Categoría: Todas las equipaciones de fútbol

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.

There are many links between Ireland and Scotland and the two countries have developed a close relationship. In this article I’m going to explore the historical and cultural links that lie at it’s heart.

From earliest times the two countries, formed a single cultural, religious, linguistic and economic zone. The early Scots who came to Scotland from Ireland in the 5th and 6th centuries established the foundations for Irish – Scottish migrations, which continue to this day. Two of the most significant migrations were:

under the influence of the english who were keen to shore up their foothold in Ireland, over 200,000 scots emigrated to Ireland. In the second half of the nineteenth century there was a mass exodus from Ireland to England and Scotland as a result of poverty and famine. Irish labour helped Scottish industrialisation to take root rapidly. In major cultural achievements, too, each country affected the other profoundly. The Scottish Enlightenment, began in Ireland in the work of the philosopher Francis Hutcheson, who later moved to Glasgow and greatly influenced the work of David Hume and Adam Smith.

One of the key links between the two counties in the large Diaspora of each. Tens of millions of citizens with Scottish and Irish ancestry can be found across the globe in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Both countries are keen to engage on their Diasporas. This recently happened in Scotland, with the Scottish Tourist board calling on Scots living abroad to come home.

In Scotland today people of Irish decent are the single largest minority ethnic group, and there are a large number of Scots living in Ireland. The English ‘issue’ brought both countries together – the need to preserve their identity in the shadow of a powerful neighbouring culture. I will now take a look at some of the shared aspects of culture – traditional clothing, music and sport.

A commonality between the culture if the two countries in clearly shown in the wearing of the kilt – a clear link between the two nations is. Irish kilts are traditionally plain in either saffron of green, with Irish county tartans a more recent variation.

Sport is another areas that has links, interestingly the Irish-Scots were instrumental in the formation of Celtic Football Clubs Hibernian and Dundee United. Indeed, these teams were originally formed to provide recreational facilities for Irish immigrants.

Celtic music has a strong historical traditional in Scotland and Ireland with both using fiddles, bagpipes, whistles and bodhrans. Often, the term Celtic music is applied to the music of Ireland and Scotland however, it is notable that Irish and Scottish traditional musicians tend to point out the differences between the too.

Today the relationships between Ireland and Scotland continues to be shaped by the changes to the political dynamic brought about by devolution in Scotland, the Peace Process in Northern Ireland as well as the deeper integration into the European Union, which is and will remain Scotland and Ireland’s most significant economic relationship.

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