For once that you see a coach really enjoying his team’s victory!
Maracanazos like the Special One.
Football is the universal sport because it is the closest to human nature.
Archives for the month of: April, 2010
The verdict has fallen following the 2 Champions League semi finals; it’s Bayern Munich against Inter Milan.
Bayern won logically against Lyon. The truth always tells and Lyon just didn’t have the required level to even think about making it to the final. Their 2 games against Bayern were appaling and I have rarely seen such weakness at this stage of the competition. Bayern on the other hand did their game and with Van Gaal at the helm they stand a real chance to win their 5th Champions League.
Much more interesting was the other semi final between Barça and Inter. Many football specialists know that to beat Barça you need to eliminate the passing game between Xavi and Messi (at least when Iniesta is not there which was the case). The question therefore is why nobody applies this tactic? I think this has to do with getting players to really believe in this and that’s where Mourinho is a master. I think his players have such confidence in his strategic capabilities that they will follow him blindly to the grave! Just look at how Eto’o and Milito defended in tonight’s return game. I have rarely seen a team play defensively with such beauty as Inter did tonight. When Motta was sent off after 30 minutes, 99% of coaches would have played it safe and immediately taken away at least one offensive player. Mourinho didn’t and he was right. By leaving Milito and Eto’o for a big part of the game he introduced doubt in the minds of the blaugrana.
I was very dissapointed by Guardiola’s tactics in tonight’s match. Why didn’t he make Thierry Henry play at least the last 30 minutes? That was when the experience Titi brings could have been useful. Guardiola still has to gain more experience and he was clearly outplayed by Mourinho during the semi finals. It’s a paradox that Mourinho wants to leave the Italian league since his playing style seems so naturally suited for Italian football.
Maracanazos respect great coaches.
These days I get the feeling that some football players lack fundamental human skills that are damaging the sport’s image. How often do I hear at the local café that some star players are spoiled brats who are totally disconnected from every day life and are just there for the bucks. This is not I insist the case of many players, but there only needs to be a minority to wreck football’s reputation. Here are some of the reasons I believe cause this unfortunate trend:
- Too much money is thrown at these players at increasingly younger ages. They should probably go and read GetRichSlowly.
- They can’t think for themselves. Their agent takes over every aspect of their lives. Do they really need babysitters at age 18+ ?
- They don’t believe in a long term career for one or 2 clubs. Welcome to mercenary land.
- No more patience for fans, taking the time to sign autographs, talking with supporters.
- They live far away from their families and loose sight of some the true values that they should connect to.
- Clubs treat them as short term sellable assets.
Maracanazos value education.
Heard these days about the some of the major premier league championships in Europe; if you can’t win the championship, it isn’t so bad since you can also qualify for the European Champions League by finishing second, third or even fourth. Well what do you think about that?!
That’s the reality of major league football these days. Obtaining the national title is still important of course but isn’t vital anymore. A few years back, only champions could participate in the then called European Champion Clubs’ Cup. Now with the European Champions League, priority is given to playing more games, protecting the most prestigious teams and making as much money as possible along the way. The consequence is that it undermines the prestige of winning national titles, at least in the German, French, Italian, English and Spanish leagues where more than one club can participate in the UEFA’s European Champions League. I would propose to rename the competition to something like the European Old Boys’ Cup!
UEFA and Platini should step hard here. I would go as far as to advise underdoing competitive events to football. It’s by creating relevant scarcity that you actually increase the quality of an event and not by proposing more.
Maracanazos argue for less, not more.
Since Maracanazo is about all aspects of football, I invited a guest author who contacted me to write about the specific injury known as TBI that can come about when playing football.
Chelsea Travers is an outreach representative of CareMeridian Las Vegas Nursing Home, a subacute and skilled nursing/rehabilitation facility located throughout the Western United States for patients suffering from traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or medical complexities such as neuromuscular or congenital anomalies.
Soccer (football) and American football are fast paced games that require a great deal of speed and athleticism from its participants. Due to the physical nature of the game, injuries are common on the field. One injury that can cause great distress to a player is a traumatic brain injury, also known as a TBI. A TBI occurs when the head, brain or skull experiences force or trauma. TBI affects the function of the brain and can also change the personality and mental capabilities of an individual. The condition may also require decade’s worth of rehabilitation from special care facilities. Even then, there are no guarantees that an individual will fully recover.
American football is one of the toughest and most physically tasking games played. A football players head risks contact with the ground, or another players head, hand, shoulder, arm, or leg with just about every block or tackle that takes place. That is just a result of how the game is played. Due to the number of injuries that were being sustained, football took a precautionary measure and instituted a rule that requires all players to wear protective helmets to prevent head injuries. They also implemented rules on how a player can be tackled or blocked to further prohibit blows to the head. There is also no advantage that a player gains from using their head to block or tackle a player, thus discouraging them from purposefully using it to make contact. Unfortunately, even with the rules in place, accidents do happen and head injuries are still a problem. However, the NFL has at least made an attempt to protect players and players are fully aware of the risk of injury. Soccer, on the other hand, has no such rules in place and risk of injury is a lot less apparent.
Arguably the most popular sport in the world, soccer is also one of the most dangerous due to the risk of TBI. Soccer is supposed to require finesse, design and patience and a lot less of the physical punishment that people have come to expect in football. However, concussions make up 2-3% of all injuries in soccer. This number doesn’t seem significant but it happens to be the same rate as football. The obvious explanation for the concussion rate is that soccer requires the use of a players head in order to control or redirect the ball. Using your head is actually encouraged because doing so can give you an advantage over another player. Therefore, concussions almost become a requirement of the job. In fact, injuries to the head or neck account for between 4% and 22% of all injuries in soccer. A study taken of Division I soccer players in Norway showed that 35% of 69% players had abnormal EEG patterns, which was twice the number of control subjects.
Injuries occur in every sport, but heading the ball in a soccer game is not generally thought of as physical punishment and serious injury is not generally associated with the sport. Since using your head in soccer is thought of as “part of the game”, most players don’t consider it to be a risk factor and the consequences of doing so are rarely considered. The lack of precaution that a soccer player takes to protect their head puts them at high risk of suffering a TBI. The inability of a soccer player to notice the symptoms of a TBI and their failure to seek immediate treatment causes the injury to be much more serious. If players are educated about TBI’s and what can be done to prevent them we can reduce the incidence of this injury exponentially. While the intent is not for soccer to end by increasing awareness about TBI, at the very least, a soccer player may pay more attention to heading the ball properly and will have a better idea of when they might be suffering a TBI and seek immediate treatment.
Maracanazos seek to inform readers.
Maracanazos are interested in all aspects of their favourite sport and this includes finding football equipment. This could be for different purposes:
- For your own needs
- To offer as gifts to your kids, family, friends
- To equip your local team
I came across SoccerPro some weeks ago and decided to do a review on them. SoccerPro started out in 2004 in Missouri with a retail store and now has extensive coverage mainly in the US. Their online shop has about everything you can imagine that has to do with football.
Here are the plus factors of their shop:
- Easy to use menu on the left with a very comprehensive list of categories (for example it includes field equipment)
- Many items per category, have a look at the soccer jerseys for example
- A selection per brand, size, gender/age and price (although the latter didn’t provide a drop down of price brackets)
- Innovative categories like “Shop by Color“
- A clear central section on the home page with popular searches, highlight on World Cup related gear and recommended sections
- A straightfoward shopping cart with a Contact Us toll free number which is clearly visible
- Good initiative with the charity project with SoccerGrow
I would have the following suggestions for the site:
- It should be made clear why having an account is useful. It doesn’t say when you go the My Account page why it is useful to sign up for an account.
- I find the font and colors of the site too aggressive and the home feels like it is packed with information. Perhaps they could have a look how Zappos do their web design.
- The blog isn’t updated since September 09, might as well drop it since it isn’t a source of information
- They have a free 999 days return guarantee, that should be highlighted on the home since it is a good point instead of being communicated only on the store policies page
Maracanazos enjoy online shopping.
The clasico of clasicos is in just over 1 hour from now. This clasico is even more important since both teams are tied at the first place of the Liga. Real Madrid are ahead because of a better goal difference but in case there is a tie tonight, Barça will lead because in the Spanish Liga it is the specific goal difference between the 2 teams that matters and Barça has won the first game 1-0.
So why do I want Barça to win:
- They simply have a style that I prefer. Great passing, players always in movement, willingness to play towards the goal and not laterally.
- Messi, Messi, Messi! The best player in the world without question. Just love his capacity to make a difference.
- The patience in building a team and not spending hundreds of millions of euros to mend a patchwork like Real.
- The aim of forming young players in-house and giving them their chance.
- Thierry Henri plays for Barça and he is a personal favourite (hope he plays tonight).
Maracanazos like to take sides.
The quarter finals of the European Champions League have just delivered their semi finalists:
Bordeaux 1 – Lyon 0: Lyon go through with their home win 3 – 1
Manchester United 3 – Bayern Munich 2: Bayern go through with their home win 2 – 1 (away goals count double)
Barcelona 4 – Arsenal 1: Barça go through (away tie 2 – 2)
CSKA Moscow 0 – Inter Milan 1: Inter go through (home win 1 – 0)
The semi-finals will see Bayern play against Lyon and Inter vs Barcelona.
What are the main conclusions I take away from these quarter finals:
- In the star quarter final between Barça and Arsenal, 2 teams that play similar types of games, Barça went logically through as they do everything better than Arsenal and they have a Martian on their team, well you know who!
- Lyon had more Champions League experience than Bordeaux and they have one of thes best goalkeepers in the world right now, Lloris.
- Inter have the “Special One” and he can outplay any team.
- Man United underestimated Bayern, you should never do that, even more so with German teams.
Barça are my favourites to win it again this year but of the 3 other teams Inter is probably the one that will give them the hardest time due to the strategical and tactical intelligence of the “Special One”. However, with Messi being in the form he is, I see Barça winning that semi-final. Bayern – Lyon can go both ways but I like Lyon’s “grinta” and it would be great for a French team to get to the final after the 2004 edition between Monaco and Porto.
Maracanazos like to make forecasts.
Korea Republic (also known as South Korea) is Asia’s most successful football team with eight World Cup qualifications. Its World Cup high was when it reached the 2002 World Cup semi final in the World Cup that it co-hosted with Japan. That was even better than its Northern counterpart which had famously reached the 1966 World Cup quarter final after memorably eliminating Italy and losing to Portugal in a fantastic 5-3 score despite having led 3-0!
I remember the 2002 squad led by coach Guus Hiddink with its incredibly fast paced game where the Koreans successively eliminated Portugal, Italy and Spain. The Korean style of playing demands speed – even velocity I would say – technical skills and stamina. The Korean style is sometimes too predictable though and lacks tactical depth. I don’t see them making it to the 2nd round.
Korea Republic is part of Group B with Greece, which I already covered, Nigeria and Argentina.
Just look at the Seoul crowd going crazy in the game against Italy (see how the fans go wild but the street stays free of any havoc to let the cars go by !).
It is unbelievable, well no it isn’t for Maracanazos!
Maracanazos like South Korean frenzy.