Últimas noticias del fútbol mundial

Club Brugge vs. Juventus 1:2 (0:0)

Goal scorers: Yulu-Matondo 85′ – Nedved 66′, Trezeguet 75′.

In an amazing match that was completely one sided with Juventus having a great number of 100% chances but simply couldn’t break Club Brugge’s excellent goalkeeper Stijn Stijnen who with the performance he presented this evening fully deserves to stand between the posts instead of Croat goalkeeper Tomislav Butina on the Belgium’s team next match. The bare fact that the Italian giant had even 11 shots on goal and 26 in total while the home side made 7 out of which one was aiming the goal which even entered says it all.

The opening was very hard on the home side, Pavel Nedved had two excellent chances and then Trezeguet shot directly in the goalkeeper from just a few meters range when he was standing alone in front of Stijnen. Simply the 24 year old goalkeeper didn’t even have a time to catch a new breath but he defended his sheet well and kept it untouched until the 66th minute.

Then six minutes after an hour of the game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was fouled outside the area, and Nedved took out a free kick that gone past the wall and drilled in the right side of the goal for the long waited 0:1 goal. The young Swedish international had a 100% chance as well when he came in the box from the right and waited just like four meters away from Stijnen but he also as Trezeguet struck the ball directly on the goalkeeper and that made him miss a great opportunity to sign his name in the score sheet.

Less than ten minutes later Trezeguet finally struck the back of the net and made it 0:2. The Frenchman received a pass by Mauro Camoranesi in 75th minute and beaten Stijnen with a well taken lob shot after a diagonal run. Right away Ibrahimovic who had most of the chances in this duel could have increased the Old Lady’s advantage but again the Belgium goalkeeper was a too big obstacle to go around and score.

Five minutes before the end Club Brugge succeeded to get their consolation goal (1:2) when Yulu-Matondo headed the ball past Christian Abbiati after connecting on Jonothan Blondel loose ball.

Line ups

Club Brugge: Stijnen, de Cock, Maertens, Spilar, Valgaeren (de Oliveira 74′), Vanaudenaerde, Englebert, Vermant (Leko 84′), Portillo (Blondel 52′), Balaban, Yulu-Matondo.

Juventus: Abbiati, Cannavaro, Kovac, Zambrotta, Blasi, Camoranesi (Giannichedda 89′), Emerson, Nedved, Vieira, Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet (Zalayeta 89′).

Rapid Vienna vs. Bayern Munchen 0:1 (0:0)

Goal scorer: Guerrero 60′.

This is a kind of a match that could have gone either way. While Rapid had the best of counter-attacks especially at the end of the first half, Bayern Munchen had most of the ball possession and far more shots on the goal.

Moments before the half time break Rapid’s captain Steffen Hofmann if quicker could have slotted the ball home but he failed to reach the cross and Oliver Kahn was safe. The same thing happened just before the referee announced the end of the first half, but this time the spotlight was over Marek Kincl who picked up a cross from Axel Lawaree but the Czech only blasted the ball over the crossbar.

Fifteen minutes in the second half Bayern ball possession finally paid of and the Peruvian striker Jose Paolo Guerrero struck the only goal of the match when he picked up a rebound from Roy Makaay’s header and shipped the ball past Helge Payer for 0:1.

Rapid could have scored the equalizer and they had the best opportunity to do so eight minutes before the final whistle when the referee awarded them a penalty because of a foul over Muhammet Akagunduz as the home side defender Jozef Valachovic missed the entire goal.

After the match Bayern’s chief in charge Felix Magath said that he feared for three points until the very last minute while his colleague on the home side bench Josef Hickersberger admitted that despite the missed penalty the Germans deserved to win.

Line ups

Rapid Vienna: Payer, Adamski, Dober, Valachovic, Bejbl, Hlinka, Hofmann, Ivanschitz (Dollinger 84′), Korsos (Korsos 65′), Kincl, Lawaree (Lawaree 74′).

Bayern Munchen: Kahn, Ismael, Lizarazu (Demichelis 52′), Lucio, Sagnol, Hargreaves, Scholl, Schweinsteiger (Deisler 83′), Ze Roberto, Makaay, Pizarro (Guerrero 52′).

Sparta Praha vs. Ajax Amsterdam 1:1 (0:0)

Although the Dutch giant completely controlled this match and had more than the game, with 72% of the ball possession and even 26 shots on Jaromir Blazek’s goal the home side held of their enemy’s and even got into the lead in 66th min after what they even had a chance to keep all three points but a late goal by Wesley Sneijder earned a point for Daniel Blind’s crew, deserved or not, they took it back to Amsterdame.

The match started with Aajax having most of the chances, Sneijder was the first to put Blazek on a test but the Czech’s goalkeeper was on top of his tasks what he proven on seven more occasions throughout the match but they are not important right now, as the only thing that counts are goals.

And the first goal fell in 66th minute when the Czech substitute Miroslav Matusovic fired a shot from way outside the box and drilled the ball in the left top corner of Hans Vonk’s goal after he picked up a lose ball. This of course cut Ajax in half and the Dutch tried to kick back but everything they have did didn’t give any result until the very last minute.

Then from out of Blue Wesley Sneijder got provided with a ball from Ryan Babel in 91st min struck the ball into the top left corner to beat Jaromir Blazek for 1:1 that ensured his side one point what seems great for the Dutch now despite the fact that with the chances they had it was obvious that Ajax could have bagged all three.

Line ups

Sparta Prague: Blazek, Kadlec, Lukas, Petras, Pospech, Kisel, Poborsky, Polacek (Dosek 79′), Sivok, Zelenka, Slepicka (Matusovic 49′).

Ajax Amsterdam: Vonk, Emanuelson, Grygera, Trablesi, Babel, Galasek (Heitinga 90′), Lindenbergh, Maduro, Pienaar (Rosales 81′), Sneijder, Rosenberg (Charisteas 76′).

Arsenal vs. FC Thun 2:1 (0:0)

Goal scorers: Gilberto Silva 51′, Bergkamp 91′ – Ferreira 53′.

Despite the fact that Arsenal had the control of this game they were on verge of sharing points with the Swiss representative until the very last minute when «grandpa» Denis Bergkamp who entered the game from the bench took things in his own hands (read feet) and scored the second goal for the Gunners.

And the man (boy) who will be marked as the guilty one for this match not going more smoothly will be the Dutch troublemaker Robin Van Persie who completely unnecessary earned a red card in 45th min for a highly raised foot and arguing with the referee and by that cost the English giant with his appearance in at least next two or three matches, and with Thierry Henry out Arsen Wenger wont take that so lightly.

Still even with one man down Arsenal succeeded to score first, Jose Antonio Reyes took out a corner kick in the 52nd minute and Gilberto Silva rose above everyone to head the ball in the net of Thun’s goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic for 1:0.

But it didn’t take the guests a long time to level the score because just one minute later Kolo Toure made and error and presented Thun’s Nelson Ferreira with a ball which the 23 year old Portuguese youngster gladly accepted and shipped the ball over him and Arsenal’s goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to level the result on 1:1.

Until the game the home side of course did everything possible to repair the score in their advantage but only thanks to Bergkamp they made it and won all three points. The Dutch veteran won the ball at the edge of the penalty area from Ljubo Milicevic and struck it past Jakupovic to regain his team’s advantage for Arsenal to win all three points.

Line ups

Arsenal: Almunia, Campbell, Cole, Lauren, Toure, Fabregas (Bergkamp 73′), Ljungberg (Hleb 81′), Pires, Reyes (Abeyie 81′), Silva, van Persie.

Thun: Jakupovic, Ferreira, Goncalves, Hodzic, Milicevic, Orman, Aegerter, Bernardi, Gerber (Vieira 72′), Pimenta (Souza 57′), Lustrinelli (Faye 87′).

Udinese vs. Panathinaikos 3:0 (1:0)

Goal scorer: Iaquinta 28′, 73′, 76′.

This was a historic game for Udinese and of course the hat-trick scorer Vicenzo Iaquinta who marked his team’s first UEFA Champions League appearance with a great hat-trick with what he earned Udine their first win in the most elite European club competition.

Although Panathinaikos started the match better the Italian representative picked up pace after 20th min when they realized that the Greeks and Champions League aren’t some forbidden taboo but that football is being played in this competition as well, and from then on it took them just eight minutes to beat Mario Galinovic.

So it was Vicenzo Iaquinta who rose above the rest to connect to Damiano Zenoni’s cross and head the ball perfectly from 10 meter distance that beat the Croatian goalkeeper and handed Udinese a 1:0 lead.

For those who don’t know what kind of a team Panathinaikos have, here’s a little info. It’s not just another anonymous team that by some mistake qualified for the Champions League. The Greeks came a long way to make a crew of well experienced players such as Igor Biscan, Ezequiel Gonzalez, Mikael Nilsson, Giannis Goumas and unlucky for them they weren’t able to field Fabio Conceicao and Emanuel Olisadebe or maybe the result would have been different.

But it wasn’t and in the second half Udinese struck two more goals and put an end to all Panathinaiko’s hopes to make a good result in Italy. Of course both times the scorer was the excellent Iaquinta who netter 13 goals in the past season and 11 in one before.

First the 25 year old escaped the offside trap in 73rd minute and made his way around the goalkeeper to slot his second and then three minutes later after accepting a ball with his back towards Galinovic’s goal what of course forced him to twist around and ship the ball in the bottom corner to sign in his hat-trick from a very strange and low goal-scoring profile situation.

Of course Udinese coach Serse Cosmi now feels like he’s on top of his words and the words that his win exceeded all his expectations confirmed it.

Line ups

Udinese: De Sanctis, Candela, Felipe, De Souza, Natali, Ali Muntari, Obodo (Pinzi 68′), Vidigal, Zenoni, Iaquinta, Di Natale (Di Michele 80′).

Panathinaikos: Galinovic, Goumas, Kotsios, Morris, Nilsson, Seric, Biscan, Charalambides (Gekas 70′), Gonzalez, Torghelle, Wooter (Leontiou 76′).

Werder Bremen vs. Barcelona 0:2 (0:1)

This was a very exciting match to watch and play. Both teams preformed a very attacking style of football and it was only a matter of luck and «touch» who will take away all three points, and although the home side tried their best and had a load full of chances fate has been on the side of the Catalonian giant and all three points gone to Barcelona.

The home side conceded the first goal after thirteen minutes of the game when Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o combined in Werder’s box that ended up in Cameroonian sending the ball to Portuguese international at the edge of the box from where the former FC Porto playmaker’s effort was slightly deflected by Petri Pasanen but enough to fool Andreas Reinke and earn Barcelona their leading goal.

After this the Werder was a better side with Ivan Klasnic, Nelson Valdez, Torsten Frings having series of chances plus Johan Micoud hitting the post but Barca did not only hit the post too through Deco, they even scored the second goal after the referee pointed out to the spot kick because of Christian Schulz who made a foul over Leo Messi.

The taker was Ronaldinho and the Brazilian didn’t give a chance to Reinke but fired a fierce shot in the left side that the German had no chance of defending even if he was on the right place the ball would probably just pick him up and drag him in how powerful it was.

At the end Werder probably earned a draw at least but hey in football you don’t always get what you deserve…

Line ups

Werder Bremen: Reinke, Naldo, Pasanen, Schulz, Baumann (Jensen 63′), Borowski, Frings, Micoud, Owomoyela, Klasnic, Valdez (Hunt 83′).

Barcelona: Valdes, Belletti (Edmilso 45′), Marquez, Oleguer, Puyol, Deco, Giuly (Messi 66′), van Bronckhorst, Xavi (van Bommel 79′), Eto’o, Ronaldinho.

Villarreal vs. Manchester United 0:0

With two teams like Villarreal and Manchester United facing one another someone would think like a rain of goals would drop in that clash but both goalkeepers remained unbeaten despite the fact that the English representative was with one man down from 64th minute because of a stupid move by Wayne Rooney who applauded sarcastically to the referee when the man in black shown him a yellow card, what earned him a second booking that meant automatic early shower for the English youngster.

As for the match itself it was more or less leveled. But lets start from the beginning, Villarreal’s chief Manuel Pellegrini started the match in 4-4-2 formation with Kromkamp and Arruabarrena having the tasks to work on defensive flanks take the ball from midfield to attack where they would let it loose to Hector or Sorin to employ either Forland or Guayre, meanwhile Sir Alex Ferguson started the game with a clear 4-4-2 formation with Rooney and Van Nistelrooy up fornt.

Already in the 6th minute Manchester United had a serious chance to score, when Ronaldo crossed the ball at the far post where it was welcomed by Scholes who unleashed a solid effort but the ball was blocked by Villarreals midfielder Josico. The English side threatened Barbosa’s goal in 18th min when Mikael Silvestre headed the ball towards the net after a corner kick in 18th min but Villarreal’s goalkeeper was equal to the challenge and preserved his cleen sheet.

By the end of the first half there were a couple of chances on both ends. In 37th min one Villareal had an excellent attempt through their flankmen Arruabarrena who fired a volley shot from just eight meters distance but Edwin van der Sar put up a terrific display and made a save. After that Manchester almost struck the opener through Ronaldo’s free kick that was inches away to get in the goal of the crossbar but gone narrowly wide and then in 41st min the home side cleared Ferdinand’s header of the goal line.

After the interval Juan Pablo Sorin slid the ball to Forlan perfectly on the left flank but former United’s striker failed to make use of it and his shot went wide. From then on Manchester had a few chances but the Red Devils gone silent from the moment Rooney got sent off.

In 77th min Senna made a run down the right side of the penalty area and employed Sorin with a low cross but the experienced Argentinean’s attempt was well held by van der Sar. And finally in 89th min Senna fired a shot that deflected of Ferdinand and if Villarreal was more fortunate the ball would finish in the goal instead of it clipping the crossbar before finding safety in the corner.

Overall this can be considered a failure for the home side who almost had a man more on the pitch for half an hour but didn’t manage to do nothing with that advantage.

Benfica vs. Lille 1:0 (0:0

Goal scorer: Miccoli 92′.

The Dutch coach Ronald Koeman was very lucky this evening as the whole army of Benfica fans was set to deliver him a series of insults with the game coming to its end but then out of the blue the loaned Italian striker from Juventus, Fabrizio Miccoli, appeared in Lille’s box and scored the winning goal for the Portuguese Champion.

«This was very lucky, but we deserved it after having more control in the second half during which we created a lot more opportunities than our guests,» said Koeman who also added that his team has gained good confidence with this win which he hope they will boost up already in the next league game and improve their table status.

On the other side Lille’s coach Claude Puel stated that he has nothing to blame on his players, that they played very well and showed that the «small guys» can do a lot of damage as well.

The only goal of the match was scored in the second minute of the stoppage time when ran onto Pedro Mantorras cross and somehow placed a head shot that beat Tony Silva for 1:0 home side win. After the game was finished the Italian forward said that he never scored a more difficult goal in his career.

Line ups

Benfica: Moreira, Leo, Luisao, Nelson, Rocha (Beraldo 45′), Fernandes, Geovanni (Mantorras 80′), Petit (Karagounis 67′), Simao, Nuno Gomes, Miccoli.

Lille: Sylva, Chalme, Plestan, Schmitz, Tafforeau, Bodmer, Cabaye, Dernis (Lichtsteiner 84′), Gygax (Debuchy 45′), Makoun, Moussilou (Odemwingie 71′).

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, sited at the Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and probably the most admired football club in the world, with over fifty million supporters worldwide. Manchester United Football Club is a world-famous English football club, with a capacity of over 76,000 and the highest average crowd in the league. Manchester United Football Club is perhaps the single thing for which the city of Manchester is most famed. The heritage of Manchester United football club is wonderful and most supporters have a real empathy to the club. Manchester has a tradition of excellence in sport. Manchester United Football Club is less than 2 from the University, first class cricket can be seen at Old Trafford, and Salford has one of the best Rugby League teams in the country, the renowned Salford Reds.

Football

Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world, and until recently had the top revenue of any football club for several years running. Nearly overnight, English football re-invented itself as a sensational sport with enormous commercial appeal. The enormous power and reach of television is turning football into one of the world’s most lucrative sports. The club is one of the most successful clubs in England, having won the FA Premier League/Football League fifteen times, FA Cup 11 times and the European Cup/UEFA Champions League twice.

Cup

They also became the first English teams to participate in the European Cup, at the request of the FA, who had denied Chelsea the same chance the previous season, and got as far as the semi-final, only to be knocked out by Real Madrid. Tragedy hit the following season, when the airplane transporting the team back from a European Cup match crashed on take-off at a refuelling stop in Munich, Germany. The plane skidded off the end of the runway, through a fence and into an empty home. Despite the accident, they reached the FA Cup final again, where they lost to Bolton Wanderers. Manchester United have won silverware on a frequent basis throughout their proud and thriving history and on the domestic front have won the both the old First Division Championship and the Premier League, the old Second Division, and the FA Cup and League Cup. By the time Matt Busby left in 69 United had won five First Division titles, 2 FA Cup Finals and of course became the first English team to win the European Cup in 68.

Fans

When Manchester United went to Thailand in 1997, 1000s of United fans went to the national stadium in Bangkok to see their heroes for real; but the closest most of The Clubs Asian supporters got to seeing their team is on national TV, where the whole English Premiership is promoted almost daily.

Up to 67,500 fans often pack into Old Trafford to see Manchester United play football. Like mentioned before, the biggest group of fans can be found in Asia. This has enabled Manchester United to make an interactive, on-line football society that will become the ultimate match and club experience for all its fans, on match days, during the build up, and then the after-match analysis. Maintaining their position could not have been done without the fans worldwide that have turned into United-consumers in the meantime. Of course, when in Manchester, Manchester United football club is one of the first things that jumps to mind for nearly everyone, so a visit to their stadium at Old Trafford is a frequent pilgrimage for fans.

Real Madrid president, Ramon Calderon announced that his newly signed Italian centre-back Fabio Cannavaro had won the prestigious Ballon D’Or, or Golden Ball, and was to replace Ronaldinho as the European Footballer of the year. This came to the surprise of many and rose more than a few eyebrows. Not, through the fact that Cannavaro had been the selection, far from it given his dominant displays during the World Cup, but due to the fact that the winner of the much hyped award is not actually announced until 27th November. Surely this means one of two things. The first of these is that France Football, the magazine that actually host the prize, have a mole in the camp and need to seriously bolster their security, alternatively Senor Calderon is living up to the traditions of the Madridistas and filling newspaper columns with self gratifying propaganda.

If it was a media frenzy that Calderon wanted, then he will be a happy man. Italian newspapers were not slow in announcing: «Cannavaro, it’s all true.» (Gazzetta dello Sport) and: «Golden Ball to Cannavaro.» (Corriere della Sera). Despite the excitable nature of the Italian media, it would appear that the issue is done and dusted. Which would change the purpose of this article from a preview of the front-runners, to a selection of the nearly men. However, the famous trophy is not yet causing the Italian skipper feng shui difficulties at chez Cannavaro and so I will continue with my initial intentions.

The Ballon D’Or was created in 1956 by France Football magazine. At a time when Europe had begun to come out from the hangover of World War II a decade earlier, and football was enjoying its progression as a worldwide game. The inaugural European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) was played out in the same year, and Stanley Matthews, the Blackpool winger was pronounced as Europe’s first Player of the Year. In the years that followed, the awards were dominated by the all conquering Madrid side, their forward Alfredo di Stefano claiming the title twice. The very idea of the award showed that football was now a sport that could bring people of different countries together, such an important factor when we consider that much of the continent had been a battlefield little over a decade before. Despite being held by France’s leading football publication, the award is based upon the considered opinion of journalists Europe-wide.

The award has been pretty evenly distributed around the leading lights of European club football over the years, Juventus lead the way with a total of eight winners (a total that could well have been further extended had the Calciopoli match fixing scandal not intervened), AC Milan (seven), Barcelona (six), Real Madrid (five) and Bayern Munich (five) all follow. Of course we must take into consideration that the award ceremony is traditionally held in November of every year, so many victorious players may well have been at new clubs at the time of the award, having earned the plaudits that lead to the prize at another side (both Luis Figo and Ronaldo are examples of this, having only moved to Madrid a few months prior to the presentation). The only major change in the award since it began came in 1995 when it was decreed that the winner need not be European in nationality himself, merely have his contract held by a club that comes under UEFA’s jurisdiction (much to the delight of the Liberian forward George Weah who took full advantage of the rule change in 1995).

An obvious start point for such an award would be to begin where we left off last year. The Brazilian Ronaldinho, who won last years award (to sit proudly on the mantelpiece next to his World Player of the Year award) to reconfirm him as being regarded as the planet’s finest player. The Barcelona man, by his very high standards, had a disappointing year. Despite adding the Champions League to his collection of medals, he was relatively below par in the World Cup (a competition that usually can be considered the deciding factor for the award) as his Brazilian side (and pre-tournament favourites) limped out in the quarter finals having been widely tipped to take a sixth title. Of his compatriots, only really Kaka’ shone in Germany and unfortunately the AC Milan forward ended the season medal-less despite enhancing his growing reputation as a force to be reckoned with in world football, and possible future winner of the award.

As we have previously examined, major tournaments often have a large impact on who is to be the recipient of the award. Take, for example, Ronaldo’s Ballon D’Or of 2002. Following yet another injury plagued season in Italy with Internazionale, el phenominon (as he is known by his adoring fans) turned it on in the Far East to help Brazil claim a fifth World Cup, scoring an incredible eight goals along the way and exorcised the some of the demons of his breakdown in the 1998 competition. Although many commented that surely seven games does not make a season, Ronaldo, who had since joined the Galacticos of Madrid, took the coveted prize.

From this theory, we can assume that this year’s victor will most likely hail from Italy. As previously mentioned, all of this talk is fairly irrelevant as Fabio Cannavaro has been, although as yet unconfirmed, declared by his club’s president as the winner. In reality, should this be the case, few could argue. The Italian captain was a lion in the heart of the formidable Italian defence that provoked headlines of ‘campione del mondo’ (‘champions of the world’) across the Mediterranean peninsula. However, the 33 year old former Juventus man is himself not getting as excited as his President (at least not before the famous ‘fat lady’ has had her moment). Cannavaro has said: «Of course I would like to win it. It would be wonderful and very gratifying on a personal level.»

As well as the Madrid man, Italy can boast strong claims for the award through both midfielder Andrea Pirlo and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Pirlo, during the previous season with Milan, and the World Cup with his nation, enhanced the reputation that he had, in his early career at least, threatened without ever achieving. Some superb displays in the heart of the Azzuri’s midfield raised Pirlo’s profile to be rated amongst the continent’s finest in his position, although lack of success on the domestic front may have cost him. More interesting though, is the calls for the award to be given to Gigi Buffon. The Juventus and Italy stopper has long been regarded as the finest in the World in his position. In Germany, Buffon further embellished this claim. Some heroic performances, most notably in the semi final against the hosts and his penalty saving performance to claim the trophy in the final, gave credence to him becoming only the second goalkeeper to win the award. In claiming the Ballon D’Or he would truly claim a place amongst the greats as the only other ‘number one’ to have won the award was the Russian Lev Yashin in 1963. He also has the support of Italy legend, and former European Footballer of the Year, Gianni Rivera. Upon hearing of Cannavaro’s premature victory, Rivera proclaimed: «I would have chosen Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon but if it is true that Fabio is to win it, I’m happy anyway.»

If the Golden Ball is to head to Italy, it will be the country’s forth winner after Rivera himself (1969), Paolo Rossi (1982) and Roberto Baggio (1993).

However, not all are in agreement that the award should be given to an Italian. Upon hearing Ramon Calderon’s claims, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reacted in typically defiant fashion: «Congratulations to Cannavaro if that’s the case,» Wenger said Friday. «But for me there’s only one candidate this year, it’s Thierry Henry. He just deserves it.

In retrospect, this is a fair argument. Henry appeared in both of the showpiece events in world football during 2006, and despite being on the losing side in both the World Cup and Champions League finals, getting to both is a testament to the man. Henry is widely regarded to have been the best striker in world football of the past few seasons. Consistently the English Premiership’s leading marksman and considered amongst the finest ever to have graced these shores, so perhaps, for once, Mr Wenger has seen something, he went onto say: «What does he have to do? Just to keep going. Sometimes you get rewarded at the moment where you expect it the least. That’s as well the sign of a superchamp.»

Other possible contenders are pretty thin on the ground. Samuel Eto’o of Barcelona was at his explosive best helping propel his side to titles in both La Liga and the Champions League, although not appearing in the summer’s festival of football due to Cameroon’s failure to qualify did not help his cause, as neither did the long term knee injury that will keep the striker out of action until the new year. The Portuguese midfielder Deco is another who has been mentioned in relation to the award. The diminutive string puller was considered to have been as, if not more, vital than Ronaldinho to Barcelona’s success last term. Another option, and one for the romantics, would be if the award was to go to Zinedine Zidane. The mercurial Frenchman finally hung up his golden boots during the summer after dragging his nation to the final. Some imposing performances from the one di Stefano dubbed ‘the maestro’ won Zizou the World Cup Golden Ball for being the tournament’s most outstanding player. However, we all know how it ended and, head-butts aside, the play-maker had a relatively poor season with Real Madrid.

With all considered, I feel I am largely discussing the competitors in a race already won. From a personal perspective I find this somewhat disappointing as it appears to be the closest competition for the award for some time. Not that I do not perceive Cannavaro a worthy winner, we have to go all the way back to Franz Beckenbauer in 1976 to find our last defender to have won the prize in a roll-of-honour dominated by players more accustomed to creating and scoring goals rather than stopping them. In this similar vein it would appear that given our three perceived favourites of Cannavaro, Buffon and Henry, only one is a striker. Perhaps a reflection upon the changing face of football? Perhaps merely a reflection of an Italian World Cup win? Either way, for me it is sad that such a prestigious award may not be announced with all of the pomp and ceremony that the eventual winner would undoubtedly deserve.

La Liga or La Liga BBVA is the top-level professional club football competition in Spain. It is considered one of the most popular as well as competitive domestic leagues throughout the world, with English Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 being other most viewed national leagues. Just like every football league in the world, La Liga is also guided by specific rules as prepared by the Spanish football authority in alignment with the FIFA guidelines. Let us now take a closer look at the La Liga rules for the non-EU players.

Rules for Non-European Players in La Liga

According to the rules in La Liga, a club playing in the top division Spanish football league is not allowed to recruit more than three non-EU players. The same figure is 2 for the second division football clubs (LigaAdelate). The clubs in the Segunda Division B are not allowed to recruit any non-EU player. The clubs relegated to the second or third division are, however, permitted to retain the non-EU players until their contracts expire.

According to a decision adopted by the Spanish Federation, the teams playing in La Liga and the second division football in the country should make an optimum use of the rules and construct their squads with the foreign payers as many as permissible by the authority.

Citizenship for Foreign Players

As per La Liga rules, the players can claim citizenship of Spain from their native lands. A non-European player can apply for Spanish citizenship. However, he must play for five years in Spain in order to be eligible for Spain citizenship. Furthermore, the players arriving from Caribbean, African and the Pacific counties (commonly referred to as ACP countries) are not included in the non-EU category due to the Kolpak Ruling.

Arsenal

From La Liga, we will head our way towards English Premier League side Arsenal. Fondly called as the Gunners, they are one of the most successful Premier League sides in England. Currently managed by Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have their own home ground at the Emirates Stadium. They have produced some of the big names in the world football and attracted several top-tier players to London.

Achievements by Arsenal

Arsenal has a good number of silverware in their collection. The club has won Premier League titles 13 times. They won their last Premier League title in 2004 and currently lead the league table to make it 14 in their profile. They have won FA Cup 12 times in their history and lifted FA Community Shield.

Arsenal honors are not limited to only achievements within domestic field but also extended to international level. They have won UEFA Champions League as well as former UEFA Europa League (Former UEFA Cup). They are also the winner of FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. In 1994, Arsenal wrapped up UEFA Cup Winners Cup.

Arsenal has several stars on their board. They brought German International Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid on a club record deal in summer of 2013.

Throughout human history people have competed against each other in different forms of sport. People pit themselves against each other to define themselves, to try and rise to their full potential, and even to solve disputes between societies. These competitions have evolved along with humanity. Sports spectatorship has always been an integral part of this as well. For the ancient Olympics a truce was held throughout Greece so spectators and athletes could travel to the games. People identify with their teams, which creates a sense of community and excitement that is impossible to replicate.

Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the modern world. It captivates the hearts and minds of millions of people, from Mexico to Brazil to Nigeria to Korea. Fans are forced to wait in stadiums for hours while opposing sections disperse, yet intense rivalries still inspires riots and celebrations that shut down normal life. Wear the wrong shirt in Manchester on match day and you might start a fight. In Buenos Aires, there are neighborhoods that should be avoided wearing the wrong colors. The world cup is the most widely viewed event in the entire world. So with all this excitement, all this energy and allegiance, why is it so hard to catch a soccer game on television in the United States? It’s a nation comprised of people from the entire world. Shouldn’t there be a way to watch the world’s most popular sport?

With satellite TV there is. Satellite offers a wealth of programming that can’t be found anywhere else. There is better access to more exclusive packages of sports programming, allowing you to keep up with the UEFA Champions League, the Premiership, Serie A, and more. No longer will you have to miss watching Ronaldinho and Barcelona take on Bayern Munich. There are also packages covering the quickly improving MLS, featuring growing numbers of international stars and expanding rapidly in the United States. League changes have brought in international superstars like David Beckham, who joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.

With today’s high definition technology the picture on your screen of the game will also be better than ever. You might be able to pick out the actual panels on the ball as it’s making its way downfield. With satellite access to more HD channels than any other form of television, you will have a gamewatching experience better than any other. The detailed picture available these days makes some commentators say that it’s better to watch the game from home than the field!

What about those games that you can’t see because of work or some obligation, but at the same time you feel you can’t miss? After all, the time zone difference for many of those international games might mean that what you want to see is happening in the middle of night. Not to worry, modern DVR technology will allow you to preset your TV to record those high quality matches. Everything you want to see will be waiting for you to enjoy it at your pleasure. With satellite you not only can now catch the most important sports events, you can do it when it’s convenient for you.