Noticias de fútbol, marcadores en directo, resultados y …

Football is one of the finest sporting activities fancied globally. The fun of the game is heightened, especially by the numerous leagues and championships. Anti-sports citizens in a country magically fall in love with the football game when they see their fellow countrymen adorned in their national colors determined to play enthusiastically for their homeland. The most succinct part of the football game that can break the heart of supporters and football enthusiasts is the taking of a penalty kick. In fact, it is one of the most high-pressure situations that sometimes leave an entire nation glued to the screen of a television set! When a team gets that opportunity to win via penalty shootout and is missed, the pain that ensues is very unbearable. The aftermath pain or guilt is normally placed on the player who kicked the penalty, the coach who selected the penalty kicker, and sometimes on the entire team. However, when a football team plays a football game and the team loses the match on penalties, who should bear the ultimate blame?

Generally, penalty kickers are ultimately blamed for missing penalty kicks. The furious supporters vent their rage on the player and sometimes extend it to their innocent family members. Such was the case of the recent Senegalese and Liverpool star, Sadio Mane. After missing the all-important penalty kick against Cameroon, angry supporters ransacked his house and that of his relatives, destroying their property and other belongings. As a result, his family members had to seek refuge from the security personnel in the country for fear of loss of their lives. A similar situation happened in Ghana when the captain of the Black Stars failed to bury the game by scoring the last- minute penalty kick against Uruguay to take the team to their first semi-final in the 2010 FIFA world cup. The player and his family were hooted at, bitterly insulted and humiliated by some angry Ghanaian supporters. Unfortunately, some players had to pay with their lives as it happened to Andre Escobar of Colombia for scoring an own goal in the 1994 World Cup! These untold pains vented on penalty kickers are very disgusting, inhumane, cowardice and a misunderstanding of the essence of the sporting activity.

Football, like any other sporting game, is supposed to be a recreational activity. It is aimed at bringing unity amongst people and cultures. The nature of the game’s competitiveness, demands that one team wins and the other loses. This is part of the rudiments of the football game. Thus, when a team misses a penalty kick by one of their players, the blame and guilt must not be vented on the player, neither should it be placed on the shoulder of anyone. Winners of penalty kicks are just fortunate and lucky persons. Scoring a penalty kick is not a yardstick to evaluate the football skills and expertise of a player. After all, some of the world’s greatest footballers of all time have missed important penalty kicks. Classic examples are that of the Italian Roberto Baggio, who missed a penalty kick decider in the 1994 world cup as well as the French, Michel Platini’s penalty miss against Brazil in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Did the penalty kick miss of these iconic figures in the football sporting game make them less talented or skillful in the game? Certainly not! It would be unjust and an act of betrayal on the part of supporters of teams and nations to be furious against penalty kickers, coaches, or the entire football-playing teams.

It must be reckoned that players who missed penalty kicks already bear personal guilt which imposes heavy burdens on them. For instance, Roberto Baggio still can’t forgive himself of the penalty kick he missed in the past two decades and over! Ghana’s captain Asamoah Gyan has vowed not to take penalty kicks as a result of the deep scar his penalty miss at the 2010 World Cup has left in his heart! Therefore, why should supporters and fans of the football game aggravate their pain by taking injurious actions against the lives, personalities, families and possessions of penalty kickers, their coaches as well as their entire teams?

Supporters of the game must always remember to exhibit the spirit of unity, solidarity, and communalism to the entire team and support them in thick and thin moments. Of course, true and patriotic supporters of the football sporting game must rejoice with their teams when they win and more importantly weep with them, as it were when their teams lose. The aftermath pain and guilt that comes as a result of the heartache of a penalty miss must be borne by all- the playing team and supporters. This would help in deepening the essence of the football sporting game as a recreational activity aimed at fostering unity amongst the diverse people and cultures of the world.

I love football. Every year I eagerly await the fall season not just for the cooler weather and the change of color on the leaves of the trees, but also because it means the start of the football season as well. Anticipation builds inside me at the thought of watching my team take the field once again and make a run for the top spot in their division.

I’ve been a fan of the game, and the same team, for decades. I have watched the players, the teams, and even the football industry evolve and change over time. American football has remained one of the most exciting and beautiful games in all of professional sports. For all its appeal, just how and where did American football originate? All sports have their beginnings and what I found out left me appreciating the game even more.

During the early 1800’s a popular game known as rugby, where a football is kicked at a goal and run over a line, had its beginnings at the famous Rugby Boy’s School in England. Around the same time in America, the emergence of a game called «ballown,» similar to Rugby, was played by a group of students from Princeton. East coast prep schools like Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Rutgers College also competed in football-type games. At that time these early games resembled the more traditional «mob football» style played in England. The rules were simple with large numbers of players trying to advance the ball into a goal area usually by any means necessary. By 1855 manufactured inflatable balls were being used as football evolved into a kicking and running game.

Since there weren’t many rules established, violence and injury were common due to the roughness of the game. The increasing brutality of the game became such a public concern because of so many injuries and deaths, that some universities banned it. President Theodore Roosevelt even threatened to ban the game and urged Harvard, Princeton, and Yale to help make changes or lose the sport. Eventually the Intercollegiate Football Association was formed by representatives of Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton to establish a new code of rules mainly based on the rugby games.

The man responsible for shaping American football as we know it today was Walter Camp. He enrolled at Yale in 1876 and led the IFA’s rules committee. He proposed reducing the number of players from 15 to 11. He helped establish the line of scrimmage and the snap from center to quarterback. Camp also proposed that teams be required to advance the ball a minimum of five yards within three downs. More changes were instituted like the reduced size of the playing field, scoring rules, and game time. By 1887 a paid referee and an umpire were mandated for each game and tackling below the waist was allowed. In 1889 officials were given whistles and stopwatches. The forward pass, one of the most important changes in the game, didn’t become legal until 1906.

Although the rules were changing, football continued to be played violently in the style of the earlier mob games. Changes had to be made to make the game safer. These changes were discussed on December 28, 1905 by sixty-two schools who met in New York City. Eventually the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was formed as a result. Over a century later college football continues to thrive as one of the most popular collegiate games. After the demise of the IFA, the American Professional Football Association was formed in 1920. The association was later reorganized and in 1922 renamed the National Football League.

Who can don’t forget the eccentric Colombian soccer player Carlos (Pibe) Valderrama? Pibe or the child turned into firstly now not customary for his chic play, but more for his hairdo. A teen with wild long blond permed hair coupled with a mustache become frolicking around on the Colombian and later world soccer fields. He failed to score a lot but his dribbles and sharp passes turned world well-liked. His trainers and coaches noticed in him a traditional striker, which he became now not. He changed into an excellent midfielder who most of the time misled his opponents by using taking part in the ball like it used to be glued to his footwear. Pibe Valderrama desired to have the liberty to play his game from the midfield. At Deportivo Cali, Pibe Valderrama eventually discovered a listening ear from the membership manager and this was once the beginning of an amazing soccer or futbol career.

In 1987, Pibe Valderrama played inside the Copa The united states and became chosen above gamers like Maradonna as participant of the match, resulting from his wonderful and unselfish play, continually launching one of his group mates with flawless passes normally leading to an aim. It became no surprise that 3 years later, Pibe Valderrama went to Italy to play his first of 3 World Cup tournaments with Colombia. He by no means transformed his hair vogue. In its place, he proudly walked and ran round with perm and dyed hair.

1994 turned into the most important 12 months in his career when he played the area Cup within the USA. He become pleasantly surprised about the undeniable fact that the stadiums were jam-packed with enthusiastic soccer watchers considering soccer seriously isn’t the #1 sporting activities there. Additionally, the standard of the grass impressed him: best and lower quickly to make certain that the ball would greater roll on the field, which changed into outstanding for his uniqueness – the pass.

End of the 80’s, Pibe Valderrama went, like many different South American soccer players, for the EU adventure. After a wonderful video game at Wembley (UK), he was offered a contract with the aid of Montpellier, an average club within the French most excellent league. Besides the fact that he before everything struggled with the eu activity, it was due to his Polish educate that he acquired to overcome this challenge and in 1990, Pibe Valderrama helped Montpellier to win the French Cup with the in shape in opposition t Sainte Etienne being the spotlight of the tournament.

In these days, it become the Spanish competition that attracted soccer gamers from world wide. Therefore, Pibe Valderrama tried his success by using playing for Factual Valladolid. Lamentably for Pibe, he did not make it and after 1 year inside the Spanish competition, he again to come back to Colombia and later to the united states to finish off his profession. Pibe Valderrama performed his final activity for the Colombian nationwide workforce in France through the World Cup in 1998. He performed a whopping 111 video games in whole for his united states. After an occupation of 22 years, Pibe bade farewell to his fans in 2004 through enjoying his final legitimate soccer online game. In front of Estadio Eduardo Santos is his statue in bronze, some thing no other soccer player has ever achieved.

Pibe Valderrama has misplaced his eccentric hair and his drooping mustache has made manner for a distinctive graying little beard, but his eyes are still laughing truly. He has under no circumstances misplaced his love for soccer. He lives in Florida at the moment where he works at the soccer academy.

Outright Odds: 8/1

Group A Winners: 4/9

Former national favourite and Tottenham Hotspur diving enthusiast Jurgen Klinsmann takes control over the next generation of German players who are keen to end 16 years of hurt and win the World Cup for a fourth time on their own soil.

Klinsmann has thrown the traditional playing style manual out of the window. Gone is the patient, tight gameplay, his teams are sent out to play a «fast-paced, attacking and very aggressive» game which has significantly improved their goal tally. However, this strategy, along with a number of inexperienced defenders (none have played at a World Cup finals before) has seen a once resolute back line concede almost as many goals as the team score at the other end.

The current squad is void of any true superstar names, with only Michael Ballack offering real world class status. Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger hope to prove there is life after former heroes Lothar Matthaus, now-manager Jurgen Klinsmann and Andreas Moller.

While there are question marks over the defence, Schweinsteiger forms part of an outstanding midfield alongside Ballack and the more experienced Sebastien Diesler and Torsten Frings. These players will have to work hard to ensure their untested defence (bar veteran goalkeeper Oliver Kahn) does not get caught out and that a sufficient supply line meets their equally World Cup virginal strikeforce of Kevin Kuranyi and Podolski.

As always, host nations will have their critics about how ready they are to perform on the biggest stage of all after playing only friendly matches for over a year. Germany did participate in last year’s Confederations Cup which offered a decent level of competition. The Germans finished third but a 2-2 draw against Argentina and narrow 3-2 defeat against World Cup favourites Brazil suggests they are on the right track. Strikers Kuranyi and Podolski also rattled in five goals between them.

German sides appear to relish being criticised and seen as the «underdog», yet are always there or thereabouts at the business end of the tournament. Indeed, they were dumped out of the 1998 tournament in the quarter-final stage by Croatia, their worst result at the World Cup since 1958, but reached the final four years later.

Klinsmann’s side has learned to accept their limitations but combat this by working for eachother as a team. Rudi Voller lead his much-criticised Germany team to the final of the 2002 World Cup so the message here is, never write off the Germans, especially on their home turf.

Recommended Bet:

Expect Klismann’s side to come out all guns blazing during the tournament and with home advantage they should ease through the group stage. A much criticised German side reached final four years ago, so why not this time as well?

Germany to win Group A @ 4/9

E/W Germany to win the World Cup @ 7/1

Outright Odds: 300/1

Group A Winners: 9/1

Ecuador qualified for their second World Cup finals in succession on the back of a remarkable home record which included victories over both Brazil and Argentina. So should punters rush out and lump on the huge 3001/ (Bet365) odds available for the largest upset in World Cup history? In short, no.

Ecuador qualified with one of the most lopsided qualifying record of any team competing in Germany this summer. Quito, the country’s capital, stands 2,850 metres above sea level and assisted by the thin air, Ecuador were almost unstoppable at home. They won seven out nine home games, including victories against the South American giants with the other two results goalless draws against Peru and Uruguay.

Away from home it was an entirely different story. Five defeats, two draws and one victory in the equally high altitude of Bolivia was perhaps a more realistic measure of their capabilities but overall they sealed third place in the group.

Ecuador will have to improve on their travels if they want to avoid humiliation in Germany. Their stint in the 2002 World Cup was their first but they have the victory over the third-placed team of 1998, Croatia, to draw inspiration from.

Potentially, they could be a tough team to break down in defence. Captain Ivan Hurtado, a 31-year old veteran with nearly 130 caps to his name is partnered by Giovany Espinoza who was the only player in South America to play in all 18 qualifying matches. For all this experience, the defence can be caught flat and, if Espinoza is taken out of the reckoning, is all over the place when high balls are played in the box. They are also weak in terms of goalkeeping.

Ecuador have moved away from the short-passing through the middle which has categorised their game in favour of striking quickly down the wings. In Edison Mendez, who scored the winning goal against Croatia and five goals in qualifying, they have a player who can cause problems. There are also high hopes surrounding Luis Antonio Valencia, 20, who chipped in with another three.

Former Southampton flop Augustin Delgado is Ecuador’s main focal point in attack. He netted five times in qualifying and scored his country’s first ever World Cup goal, taking the lead after five minutes against Mexico in a match they eventually lost 2-1.

Ecuador’s lack of experience in Europe could prove to be their downfall as they have only played three full internationals on the continent and they looked completely overawed when playing Italy four years ago. They will do well not to finish bottom of the group.

Recommended Bet:

Ecuador’s lack of experience in Europe and dire away form means they cannot be backed with any confidence apart from finishing bottom of the group. Look out for potentially tasty odds on them suffering a «shock» defeat against Costa Rica and consider them to finish bottom of Group A.

Costa Rica to beat Ecuador @ 2/1