I thought only children liked to make annoying noises over and over. Guess soccer fans like that too.
-M
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Unsurprisingly banned at London 2012
12 JulNo Beckham in the Olympics
28 Jun
David Beckham will not be playing soccer for the United States Great Britain in the London Olympics this summer. Beckham who is loved by the media was seen as a shoe in for the team. Just last month he was confirmed for Team GB’s 35-man preliminary squad. But Great Britain team manager Stuart Pearce didn’t see having Beckham as an asset to the team. Apparently Pearce watched Beckham with the LA Galaxy and was not impressed. Beckham is really bummed not to be playing for his home country. And even more bummed are women everywhere and ticket sales for the Olympics.
Pearce would rather have a winning team with a player like defender Micah Richards than a popular team.
-M
The Smoothest Penalty Kick You Will Ever See
24 JunI have to be honest that I have not been following the Euro Cup too closely, but I did get a chance to see the Italy-England match Sunday. The game was not all that exciting, ending in a 0-0 draw, but a penalty shoot-out is always full of drama.
Italy’s veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo chipped this kick in like an OG. England went on to miss both of their next PKs, and Italy won the shoot-out 4-2. They really deserved to win because they were controlling the ball nearly the entire match but could not get a goal during regulation time.
Italy will face the favorite-to-win Germany next in the semi-finals Thursday. Portugal and defending champions Spain will play Wednesday. I hope this tournament action holds me over until the Olympics.
-K
Ted Hates on France- Euro2012
8 Jun
I am not sure if I think this is funny just because I’m American . . . French people out there are you laughing? In honor of the Euro2012 starting today I am posting this video. More coverage of that to come. And I know you can’t wait to have an American try to cover soccer. I mean even ESPN outsourced to some British dudes for their initial coverage.
-M
Celebrities Go Down at Charity Soccer Match
29 May
To benefit UNICEF a all-star Soccer Aid match was held at Manchester United’s Old Trafford on Sunday. You know how these all-star sports event are, usually very light and easy. Apparently that’s not what happened on Sunday. The English team was composed of: Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Aston Merrygold, Olly Murs and Marvin Humes. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know any of the people on the English team, I didn’t either.
They faced off against the world team that included: Will Ferell, Gordon Ramsay (I’m not sure why he didn’t make the English team), Mike Myers, Gerard Butler, Edward Norton, James McAvoy, Woody Harrelson and Michael Sheen.
Apparently after a tackle from former pro soccer player, Teddy Sheringham, Ramsey had to be air lifted off the field. He is sore but fine now. At least it teaches us that Ramsey is not immune from human pain, you wouldn’t know that from “Hell’s Kitchen.”
Later on in the game Ferrell limped off the field. As you would expect the English team won against a bunch of movie stars and one reality chef. They raised more than $6.4 million for UNICEF.
-M
Learning to Love Soccer/Football
23 May
I’m American so obviously I don’t follow soccer. For some reason American kids grow up playing soccer but it never seems to carry past high school. I think the real reason Americans don’t like soccer is that we don’t have a great soccer team. As Americans we like to be good at everything. Currently the United States Mens’ National Team(the one that plays in the World Cup) is ranked 29th by the FIFA World Ranking system. This puts us way behind countries like Russia and Mexico. We hate when Russia beats us at anything. Therefore we simply ignore soccer and pretend it is not a real sport. I think this is also why we stole the name football and made up an entirely new sport. With that said I am making an effort to understand and follow soccer.
I realize that coming up with Euro 2012 or the European Football(Soccer) Championship. It starts on June 8th. It includes 16 finalist that will compete. In an effort to dominate the foreign market even more Nike released this funny ad with Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli. In this ad he tries to differentiate himself from other soccer gods through his hair style. If anything the hotness of Balotelli will make you want to start watching soccer. Who can resist a British accent?
-M
Beckham Making Soccer Musical
22 May
It’s good to see that David Beckham can still make money despite the LA Galaxy being at the bottom of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference. Regardless of how he plays or who he plays for he is an advertisers dream. This ad is very inventive and he doesn’t even have to take his shirt off. Watch as Beckham plays Beethoven with soccer balls.
-M
Soccer – Getting With the Times
18 Apr
Soccer fans, rejoice! Goal-line technology is nearly here!
FIFA is testing two different systems ahead of a July 2nd vote, where it may approve goal-line technology for competitive play. This comes after a controversial call on Sunday’s game between Chelsea and Tottenham, where a goal was declared good even though the replay indicated the ball never crossed the goal line.
Why has this taken so long? I am not buying a lot of the explanations out there. FIFA wants the system to be perfected before it enters into competition, and it wants the referees to be able to make the correct call within seconds. That is unreasonable; think about the time it takes for NFL and NCAA refs to review plays. The time lost is worth it to the fans because incorrect calls are usually overturned.
One of the systems being tested is Hawk-Eye, which has been used in tennis for years. I don’t see why that system isn’t good enough for FIFA. After all, there is little difference between a tennis ball and a soccer ball crossing a line, right?
-K
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