Football

Joseph Kenny asked:


Every four years a World Cup will come along and occupy a football fan’s thoughts and time for weeks. Game after game, the best footballers in the world will parade their skills in front of thousands at the stadium and millions watching on the TV back in their homes.

Players

Players generally make the World Cup what it is. If there were not great players we would certainly not be watching this tournament in the vast numbers that we do. In previous World Cup finals we have seen the emergence of some great talents, talents that we would not normally be able to see.

History

Which players did the world discover after displaying their skills in previous World Cups? There would be far too greats many to be able to list in detail and there has always has always been heated discussions about who is the greatest player of all time, with two players always at the forefront of the debate.

Lets look at these players’ credentials.

Diego Armando Maradona [Argentina]

[World Cup Honours : 1982, 1986 (winner), 1990 (2nd), 1994]

Maradona is a flawed genius, no-one has ever had his sublime talents and been able to hit the self destruct button with such great effect. Never before has a player been credited with winning the World Cup trophy single handed as he did in Mexico 1986. Even in the infamous 1986 quarter final and scoring what is widely regarded the best goal that has ever been scored in the Finals. After picking the ball up in his own half he managed to dribble hi way through a quality England side before slotting the ball past Peter Shilton, the England keeper on the day.

The Argentinean team that he played with in this tournament were all excellent players but possibly not quite good enough to lift the trophy. However, with Maradona at the height of his powers there could only be one team that could possibly win.

Maradona also helped his nation to the final of the World Cup in 1990 in Italy and only lost to a German penalty scored by Andy Brehme.

However, after failing a drug test in 1991 his career was on a downhill path and then came his final appearance on the greatest stage in the game of football.

In 1994, the World Cup in USA when he scored in Argentina’s first game against Greece anyone that watched his celebration knew that it was not only adreneline that powered the little magician. Eyes glaring into the camera, the hearts of all Argentineans knew that drugs were fuelling their talismanic captain. A drug test followed and the inevitable positive result ended Maradona’s tournament and effectively his career.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Pele

[World Cup honours : 1958 (winner), 1962 (winner), 1966, 1970 (winner)]

The only similarity between Pele and Maradona is that they hail from the same continent. Pele was the original World superstar, enjoying a career that can be regarded as a being a model professional.

Pele’s credentials are there for all to see, he set up goals, he was an instrumental leader on and off the field and he also scored goals. In fact the amount of goals that he scored is a substantial feat in itself.

His record is phenomenal, scoring five goals in a game six times, four goals 30 times and three goals 90 times. These are numbers the modern player can never dream of matching. In his illustrious playing career he scored a stunning total of 1283 goals. In his international career he scored an amazing 77 goals in 92 appearances. However, there was much more to Pele than ‘just’ goals.

He will also be remembered as being the only player in history for winning the world Cup on three occasions, a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated. Only an injury in 1966 in England stopped him from possibly winning the World Cup on four consecutive occasions, allowing a fine England side to become World Champions for the first time.

He was captain of the greatest team of all time, the 1970 Brazil side that won the tournament so convincingly in Mexico. Anyone who has watched the final game of that tournament, which Brazil defeated Italy by four goals to one, will be amazed at the skill and vision of the original total footballing side.

Given that Pele hung his playing boots up over 20 years ago and is still revered by football fans that never saw him in his prime is testament to the great man’s passion and skill for the greatest game of all.

Many others have graced the greatest tournament that is the World Cup, but both of the players named above are by far heralded as the greatest two. But who would make the top ten complete?

Gordon Banks, Eusebio, Puskas, Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini, Franz Beckenbauer, Garrincha and the Johann Cruyff to name but a few. In fact many modern day critics may have Cruyff as the greatest modern player, a player who helped to mould the game into the style of play that you see today.

Then there are players that did not manage to show their talents in the World Cup, the most notable being the late, great George Best from Northern Ireland. The other most notable absentee is Alfredo Di Stefano. There are actually many Latin Americans that would hail the ‘Blonde Arrow’ Di Stefano as the greatest player that the world has ever seen.

Among those still playing, Czech Republic playmaker Pavel Nedved, of Juventus, Manchester United’s Dutch predator Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ukrainian goal-machine Andrey Shevchenko, of AC Milan, would top the list. But all three will appear at Germany 2006, barring late injuries, and will probably write some new headlines too.

We look forward to this year’s event with great enthusiasm and hopefully it will be remembered as being one of the greatest tournaments of all time. Let us all hope!



Gavin

Faysal asked:


It shows in many places that the NFL is the best of America’s “Big 3″ or “Big 4″ sports.It brings in more viewers than any other sport,especially during the Super Bowl.Many gamers buy Madden NFL every year.There are more reason than i can list in these details,but let’s just get to it.Why NFL over all the rest?
I shall also add that according to the most recent poll,29% of America likes pro football over any other sport in the USA.It also has the highest rate of attendants per game.

Blake

joeinchino2000 asked:


The NFL is going back through game tapes and fining players for hits even though there was no penalty on the play. Do you think that effects how defensive players play the game? Ifthey fine the players for the hit, shouldn’t they also fine the referrees for not calling the penalty?
If they did the same thing in basketball how would their fans and players react?

Eugene

Tony J asked:


I know that soccer shin guards can help prevent shin splints, but what other injuries can these shin guards prevent? Also, is there any other uses for soccer shin guards besides protection?
I might be mistaken. Shin guards might not be able to prevent shin splints.

Briana

Zoe R asked:


I really like soccer! I love watching soccer movies….. GOAL! Bend it like Beckham, She’s the Man! Etc.
I have a soccer ball and practise every day. But there is one problem. I love netball. Netball i have been playing for 6 years, but to tell you the truth i am sorta getting sick of it. Like each time i see a soccer game on tv or see my friends playing i just wish i was out there playing too. I feel that soccer is almost my life. But the problem i mentioned before stops me from playing it. You see here in our home town Netball is pretty much on the same time as soccer. Soccer is a little bit earlier in the morning but you have to travel so far.
Please help me in this situation!

Lily

Justin B asked:


Traditionaly, a soccer (football) is supposedly more likely to give up a goal in the period following a score. Are there any statistics that I could use to test this?

Jonathan

want.tobegood asked:


I am 14, and I really want to make the jv soccer team at my highschool this fall. Is there any way I can become good enough to make the team over the summer? I’ll be competing against girls who have been playing all their lives. I’ve never played soccer before, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes! Is it possible, and if so, how can I do it?

Samantha

BlueThunder asked:


NFL quarterbacks and now selected defensive players have a radio receiver imbedded in their helmets for hearing play calls from the sidelines.

What precautions does the league have to prevent someone using a frequency scanner from listening in and relaying the called play to the other team?

And, what precautions does the league have to prevent someone in the stands, or even someone miles away, from flooding the frequencies used for the communications with a much stronger signal?

Ava

RiotTabGrrrl asked:


Im going to start soccer.
I have played for 2 years but that was like a year or 2 ago.
Dose anyone know of any foods I should eat?
Any exercises or little tricks I could try?
Please give me any tips or info.

Estefan

Roger Munns asked:


England’s Thierry Henry, the explosive striker for soccer’s beleaguered Arsenal team, has decided to cut ties and venture toward greener pastures with the Barcelona club. His recent decision has left fans disappointed but not surprised, as the deal for the move has dragged on for almost a year.

Of the move, Henry has recently been quoted as saying, “I have said so many times why I left Arsenal. I don’t want to go back to that, but it was hard to leave. I always said that if I ever left Arsenal, it would be to play for Barcelona.”

Well, now Henry’s wish has come true.

Since Arsenal’s 2006 loss for the Champion’s League to Barcelona, fans and those ‘in-the-know’ have believed that Henry would make the move to the team that beat them, but then Henry turned around and signed a new contract with Arsenal.

However, the marriage has not lasted long, and the deal has been struck. The lucrative deal between Henry and Barcelona will make the Frenchman a very rich man indeed. The 29-year-old signed a four-year contract, which also includes a release clause.

Thierry Henry has played with England’s Arsenal team since 1999, playing in more than 250 games and scoring almost 200 goals. However, he spent much of 2006 on the sidelines recovering from injuries incurred in March, which included hamstring, back and foot problems.

Nevertheless, during his illustrious career with Arsenal, Henry shot quickly to the top as the club’s leading goal scorer, and in the 2001-02 season, he netted 32 goals. The following season, he scored 42 goals and offered his best with almost two dozen assists. That year, the FIFA’s Technical Study Group also named him Man of the Match in three out of five matches for France.

In 2005, Henry rose to club captain, and that year also saw Henry become the club’s all time top goal scorer, and he followed that year up with another successful year at breaking records in 2006. Henry is the only player to win the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2006 and has been awarded the French Player of the Year four times. But perhaps the finest validation for Henry came in 2004 when football icon Pele named Henry one of the top 125 greatest living football players.

Henry, born in Paris is 1977, grew up playing soccer and excelled at his game by the time he became a teenager. His first professional rights as a player were signed when he was merely 13 years old, by First Division Monaco, and he played his first professional game in Nice at the tender age of 17.

In 1996, he made the Europe junior team. As he made his way up the ranks, Henry played for Italy’s Juventus, though he found his stride with the Arsenal club in England.

His early days with Arsenal found Henry playing wing, but team adjustments placed him at the striker spot at center, where it soon became clear he was incredibly gifted. Henry did, and has continued to, impress fans around the world with his lightening quick speed and large dose of natural talent.

Whether Henry will find what he is seeking with Barcelona, a Champion’s League, remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Arsenal will miss one of their most gifted players, and all eyes will be on Thierry Henry as he begins a new chapter of his life with Club Barcelona.



Noah