievements and fair play to choose the winner. This would not be a perfect system but would be preferable to the present one which is deeply flawed and cannot be taken seriously.

Victor A. Dixon

January 18, 2015