Football Mania

Marcelo - Real Madrid

2008-11-24T15:44:00.005+01:00

Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior, or known only as Marcelo is a Brazilian football player currently playing for the Spanish giant Real Madrid. By many, Marcelo is the successor of Roberto Carlos who played the famous offensive left back position for Madrid and the Brazilian National team for more than a decade.

Marcelo is born on May 12, 1988 in the poor neighborhood in Rio and started playing futsal when he was only 9. When he was 13 the officials of Fluminense saw his talent and transferred him into the youth ranks of their team. Marcelo was quickly becoming their pearl and most popular player and they started comparing him with Roberto Carlos. Those comparisons became more often when Marcelo decided to put a pen to the paper of his dream contract with Real Madrid. In December 2006 Marcelo, who was only 18 moved to Madrid with his family.
Marcelo made his debut for the first team on April 14 2007 in the team that was led by Capello. He adapted quickly to the Spanish style of play thanks to the many Brazilians in the club especially Roberto Carlos. Months later Marcelo became a Spanish champion with Los Merengues.

His big progress in Madrid was seen by Brazilian national team manager Dunga who picked Marcelo as successor of the retiring legend Roberto Carlos. He made a great performance for his national team scoring one fantastic goal.
After winning La Liga in the 2007 summer transfer period Roberto Carlos left Real Madrid and signed for Fenerbahce. That move created an empty spot on the left back position in Real Madrid. At the same time Cappelo left Madrid and Bernd Schuster was hired as a head coach. This allowed Marcelo more playing time as he was better choice for the German coach instead of Heinze. Marcelo’s brilliant performances during the season of 2007-2008 guaranteed him a first team place in the league and the Champions league. At the end of May 2008 Real Madrid was crowned as champion again.

To set aside his inexperience and sometimes his instant decisions that cost his team a lot (it’s always a kind of problem for defenders), Marcelo is typical offensive left back with steel nerves and determined reactions in the back. His pacey runs upfront that comes along with fine cross, precise passing and also powerful long shot makes him one of the best wingbacks nowadays. He is hard working guy and his modest personality, optimism and confidence are one of his best attributes.

Marcelo started off 2008-09 with success winning Spanish Super cup with Real Madrid in August. Day by day he is becoming better yet. He earns more faith by Schuster and this guarantees bright future for the Brazilian pearl at the Bernabeu. I really hope he will become one of the best defenders in the world one day.

Official Real Madrid page about Marcelo

Marcelo on Wikipedia

Aguero – Atletico Madrid

2008-10-13T16:45:00.007+02:00

Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo, also known as Kun Aguero (El Kun) is one of the best Argentinean football players nowadays despite being only 20. He is natural supporting striker and he represents the colors of Atletico Madrid. Aguero is a husband of Diego Maradona's daughter Giannina.

Aguero was born in June 2, 1988 in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province and started his football steps in the youth ranks of the local club Independiente. In July 2003 Aguero became the youngest player to debut in the Argentinean Primera division with only 15 years and 35 days, breaking the record of Diego Maradona. In his first three seasons with Independiente he played 53 games and scored impressive 23 goals, success that guarantied his place in the Argentina U-17 and later U-20 team.

Many big European clubs gained interest in the new Argentinean wunderkind but Atletico Madrid was the one who was lucky to get his signature. The deal was reached in May 2006 for about 20 € which was the biggest transfer fee that Independiente has ever received. El Kun settled himself very well in the Spanish capital and quickly became “Los Colchoneros” fans favorite. Very quickly after that the call-up for the Argentina senior team came and in September Aguero made his debut against Brazil.

In his first (2006-07) season with Atletico, Aguero scored 8 goals some of them very attractive and against highly regarded opponents, but his season was not the one from his dreams.

The best days of Aguero’s career definitely began in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was top scorer with 6 goals and was proclaimed as the best player of the tournament. Months later he was shining in the red and white shirt building outstanding scoring tandem with Diego Forlan. In the season of 2007-08 Aguero scored 20 goals for Atletico and contributed lots of assists that made him the best player of Madrid’s second club at age of only 19. He helped Atletico to win the impressive 4th place, just behind Barcelona, which leads to the Champions League.

Aguero started the new 2008-09 season with success. In August he was invited for the Argentinean Olympic team in Beijing where he scored twice in the semi finals against Brazil. Argentina won the tournament.
The start of the club season with Atletico was better than solid, scoring 3 La liga goals and 4 in the Champions league.

Sergio Aguero plays the SS role (supporting striker) just behind the striker. He is quick, agile, full of determination and gains perfect technique on the ball. He has the ball very close to the foot and for the defenders it’s extremely hard to tackle. His powerful shot makes him very dangerous for the opposing keepers. By many this super kid is the successor of the great Maradona and is even better than Barcelona’s Messi.

Aguero on Wikipedia

Super youths: Anderson – Manchester United

2008-10-10T16:40:00.003+02:00

Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira was born on 13 April 1988 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He is a left foot player and can play as an attacking midfield and left winger.

He began his career in Gremio in the season of 2004-05 and he scored his debut goal for his team in the last moments of Serie B match against Nautico which secured them a victory that led him in promotion to Serie A. In October 2005 he was awarded the Adidas Golden Ball for his performances at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru 2005 and this launched him onto the world stage with a higher profile.

His talent didn’t come unnoticed and in December 2005 he signed for Porto. In his first season with Porto, Anderson helped them to win the national championship and gave some good performances on an international level, but in his second season in Portugal he had bad luck missing a half season due to a broken leg.

In June 2007 Anderson signed 5-years contract with Manchester United worth around 23 M € and become only second Brazilian in the Manchester Reds.

Anderson is an extremely fast-developing player who began his career in Gremio at age of 17 and three years after he is making history in Manchester United. Anderson was brought in the last moments of the extra time in the 2008 CL finals against Chelsea and his last penalty shot send Ferguson’s team on the top of Europe. He is believed to be starter in the most of the Premier league and CL matches for the Red Devils in the 2008-09 campaign pushing Ryan Giggs on the bench.

Anderson made his debut for Brazilian national team on 27 June 2007 in the Copa America against Mexico. He was selected for the Brazil Olympic team in Beijing 2008 where he scored against New Zealand. Brazil won the bronze medal.

More about Anderson on Wikipedia

More about Anderson on Goal.com

Top 10 football transfers - summer 2008

2008-09-23T17:11:00.007+02:00

Except Euro 2008 this summer the football world will remember the transfer activities of the clubs all across Europe. Real Madrid made a huge campaign chasing C. Ronaldo, but Milan and Barca were the most active clubs in the transfer market. Barcelona spent over 100 M Euros for the signatures of Dani Alves, Caceres, Hleb, Keita and Henrique, and on the other hand they sold Ronaldinho, Deco, Dos Santos, Zambrota and Edmilson. Milan signed Ronaldinho, Flamini, Shevchenko and Zambrota.

10. Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander to Real Madrid (10 M €)

This Argentine youngster is the one of the hottest prospects of the Argentinean football. He is only 21 and already was a part of the Argentinean Olympic team that won the golden medal. Garay was on the verge of joining Barcelona this summer but in the last moment the Catalonian team decided not to make the approach. Los Merengues were fast enough and signed the player for only 10 M Euros. For instance, one month later Barcelona signed Martin Caceres from Villareal for a much larger amount (17 M). Later this summer Garay was returned to his old club Racing on a one season loan, and he will join Madrid next season.

9. Robinho from Real Madrid to Manchester city (41 M €)

Madrid’s chase over Ronaldo this summer made Robinho’s agent start to think that his client will be on the way out of Bernabeu. Or maybe he realized that he won’t be their biggest star in the future so he decided to fight for his escape from Real Madrid. Ronaldo’s transfer failed but Robinho already declared his wish to join Chelsea (they offered him 6 M per year, instead of Madrid’s 5 M). Chelsea hasn’t met the demanding price of 40 M Euros so everybody thought Robinho will be Blanco for another year. Then Al Nahyan's Abu Dhabi group took-over Manchester City and the new mega-rich owners made approach for Robinho with the biggest transfer fee this summer. All in all, everybody came out satisfied with this transfer. Real Madrid got rid of their disgruntled player, Man. C. acquired their first super-transfer and Robinho left the Spanish capital as he desired.

8. Ronaldinho from Barcelona to Milan (20 M €)

Sometimes the best player of the world, his last 2 seasons at Nou Camp were a real nightmare. In his last matches under Rijkard he was just a substitution and everybody thought his glory days were gone. But, despite his poor physical condition and his wild nightlife a lot of clubs were interested in Ronaldonho. There were rumors about him joining Chelsea, Manchester city, Fenerbahce and even LA Galaxy, but in the end he put a pen to the paper for a 3 year contract and moved to Milano. Some say it was a good deal, some the opposite. But in fact Blaugrana let go their legend that brought them back the Spanish and European glory in 2006, but the following 2 seasons were far below the limits. For them, Ronaldinho’s poor form was the reason. For the Rossoneri this was risky decision because of the player’s lack of professionalism, but his talent may rise again and then this transfer will definitely be a good move. For the player personally this is fantastic move because I hope he will never be booed at San Siro.

7. Daniel Alves from Sevilla to Barcelona (32 M €)

Dani Alves is 25 and is one of the best right wingbacks nowadays. Absolutely good signing but what I don’t fully agree is the price of the player. Sevilla got a habit to sell players to the larger clubs for boosted prices since Sergio Ramos and Baptista moved to Real Madrid and now Keita (15 M) and Alves to Barcelona. Barcelona sold Zambrotta (who was one of their best players last 2 seasons, and can play equally good on the right and left wingback position) to Milan for only 9 M Euros and that’s why I think that the price of Alves is too high. However, the time will show was this transfer profitable.

6. Hleb from Arsenal to Barcelona (15 M €)

Aliaksandr Hleb, age 27 is a Belarusian midfielder and one of the best Barcelona’s signings this summer. He was brought to Camp Nou as a replacement for Ronaldinho. I think that 15 M could be a very low price for the former Arsenal man. He is a versatile midfielder, can play upfront, and on the both sides, also high professional opposite of his predecessor in the Catalonian squad. The only thing Barcelona’s authorities should be aware of is his fragility, he missed few months on a several occasions during his time with the Gunners. We hope he’ll have a good season in Barcelona without injuries.

5. Berbatov from Tothenham to Manchester United (38 M €)

Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian forward was a long-time desire for the Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson. One of the longest transfer dramas was put to its end just before the deadline of the transfer period. Tothenham officials first said that Berbatov can be sold to every other club except United, than Manchester City got involved in the pursue which was not very well accepted by the player, and in the end the 30.7 M £ offer from Manchester United closed the deal. Berbatov appeared to be happy about the move. Too much money or not, we’re about so see.

4. Deco from Barcelona to Chelsea (10 M €)

Only 10 M? That was the first reaction of Barca fans about this transfer. Unbelievably low price for the Portuguese midfielder who has just turned 31 but he is still capable of offering some fantastic displays. When Rijkard left the bench in Barcelona, more than obvious were the departures of Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto’o. Deco was the first to leave the Catalan club and fly up to London after the new Blues boss Scolari showed an interest in the former Porto man. His 3-year contract is worth 8 M £ (10 M €). Deco has started EPL campaign with a fantastic success on the 17 of August when Chelsea beat Portsmouth and Deco was the Man of the match. Great signing for Chelsea and a pretty big loss for Barcelona.

3. Flamini from Arsenal to Milan (free transfer)

After 4 years spent with Arsenal, Mathieu Flamini (24) decided to swap England for Italy. On 8 April the French national team player played the last match for Arsenal and few weeks later he joined A.C. Milan signing 4-year contract which will guarantee him 5.6 M € per season. Maybe his wage is little over that what he can contribute but grabbing this fantastic player with no fee is Milan’s absolutely best signing this year. For the player it is unnecessary to mention his great personal acquisition, but he is a little loss for Arsenal. Fortunately for the Gunners, they added Nasri on their squad list.

2. Nasri from Marseille to Arsenal (17 M €)

Gunners may have lost Flamini, but they secured the services of Nasri. Samir Nasri, the French wunderkind with Algerian roots is the best Arsenal’s signing this summer and maybe the best in England overall. He made his way into the French national team and he has proved himself as one of the best playmakers worldwide despite the fact that he is only 21. The Gunners boss Wenger was eager to get Nasri and after long turmoil he finally got him signing long-term contract with the North London club. Nasri made fantastic debuts in the Premier League – with a goal, and in the qualification round for the CL against FC Twente – with a goal too. His career is in front of him and the world football audience expects to see his magic on the pitch.

1. Rafael van der Vaart from Hamburg to Real Madrid (13 M €)

After failing to land C. Ronaldo, and Robinho already pushing his way out of Madrid, Los Merengues seemed to be in bad position with their summer transfer activities. While Schuster was demanding signing at least one striker and one midfield player, the board seemed to be satisfied with the current squad. But on the 4 of August a great agreement was made between Calderon and Hamburg officials for the future of the Dutch superstar Van der Vaart. Next day VDV signed a 5-year deal with The Blancos and fulfilled the Dutch colony in Real Madrid. He is only 25 and has great records behind him but also a bright future in the Spanish capital. He was delighted with the move in the team and started off the good campaign in the pre-season. He was given the number 23 – number that he has been wearing for his entire career and the previous owner of the 23 Snejder was given the respectable number 10 (after Robinho left). With such a small amount of money this transfer is considered as a transfer “robbery” and is definitely the best signing in Europe this summer.

Spain – Winner of the Euro 2008

2008-07-02T17:38:00.003+02:00

Euro 2008 is over and Spain are the new European champions. One hour before midnight Iker Casillas lifted the trophy and the celebrations begun all over Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna and in every major city in Spain.
La furia roja is finally on the top of Europe 44 years after the glorious generation that dominated the Old continent in 1964.
The lads of Aragones showed off great maturity in the matches, despite their youth and inexperience, and by many football reviewers they deserved the victory.

The Spanish national team was in the group D alongside with Greece (former European champion), Russia and Sweden. The group phase was passed easily with 3 wins of the three matches. Italy was the team who met Spain in the quarter-finals. The game was not one of the best of the tournament coz Spain faced very dangerous opponent who knew how to play on a result, despite the awful football for watching. The game was decided after penalty shoot-out and Casillas was the man of the match saving 2 of the 4 penalties. Once again the Madridista showed to the world that he is the No1 goalkeeper. In the semi-finals we all saw one of the best matches of this Euro when Spain faced Russia. Led by the excellent coach Hiddink, Russia showed great display during the group stage and especially in the quarter-final with Netherlands, but obviously Spain was way too big bite for them. The match ends 3-0 for Spain and the whole squad was about to prepare for the great final. Big loss for the final match for Spain was the injury of David Villa – the top scorer of the Euro 2008.
The last barrier on the way to the glory was Germany – team who didn’t play such a good football during this competition but their experience showed off as crucial when they beat the opponents Portugal and Turkey which showed much better display then Germany in the matches. First 15 minutes of the game haven’t promised anything good for Spain, but then they turned over the match and took the ball possession also creating some chances. In the 32” Fernando Torres picked up a through ball from Xavi and flipped over Lehman and that was the end for the Germans. They had more than one hour for playing but I think that even if they played whole night they wouldn’t score. In the rest of the match the attendance saw only chances for Spain but they didn’t score. It was 1-0 for Spain in the end!

So, if you make a little overview of the Euro 2008 I think that you will agree with me that Spain deserved this trophy more than any other team.
Congratulations!

Player profile – Goran Pandev

2008-04-29T20:42:00.004+02:00

Lazio’s forward, “Il grande Macedone” – Goran Pandev with his brilliant appearances lately, has promoted himself as one of the best forwards in Serie A and beyond.
He is only 23 and he has already fascinated major European clubs with his physical strength and goalscoring abilities alongside his maturity display.
Goran Pandev was born in Strumica on July 27, 1983.
He made his first football steps in the youth academy of FK Belasica and in 2000 he made his debut for the first team when he was only 17.
His career turned upstairs when he and his teammate from Belasica, Ace Stojkov got offer from FC Inter.
In 2001 Pandev moved to Milano and joined the youth squad of Inter. He kept developing there but he hasn’t got a chance for first team appearance. He spent 2002/03 on a loan to Spezia, and the next 2003/04 in Ancona. Scoring few goals in about 40 matches is not much of a success, but knowing the age of the striker, it wasn’t such a bad achievement.
Pandev experienced playing in Italian lower leagues and improved his physical and technical abilities. Then the real challenge came.

In 2004 Goran Pandev was transferred from Inter to Lazio as a part of Stankovic’s transfer of to Inter. Very quickly, Goran Pandev became popular among the Lazio fans, and also among the fans of Macedonian NT. With his 25 goals in 3 seasons at Lazio he turned himself into the one of the best Lazio players nowadays. Pandev is playing another brilliant season at Lazio (2007/08) and he has chances to finish the season with more than 20 goals in every competition.

Goran Pandev is not a classic forward. His position in Lazio is right behind the full striker (Rocchi). In Macedonia he has free role and plays something like attacking midfield. This speaks about his contribution in connecting the midfield and the attack.
Pandev is a hard player with great body balance and it’s almost impossible for opponent defenders to beat him in physical duel. He is cleaver enough and can be stopped only with foul. The ball is secure in his legs.
Other great qualities are dribbling and passing. I can never forget the mach against Juventus and Pandev’s magic while Buffone, Canavarro, Thuram and Zebina were out of their shoes, and many other fantastic moves.
And at last, I think that his biggest quality is the shoot accuracy. He strikes precisely and steady and a lot of goalkeepers are helpless in that situation.
His speed and stamina are not his biggest strengths, but he can handle with them.

Take a look at some of his goals:

Goran Pandev has a great career in front of him. Major European clubs like Bayern, Arsenal and Real Madrid are interested in his services.

How to win a football match

2008-04-25T22:10:00.005+02:00

“The goal is to score a goal!”

The team who scores more goals – wins. If it is a cup competition, the winner continues in further matches and the loser is out of the competition. In a league match format, the winner takes 3 points, the loser nothing. Draw is also possible here with the two of the teams getting by one point.

So, how to beat the opponent is the subject of this post. There are few waypoints:

1. Ball possession
We all remember the glory days of the two Spanish giants and their eras of dominating the European stage. Real Madrid (1998-2002) and Barcelona (2005-06). And guess what they had in common? Yes, the ball possession.
When the team has the ball for most of the time, it is more possible to create chances for the forwards. That is why strong midfield is required.
The midfield can be organized in various ways, with 2 or 3 playmakers in the core of the midfield. The most important thing of quality midfield display is having defensive midfield with strong playmaking and passing skills and also strong shooting skill is welcomed (Cecs Fabregas, Andrea Pirlo, Steven Gerard…)
And the most important thing is mutual correlation and communication between the players.

2. Turning chances into a goal
Once the ball possession is gained, your team needs to convert the chances into goals. Having quality strikers is the best way to turn a chance into a goal. For bigger chances to score, the teams need higher frequency of shots. If you don’t take a shot, you won’t score.
Teams play with one or two forwards depending on a tactic. When playing 2 forwards, very often used tactic by the managers is one centre forward and one supporting forward. One of the most successful managers, Capello used this “hole” striker role when coaching Real Madrid, Juventus and Roma. Recognizable players on this position are Raul, Del Piero, Totti etc.
Some teams play with 3 forwards (Barcelona). But it is not possible to play with all 3 centre forwards (for example neither manager will put Van Nistelrooy, Drogba and Luca Toni together). And that’s why these teams play with one CF and 2 supporting (defensive) forwards. Barcelona’s squad during the past 3-4 seasons was always using this tactic with Eto’o as a CF and Ronaldinho and Messi as supporting forwards. The main role of these players is to connect the midfield with the attack.

3. Prevent opponents to score
Rock solid defense prevents opponent team to score. Decades ago, teams used to play man-to-man defense which requires running all over the field after the marked player. Today, most common defensive style of play is zonal marking which means that defenders have their assigned zones of the field to cover (not exact player).
The most of the teams today play with 4 defenders in a line. Defensive line is very important part of the team defense and demands high level of teamwork between those players.
Some managers use a “sweeper” – player behind the def. line who is assigned for correcting the possible mistakes by the DL.
In front of the DL there is always one or two defensive midfielders playing the role of “destructor” (Gatuso, Emerson, Makalele, Vieira etc.) and their main job is to strangle the opponent’s attack before it’s really created.
When praising the importance of DL, SW and DM positions I must declare that major importance of the team defense overall has the goalkeeper. Managers who have keepers like Casillas, Buffon of Cech between the posts can breathe easier during the match.

4. Teamwork
The best way to win the match is to have perfect teamwork of the players. We have been witnesses of F.C. Porto winning the CL in 2004 with average players but extremely high level of teamwork. The team had no such big names but Mourinho packed compatible lineup and faced the best teams in the Europe successfully.
On the other hand, see what happened with teams who had the best players all over the globe but didn’t manage so win even a title (Inter over the past 10 years; Real Madrid in the “Galactico” era and Barcelona in the past 2 seasons).

Highest transfer fees in football

2008-03-22T19:40:00.003+01:00

We all know that football today is more than just a game. But sometimes it’s not very clear how much more. It is unbelievable just how much money circle in and out of this game. Not only for tickets but for TV rights, shirt sponsors, commercials...

I was actually astonished when I heard the numbers of some transfer fees. Read on about the top 10 highest transfer fees in history of football. For starters, guess which team paid the top two highest transfer fees. It was Real Madrid of course. They paid 75 million euros to get Zinedine Zidane from Juventus in 2001. Just to compare, this amount covers for 300 000 average monthly Macedonian wages. The year before Real led the top 10 with the now second highest transfer of Luis Figo, whom they got from Barcelona for 61 millions. Right behind Real, on the third place comes Lazio. They paid 56 million euros for the transfer of Hernan Crespo from Parma in 2000. Amounted in euros the fourth place goes for Gaizka Mendieta’s transfer from Valencia to Lazio in 2001 for 48 millions. I say amounted in euros because using a different currency produces a slightly different list due to exchange rate fluctuations. If we go on, on the fifth place we find Rio Ferdinand. His transfer fee from Leeds United to Manchester United in 2002 was 47 millions. The year before that Manchester United paid Lazio 46 millions for the transfer of Juan Veron. On the seventh place we meet Real Madrid again. The transfer of Ronaldo from Inter Milan in 2002 brought them once more on the top 10 list. They paid 45 millions this time. As we can see so far, European football experienced a so called "transfer bubble" between 1999 and 2002. The most expensive transfer since that time was Chelsea's purchase of Andriy Shevchenko in 2006. The fee was amounted as 45 millions of euros. The last two transfers are also from the "transfer bubble" era. The transfer of Rui Costa in 2001 that was 43 millions and the one of Christian Vieri in 1999 for 42 millions.
So these are the highest transfer fees so far. As we can see they were all made by Italian, English and Spanish clubs. It is harder today to produce a definitive list of largest transfer fees than was the case in the past. This is due, as I mentioned before, to exchange rate fluctuations, non official reports, and different sources. Anyway this is big money we’re talking about. And that is one of the reasons why football is the main secondary thing in the world.

by Cana

Football formations and tactics

2008-03-13T20:47:00.025+01:00

Every player has his position on the pitch which is set by the coach and it’s based on the player’s abilities, team experience, opponent skills, lineups etc.

Today most common football formation is 4-4-2 with its variations (4-4-1-1, 4-2-2-2, 1-3-1-2-1-2). It’s most played in England but also all over the world. Formation 4-4-2 means that four of the players are in the defense, other four in the midfield, and two of them are strikers (forwards). They all can be dragged across the field which will result in 4-4-2 variations. The defenders can play in a line or one of them can be pulled back and this will result having a sweeper (SW) and defensive line noted as 1-3. If one of the central defenders is pushed forward he will become anchor, noted 3-1.
It’s a similar situation with the midfield. You can have 4 of them in a line (RM-CM-CM-LM) or central midfielders being moved forward and backward (DM-RM-LM-AM) etc.

But in the early days of the game there were no formations or tactics. Five guys were appointed to score goals and other 5 to defend. The first “so called” formation was 2-3-5. England and English teams used to play it at the beginning of the XX century and it was played in the “30, “34 and “38 World Cup.

WM (3-2-2-3)
The first root change was made in Arsenal in “20’s under Herbert Chapman. It was called WM formation. Inner forwards were pulled back to strengthen the midfield and centre half moved to the defense line as a respond to the new offside rules. Arsenal won many matches and become famous about that “new style of football”.
The football positions terminology was created at the same time as this formation, using the words fullback, halfback, inside forward, center forward and winger.
It still exists, but transformed, most often as 3-4-3 (for offensive lineups) and 5-4-1 (defensive)

4-2-4
This formation was used in Hungary and Brazil in early 50’s. Strong attack and solid defense were major characteristic of this kind of lineup. This is extremely offensive tactic with weak midfield having only 2 players to create the play, therefore teams with fantastic individuals and skillful forwards were able to use it. Teams using this formation were described as teams which play with 6 defenders and 6 forwards at the same time because of these two midfielders performing the both tasks – in the defense and in the attack.
This formation will become noted in the football history to be the first graphically written formation, published in the Brazilian sport magazine “O Cruseiro”.
Brazil won “58 WC playing with Garrincha, Vává, Pelé and Zagallo in the attack and 12 years later in 1970 with Jairzinho, Pelé, Tostão and Rivelino.

Modern formations

4-3-3
This formation was first invented in 1962 by the Brazilian national team and still has it’s usage in the modern football. The Brazilian team was the first to pull back one striker into the midfield which transformed 4-2-4 into 4-3-3. At the time this formation was criticized for being too “defensive” but it showed that it was the right decision because the midfield was strengthen very much and it was the key place in the build-up play.
Teams playing this formation usually get ball possession and create a lot of chances. So, the expectations of the 3 central midfielders are to guarantee ball possession and major task of the wingers is crossing. There is only one central forward who is charged to score goals.
In the past, a lot of teams used this formation and were pretty successful. As we mentioned before Brazilian NT was using it and later it was quickly adopted in Argentina and Uruguay. Very soon it was adopted in Europe too, and it was used by Netherlands national team and almost every club in Netherlands in the 70’s. Many Spanish and English teams were using it while winning in many competitions.
Years later this formation got new dimension. Wingers got moved inside field and became supporting strikers – SS (defensive forward or “trequartista”). These players became paramount in connecting midfield and attack. So this formation having 2 defensive forwards instead of 2 wingers was renamed to 4-3-2-1 or “Christmas Tree”.
Today, 4-3-3 lineup is still popular.
In 2006 WC Netherlands and Spain played this formation and also Barcelona, Lyon and Chelsea in the recent seasons.

4-4-2
As I mentioned before, 4-4-2 is today’s most used formation in the football world.
With 4 defenders the teams get firm defense and with 2 classical forwards they get steady attack. Midfielders are used to create chances, help the defense and reinforce attack. This formation is easy transformable for both defensive and offensive style of playing.
In England it’s sometimes called “Flat-back 4” and the most successful teams playing this formation also came from England: Manchester United (won every possible title in “98-“99 campaign) and Arsenal (2003-04 – the unbeaten season). Both of the teams were playing symmetrical lineup with line positioned players (RB -CD-CD-LB; RM-CM-CM-LM; FW-FW)

4-3-1-2 (Diamond)
English national team was one of the first successful teams playing this formation. In 1966 England won the WC trophy playing 4-4-2 and they were described as “Wingless Wonders”. No one before used this tactic. England actually was playing a 4-4-2 variation with 1 defensive and 1 offensive midfielder instead of playing 2 central midfielders. Better description of their lineup is 4-1-2-1-2. This formation became very popular in Europe later and was called “4-4-2 Diamond”. Its major characteristic is having no wingers actually. The attacking midfield has somewhat free role and is positioned between attack and midfield. The defensive midfielder has much stronger contribution to the defense, but still has a role in midfield.
Some of the most successful teams in history were using “diamond”. Argentina’s national team has long history of using diamond, beginning in the 80’s with the Maradona era. Maradona played as AM behind two forwards. In 2006 WC Argentina and Germany played “diamond” too.
Some of the most successful club also used diamond: Real Madrid won the ninth CL trophy in 2002 while playing diamond; A.C. Milan 2003-2007 titles; Porto won CL in 2004 with Mourinho with diamond; Boca Juniors 2000-2007 and many others.

4-4-1-1
4-4-2 has also other variations like 4-4-1-1 (Italy 2006 - World Champion; Juventus 2001-03, Manchester United in 2006-2007…)
This is little more defensive than other 4-4-2’s but its easy transformable too. Major characteristic role is “trequartista” or “hole” striker placed behind Target man – classic forward. These typical kinds of players are Del Piero, Totti, Kaka, Zidane etc.

3-4-3
Extremely offensive formations are those with minimum number of defenders (only 3) and maximum number of forwards (3). So, 3-4-3 is one of them. This formation was played most often in the “90’s by Barcelona under Cruyff who won 1992 CL; Ajax under Van Gaal winning 1995 CL; or Milan under Zaccheroni.

3-5-2
This is one of the offensive formations but with stronger midfield instead of attack. It appeared to be functional when Croatia reached 4th place in 1998 WC. It has more variations too.

5-3-2
Very defensive lineup but sometimes it resulted with a lot of goals scored. This is because the teams that played this lineup used Sweeper (SW) and had much freedom along defensive line. He was sometimes pushed forward to strengthen the midfield. With offensive wingbacks it was much more opened than it appears to be. Pure example is 2000 CL title of Real Madrid when Helguera was SW and Roberto Carlos and Salgado had many offensive tasks playing as wingbacks.
Playing counter-attack whit 5-3-2 comes very useful sometimes.

4-5-1
It is a defensive formation. Teams play it when they are aiming to draw, maybe 0-0. But it’s transformable, too, if you throw the side midfielders into wing position. This kind of playing requires having playmaker in the center of the midfield.
Liverpool in 2005 CL used this formation with Gerard playing as playmaker. Next season Arsenal appeared to be very successful with this tactic too, and Fabregas was the one to play as playmaker.

4-2-3-1
Fabio Capello used variation of this tactic when leading Real Madrid to their 30th Primera title in 2007, but instead of having playmaker behind the whole midfield line, AM was positioned to be a lonely striker. Last 2 men of the midfield (Emerson and Diarra) had more defensive roles and were mainly used to crush opponent’s attacks.

Catenaccio (5-4-1)
This is the most defensive formation ever used in football. Invented from Italian teams in the 60’s this was most the crushing style of playing with minimum goals scored and totally unattractive matches to watch. Therefore critics, it showed off as a very successful tactic and lineup. Milan and Inter won many matches and titles with “Catenaccio” in the 60’s.
Nowadays Catenaccio has usage too: Cameroon won the opening 1990 WC game against Argentina with it; Italy in Euro 2000 under Dino Zoff; Greece won Euro 2004 with extremely defensive play and using counter-attacks; etc.

Future formations

In the future it’s almost clear that there will not be these classic symmetrical formations. Teams will be playing with winger on the left and defensive forward right of the central forward, for example. Maybe the defensive line will be reorganized. Ex. If opponent team has no player on the right side of the attack, there will not be necessity of left back. He can be pushed forward to help creating chances for the team. Features of this kind of formations are viewable even now. One of these “one-armed” teams was Argentina in the Copa Libertadores in 2007 with Riquelme playing on the left.

Here are some formations and lineups made from my friends:

Marinic – Serie A analyst

GK Iker Casillas
RB Javier Zanetti
CD Philippe Mexès
CD Nemanja Vidić
LB Cristian Chivu
DM Steven Gerrard
RM Cristiano Ronaldo
AM Franck Ribéry
LM Robinho
SS Wayne Rooney
CF Luca Toni

Sasho – Zver (football fan)

GK Iker Casillas
RB Sergio Ramos
CD John Terry
CD Alessandro Nesta
LB Ashley Cole
CM Cesc Fàbregas
RM Cristiano Ronaldo
LM Wesley Sneijder
AM Kaka
FW Wayne Rooney
FW Lionel Messi

Globus – Betting advisor

GK Petr Čech
D Marco Materazzi
D John Terry
D Nemanja Vidić
D Ricardo Carvalho
CM Kaka
CM Wesley Sneijder
RW Cristiano Ronaldo
AM Ronaldinho
FW Goran Pandev
FW Thierry Henry

Goran - Betting advisor

GK Petr Čech
RB Daniel Alves
CD Rio Ferdinand
CD John Terry
LB Patrice Evra
DM Gennaro Gattuso
CM Cesc Fàbregas
RW Cristiano Ronaldo
AM Franck Ribéry
FW Fernando Torres
FW Karim Benzema

Zlatko – football analyst

GK Iker Casillas
CD Rio Ferdinand
CD John Terry
CD Kolo Touré
RWB Sergio Ramos
LWB Patrice Evra
DM Cesc Fàbregas
DM Steven Gerrard
RW Cristiano Ronaldo
SS Wayne Rooney
CF Ruud van Nistelrooy

And finally – My favorite lineup:

GK Iker Casillas
RB Sergio Ramos
CD Carlos Puyol
CD John Terry
LB Ashley Cole
CM Cesc Fàbregas
CM Steven Gerrard
CM Xavi
SS Lionel Messi
SS Robinho
CF Ruud van Nistelrooy

credits

So, I hope you liked this post, and feel free to put some comments about your best formation and lineup

Football injuries

2008-03-05T03:51:00.001+01:00

Recent injuries of Ronaldo and Eduardo da Silva made me thinking that injuries are the worst thing that can happen to a football player. Will they come back in the fields?
Well, Arsenal’s Eduardo’s injury was really bad and saving his left foot was doctor’s success. He will be able to walk in few months, but it’s only a question if will he play football again.
Ronaldo had bad knee injury less than 2 weeks before Eduardo. But if Eduardo (age 25) still has possibilities to continue his football career, Ronaldo’s chances are much smaller, coz he is 31.
Unfortunately, many players were forced to end active playing and many others never retrieved the form they had before. Even if the injury has been completely healed the formerly injured player feel “posttraumatic fear” that can be noticed through his performance.
But, there were situations in the past when the badly injured player recovered from the injury and came back on the pitch with brilliant appearances.
In the “Pele” era Brazil won three World Cups - “58,”62 and “70. One is missing. In the 1966 Pele got a bad blow and he missed the most important match against Hungary. Brazil lost. Many people then, thought that Pele’s career was over, but he denied them and got back on the field with the same elegancy and magic. Brazil won the WC in 1970 again with him.
Similar accident happened to Maradona – also one of the best players of all time. He singed for Barcelona in “82 but his shine was eclipsed due to an injury. He never showed the best of him and he moved in Italy to play for Napoli. He raised the club high and led them to the victory in the UEFA cup in “89. Maradona also won the WC with Argentina in “86.
Latest example of all is Ronaldo. In his early days he showed his great potential. By many, Ronaldo spent the time of his life playing for Barcelona, and then he moved to Italy. First year spent in Inter brought him a title in the UEFA cup.
In 1999 and 2000 Ronaldo went injured twice. Hard trainings resulted with knee ligament injury and he missed the season after. Later that season, Ronaldo ruptured his knee again and it was obviously the end of his career in Inter.
In the 2002 Ronaldo won the World Cup with Brazil, the record he didn’t managed to achieve in 1998. He was most influential player in the Carioca squad, also. Already transferred to Real Madrid, Ronaldo kept playing in high level. He won the FIFA Player of the year prize and he won the Spanish Primera that season, which he failed to win with Barcelona.
In 2007 Ronaldo was transferred to Milan and kept playing on high level. Unfortunately on Feb. 13 Ronaldo’s knee cracked down again. After successfully surgery, the doctors said he will be all right, but they are not sure is he going to play football again. Its bad way to finish someone’s career, especially someone’s like Ronaldo.

Nicknames of football teams and players

2008-02-24T02:58:00.004+01:00

A lot of football teams and players around the world nave nicknames and few of them are even more known by their nicknames than their real names. For example, one of the best players of all times was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but he was wide known as Pele. “Pele” came from the wrong pronunciation of Bile’ (which meant goalkeeper those days). Actually Pele wanted to become goalkeeper in his early days and that’s why he called himself Bile’.

One of his teammates in the national team of Brazil and in the same time one of the best players in the world was Manoel dos Santos, but very, very much known as Garincha. Garincha is a small bird that lives in Brazil and Manoel used to hunt this kind of birds when he was a little boy.

So, national teams, clubs, fan clubs and players have their nicknames. Some of the team nicknames are given because of their club colors like NT of Italy – Azzurri which means Blues, France national team is also called “Les Bleus” because of their club colors, “Oranje” is the nickname of Netherlands team and Spanish national squad is called La Furia Roja (The red fury).
Often named by their club colors are some Italian teams like: A.C. Milan – Rossoneri, Inter – Neroazzurri. Juventus are called Bianconeri but also “La Vecchia Signora” which means old lady. You may ask why lady, but not gentleman. That’s because "Juventus" (Youth) is a Latin word of feminine gender and “old” because it’s one of the oldest clubs in Italy, of course. Roma are called Wolves because of the legend of Rome.
In Spain most popular club nicknames are “Los Merengues” – for Real Madrid and “Blaugrana” for Barcelona. Blaugrana in Spanish means blue and deep red color and Merengue is a delicious and very expensive dessert in Spain and only the wealthiest can afford it. In the era of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Beckham, Real Madrid was also called “Los Galacticos” because of their big names and all the fame around them. You can find somewhere “Los Blancos” which refers on Real Madrid too because of their all white uniforms. Atletico Madrid’s nickname is “Colchoneros”, name given because of their red and white stripes which reminds of the old-fashioned mattresses. Villareal is “The Yellow Submarine” coz of their yellow shirts and their mascot “Groguet” who is dressed all yellow and has submarine head. Racing Santander are “Montañeses” which means highlanders.
English clubs has their nicknames too. Manchester United is often called Red Devils for their red shirts and their city rivals Manchester City are called simply The Citizens. Arsenal nickname is Gunners and Newcastle’s nickname Magpies is about their black shirts. Tottenham Hotspur is simply called Spurs and Chelsea is called London Blues, of course, because of their all blue uniforms.
From the other popular nicknames of the famous clubs we can mention Bayern Munich who were called F.C. Hollywood in the “90s coz the club was full of stars. Monaco is sometimes called The Princes because Monaco is not a part of French republic and it’s constituted as principality.

Some famous football player’s nicknames:
Zinedine Zidane – Zizou
Paul Gascoigne – Gazza
Kevin Keegan – Mighty Mouse
Ruud Gullit – "Il Tulipo Nero" (The black tulip)
Eusebio – The Black Panther
Ferenc Puskas – The Galloping Major
Alfredo di Stefano – "La Saeta Rubia" (The Blond Arrow)
Gerd Muller – Bomber
Franz Beckenbauer – Der Kaiser
Lev Yashin - The Black Spider (a goalkeeper with fantastic anticipation)
Del Piero – Pinturicchio
Di Livio – Little Soldier
Batistuta – Bati-goal
Ruud van Nistelrooy – Ruud van Goal
Dragan Stojkovic - Piksi

So if you know any other nicknames, please put a comment with it.

Football quotes

2008-02-21T05:00:00.009+01:00

Those guys sometimes can be very funny! Some of them said:

“We lost because we didn't win.” - Ronaldo

“I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona.” - Mark Draper

“I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier.” - Ugo Ehiogu

“I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on the screen that George Ndah had scored in the first minute at Birmingham. My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he was out there playing.” - Ade Akinbiyi

“The opening ceremony was good, although I missed it.” - Graeme Le Saux

“It was like the ref had a brand new yellow card and wanted to see if it worked.” - Richard Rufus

“I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country.” - Ian Rush

"Italy cannot beat you but you can lose to Italy." - Johan Cruijff

“I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.” - Mark Viduka

"The philosophy of a lot of European teams, even in home matches, is not to give a goal away." -Sir Alex Ferguson

“The Brazilians were South America, and the Ukranians will be more European.” - Phil Neville

“Sometimes in football you have to score goals.” - Thierry Henry

“I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable.”
- Paul Gascoigne

"I think that France, Germany, Spain, Holland and England will join Brazil in the semi-finals." - Pele

"I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well." -Alan Shearer

"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol; it was the worst 20 minutes of my life." – George Best

“My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7.” - David Beckham

“Winning doesn't really matter as long as you win.” - Vinny Jones

“I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock.” - Barry Venison

"As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend. There was only one team looking to win, they only came not to concede - it’s not fair for the football we played." – Jose Mourinho

Car football

2008-02-17T22:09:00.001+01:00

Football is a game mainly played by people using their leg, head, chest and sometimes their hands. But this video will show you that football can be played even with cars. Look at this funny video:

Funny pictures

2008-02-16T03:46:00.009+01:00

Who do they look like? Are some pictures of the people around football funny?

Italian referee Pierluigi Colina and Hartbeat's little helper Morph

English coach Martin Jol and Don Tony from Sopranos

Peter Crouch & Timmy from South Park

Carlos Tevez & America Ferrera (TV star from the Ugly Betty)

Phil Neville and Addams family’s Uncle Fester

Fabio Capello & Craig David from Bo Selecta
:))

The 2006 Serie A scandal - "Calciopoli"

2008-02-11T04:37:00.000+01:00

So, how many titles Juventus won? 28? Nope. Juventus actually won 29 Scudettos but in the 2006 Serie A scandal they lost two of them.

So, officially Juventus are holders of 27 Calcio Serie A titles what makes them still the leaders of this competition. A. C. Milan is second with 17 and Inter third with 15 titles.

Well, Juvents won the Scudetto in 2004/05 and 2005/06 season but in the “Calciopoli” scandal in 2006 they lost those 2 titles and were relegated to Serie B plus starting with 9 points negative. And what was Calciopoli all about?

In May 2006 Italian police exposed evidence for match fixing in the professional football league Serie A. Teams involved were Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan and Reggina. The police intercepted calls between officials of those teams and the referees who were appointed to their matches. The process begun immediately and the prosecutor demanded relegation “lower than Serie B” (what means C1) for Juventus and relegation to Serie B for the rest of the teams.
At the end of the trial drama, Italian Football Federation came up with these decisions:
- Juventus - Relegated to Serie B and starting with 9 points negative in the next (2006/07) season. Their 2005 and 2006 title taken off (last one given to Inter F.C.)
- A.C. Milan – Brought down on the table from 2nd to 3rd place (enough to qualify for the next season’s Champions League) and starting with only 8 points negative in the 2006/07 season.
- Fiorentina – Lowered from 4th to 9th place and 15 points negative for the next season.
- Lazio – Inclined from 6th to 16th place and starting with only 3 points less.

Other consequences: Inter earned 2005/06 Scudetto on the “green table” and Roma made their way to the Champions League.

See the full table

Juventus, champion’s team led by Capello due to relegation to Serie B was crashed! The team lost their coach and some of their best players like Cannavaro (FIFA World Player of the year), Ibrahimovic, Emerson, Zambrotta, Vieira, Thuram and others. Yes! They deserved it!
Milan did not enter the Champions League directly, but they qualified for it however.
Fiorentina and Lazio avoided relegation.
What is the most curious Italy became World Champion the same year!

See club punishments

So, what you think? Did everybody involved in this drama get what deserved?
Is match fixing in the world’s top leagues OK by you?

Well, this is what I think:
According to the football laws, everything is OK and the justice came up in front! Juventus, the team with most charges got relegated one level lower. The rest of the teams dropped few places lower on the table and started with negative points next season.
But!
If Italian Football Federation took off 5 more points to Milan they wouldn’t qualify for the CL (Remember: Milan won this competition next season). Four points less to Lazio and they wouldn’t see Serie A matches for next season etc…
Oh, I forgot to mention that Inter got Scudetto for free :)
And where those cheater clubs should be?
They ALL should be out of Serie A!
Match fixers! Cheaters! Out!

Many people will disagree with me. They will say: Who I’m gonna watch in Serie A? Catania, Monza, AlbinoLeffe?
I will say yes! Better lower-quality but “clean” team, rather than cheaters!

Feel free to leave me comments on this story, your point of view etc. There’s no captcha code or registration!
Thanks for reading this story!

Amazing football facts

2008-02-07T20:10:00.000+01:00

Did you know… (part II)

In 1950 India withdrew form the World Cup because FIFA refused to let their team play barefoot.

In 1954 Turkey knocked out Spain from during a World Cup qualifier by drawing straws. Blindfolded Italian boy Luigi Franco Gemma picked the straws to decide the winner.

There was a game in 1945, while Arsenal was playing Moscow a dense fog suddenly rolled onto the field. The referee didn’t want to reschedule the game because visiting team came from a very far distance. The game soon got out of hand. A player from the Russian team was sent off the field, but snuck back on the field and wasn't spotted in the fog. The Russian's were suspected of having 15 players on instead of 11. The goalie from the Russian team ran into the goal post and was knocked unconscious. A spectator ran onto the field and filled in for the rest of the game.

In 1996 George Weah paid for his teammates uniforms and expenses so that Liberia could enter the African Nations Cup.

Football goalies didn't have to wear different colored shirts from their teammates until 1913.

Jean Langenus of Belgium wore a suit jacket, golfing plus fours and a red striped tie when he refereed the 1930 World Cup final.

In the 1938 World Cup semifinal, Giuseppe Meazza of Italy's shorts fell down as he was taking a penalty shot. He held his shorts up and calmly scored past Brazil's Valter.

In 1998 English referee Martin Sylvester sent himself off after punching a player during a game in the Andover and District Sunday League.

Luigi Riva once broke the arm of a spectator with one of his powerful shots.

Under Herbert Chapman, The Arsenal changed their name to simply Arsenal in order to appear at the top of the alphabetical list of old Division One clubs.

In 1999 Leganes coach Enrique Martin received a ten game ban for running down an opposition player who was clean through on goal.

On soccer field in Brazil there was a small bird (called a lap wig). The bird was flying over the field and reflected the winning shot with 3 minutes left in the game.

Manchester United was first known as Newton Heath. They changed their name in 1902.

In 1997 Nigerian international Celestine Babayaro broke his leg while celebrating a goal in his Chelsea debut during a preseason game.

Non-flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp's fear of flying caused him to miss many international and European games for Arsenal.

When Fernando d'Ercoli (team Pianta) was given a red card in a game, he became so mad that he snatched the card from the referee and ate it.

When Mike Bagley (of Bristol) was written up for swearing, he got so mad at the referee that he took his notebook and ripped out the page, and ate it!

50 Years after the tragedy

2008-02-06T04:16:00.000+01:00

On 6 February 6, 1958, one of the most tragic accidents in football happened. British European Airways Flight 609 carrying Manchester United team, crashed near Munich. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers died. Nine of the victims were players of the famous Man. Utd. generation known as Busby Babes…
Manchester was playing a second leg Champions Cup game against Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade. Next day they were coming back in England after qualifying for the semi finals of the competition. The plane landed in Munich for refueling. After 2 unsuccessful attempts to take-off, the pilot made his last, fatal attempt. The frozen runway lowered the speed of the plane and it crashed near after the taking-off.
The team that was destined to conquer Europe was destroyed... Their families left with their hearts full of pain…

Read more

Wikipedia article about the accident

Records and achievements

2008-02-03T06:26:00.000+01:00

Did you know ...

The first televised game was an Arsenal practice match at the Highbury ground in 1937.

The largest attendance for a football match ever was 199,854 people - Brazil vs. Uruguay in the World Cup at the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, July 1950.

The most goals scored by one player in a single football match was 16 - Stephan Stanis (France) playing for Racing Club de Lens in December 1942.

Based on video evidence, one of the fastest ever scored was in 2.8 seconds by Ricardo Olivera (Uruguay) in December 1998.

Diego Maradona was only 16 when he made his debut for Argentina.

Chris Woods once went 1196 minutes without conceding a goal while at Rangers, from between November 26 1986 and January 31 1987.

The biggest victory ever in a World Cup football match was between Yugoslavia and Zaire 9-0.

20 red cards were shown during a 1993 game between Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero in Paraguay.

Goalkeeper Arthur Wharton was the first black professional football player. He was born in Ghana (then Gold Coast) and played for English League team Rotherham United in 1889.

In 1957 with only 30 minutes remaining, Charlton Athletic game back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat Huddersfield Town 7-6.

Madagascan team Stade Olympique L'Emryne scored 149 own goals against champions AS Adema in 2002. They repeatedly scored own goals in protest of a refereeing decision in their previous game.

Sir Stanley Matthews never received a booking in his 33 year long career.

Michael Laudrup appeared for Real Madrid in a 5-0 win over Barcelona and also Barcelona when they beat Real Madrid 5-0.

Mexico was the first country to host the World Cup twice.

Ballon d'Or

2008-02-01T01:42:00.001+01:00

At the end of every calendar year, the French magazine “France Football” gives their award Ballon d’Or to the best player in Europe, and it’s one of the most prestigious awards worldwide.
In December, this prize was won by the Brazilian maestro Kaka for his performances playing for the European champion AC Milan. Kaka won the prize with 444 votes. But we all ask: Was Kaka the best? This award is always followed with controversy by people who watch football, football analyzers, coaches and reporters.
Runner-up for 2007 was C. Ronaldo with 277 votes, followed by Messi with 255 and Drogba who won 108 votes.

View all candidates

The magazine gives their award traditionally every year since 1956. Stanley Matthews form Blackpool was the first winner, back in “56
In 2006 Fabio Cannavaro won this prize and it was, unfortunately, one of the most controversial victories.
Historically, Juventus and Milan (its players) are leading with most victories among the clubs with 8 prizes, followed by Real Madrid (6), Bayern M. (5) and Barcelona(4), and Nederland and Germany are most winning nations, both with 7 titles. Johan Cruijff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten are players who won Ballon d’Or three times in their career.

See all winners

Zidane vs. Materazzi

2008-01-29T06:03:00.000+01:00

Final of the World Cup 2006… Olympiastadion overcrowded – 69000 fans… Italy – France still 1-1 in the extra-time… Moment of weakness in the last match of his career… France led in the 7th minute after Zidane scored from the penalty. Italy leveled 12 minutes latter after Materazzi’s header. It was 1-1 at the end of regular 90 minutes and the match proceeded in the extra time. In the 110th minute Zinedine Zidane kicked Materazzi after being provoked and insulted, and got himself sent-off. Italy became world champions latter that night. What made him so angry? No, we are not going to answer this question, but we will see this moment from some different angle: Extraordinary video remix by Superpan05. Don’t miss this one!

Hattrick - The best online football manager!

2008-01-25T20:33:00.001+01:00

Hattrick is a game where you get to lead a virtual football team to glory, in competition with other participants all over the world. You perform the duties of both a club owner and manager. You buy and sell players, invest the club's money in utilities like a bigger stadium, or in the youth squad. You select a team from the players who are in top form at the time, plan your tactics before the next match, decide on what sort of training is needed, and much, much more...

Try it

Also, there is great site of the Macedonian Hattrick community. Visit Maktrick

"Makedonija naviva za vas"

2008-01-23T19:37:00.000+01:00

The new Macedonian football anthem sang by Macedonian pop icon – Tose Proeski, who died tragically few months ago in a car accident…
Watch this video made by CekoMK with all the best moments of the Macedonian national team. The anthem is in the background…

The UEFA Champions League

2008-01-21T17:48:00.000+01:00

Originally founded in 1955 Union of European Football Associations – UEFA, created the elite club’s competition named European Cup. Every European league champion entered the next season’s Cup finals in hope to bring the prestigious title – Champion of Europe. The most dominating team is Real Madrid with 9 titles, followed by Milan with 7 and Liverpool with 5 trophies.
In 1992 the UEFA Champions Cup was renamed to Champions League, due to a change of the format of the competition. Today Champions League is top quality competition where the best European clubs are playing and offers the most entertaining games!

See some CL action:

The official UEFA web site

Football betting – largest source of money

2008-01-20T18:45:00.000+01:00

The last extra-profit of football is made from taking the money from the ordinary people – By betting!
Yes, here are the largest profits. The wealthiest deal signed in football today is between Real Madrid and BWin. It costs amazing 21.5 million € per season! Now, there are so many people who would like to take chances by guessing the winner of the match, goals scored, and a lot of different games which are offered at online betting sites.

bwin William Hill Sky Bet

If you want some useful betting advice, try these sites:
BetPlace ProSoccer Sigurica

Football commercials

2008-01-20T17:48:00.000+01:00

The 90’s are the last period of football era when players were only football players. Their mega popularity and pretty faces started to sell product of random companies by shooting commercials. Pepsi, Adidas and Nike are leading top-profitable companies which made money from those football commercials. These are some best made Pepsi commercials where actors are football stars:

Also, Adidas made some perfect football commercials:

And two Nike commercials:

Shirt sponsors and TV rights

2008-01-20T16:04:00.000+01:00

In the “80’s big investments in football were made by some of the leading world companies like: Parmalat, Pirelli, Sharp, Opel, JVC, Carlsberg etc… Those companies “bought” a commercial space at the front of the kits and become “shirt sponsors” of those clubs. Later, many other big companies placed their investments in football. Top companies like: Fiat, Audi, Toyota, Tamoil, Siemens, Samsung, LG, Sony, Sega, AIG, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Tele+, Sky Sport, Fly Emirates, O2 and many, many others. After the magnificent success of these sponsors, football was never again the old recreational game. It became great way of making money.

The next level of making money in football became TV rights. Those big, rich, and successful clubs became very attractive because they had the best players of the world. The largest stadiums in the early 90’s could attend approximately 50.000 – 80.000 visitors, but it was not enough. Football was already extra popular around Europe and the world. Then, the largest TV media came on the stage. The clubs and the leagues started to sell TV rights to the leading broadcasting companies. Football was in everyone’s home.

First investments in football

2008-01-19T21:14:00.000+01:00

In the 50’s the basic point of football started turning around, and Real Madrid was the club who made the first investments. They bought few of the best players of those days, like Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas and deservedly reached the top of Europe. After Real Madrid, more European clubs made investments in football and that resulted with raising the level of European football. Despite the fact that those days South America’s clubs had outstanding players, even more than European clubs, they started to lose the step with the European clubs because of the economical difference.

The biggest European clubs, in the years afterward became “football industry”, because the largest world companies became their sponsors, investing a lot of money in the club’s treasuries. First, the sportswear companies started campaigns for dressing the team players, so sportswear companies like ADIDAS, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Umbro etc. spent a lot of money investing. By some calculations, it paid off, and that was the reason for more and more investments.

Short history of football

2008-01-19T20:44:00.000+01:00

A lot of people will ask: When and where are the beginnings of the game called football (soccer)? Who is the first football club ever? Who is the scorer of the first goal in the football history? Or maybe, why is football so popular today? Is it just a game?

Unfortunately, many of these questions will stay unanswered…

From what is known, we can note that by most theories, Great Britain is the homeland of football, and the first football club founded was Sheffield F.C. in 1857
The first official international match was played in 1872 between England and Scotland and this game finished goalless.
More about the history of football can be found here

Football kept developing and spread in all European countries by the end of the 19th century. Many of the best clubs today were assembled during the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century (Manchester Utd. in 1878, Liverpool F.C. in 1892, Juventus in 1897, Barcelona F.C. in 1899, A.C. Milan in 1899, F.C. Bayern Munich in 1900, Real Madrid C.F. in 1902, F.C. Inter in 1908 etc.)

Great step ahead for football was the establishment of the International Football Federation - FIFA in Paris on 21 May 1904. FIFA organized the World Cup in 1930 which was held in Uruguay. The host nation also won the World Cup. It became tradition and the WC was held every for years. Read more about history of the WC
Another leap forward was foundation of the European football association named UEFA in 1955 and according to that, the same year UEFA started off today’s most prestige club competition – The Champions Cup (in 1992 renamed to Champions League). First winner was Real Madrid, who was dominating club those days with 5 consecutive trophies. See all winners