Player profile – Goran Pandev

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

“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).

Football injuries

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

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.

The 2006 Serie A scandal - "Calciopoli"

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!

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Thanks for reading this story!