FIFPro Nominations

There was a recent announcement in the football world, which may or may not have raised much of an eyebrow. The FIFPro, which is the association of professional footballers, announced a list of, wait for it, 55 players from which eleven will be voted into the best team of 2011. This certainly is not up there with the prestige of the Ballon d'Or which has also just had its final shortlist announced. You just wonder where all of this is heading. Award after award after award. With so many token awards for footballers around, does it all devalue the actual winners of these things? Why so many awards. Why so much ego stroking? Alright, there is nothing wrong with crowning a player as the best footballer in the world, but why all the pretence and confusion surrounding such big nomination lists to start with?

The list which has produced for example has come from the votes from over 50,000 professional footballers who were polled. All well and good you would think, but looking down the list of players here up for the award, you simply have to scratch your head and wonder just what games some of these players were watching to even contemplate voting for some of the names on that list. This really is taking awards to the pointless extreme.

Players know how good they are, what they have achieved. While there is only ever one winner of a yearly award, such big nomination lists simply offer a slap in the face to those who don't win. Nope, come back next year as you're not good enough now, and let's parade that fact in front of the world and its baying media.

The most obvious confusion around all this voting for the FIFPro World XI 2011 is the inclusion of Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand. Really? Ferdinand managed just 19 Premier League appearances last season for his club and just four international appearances, with no goals and no assists. Alright, that's not his job, but was he really so brilliant in so few games to warrant a nomination?

Those lowly figures were the sum of his 2010/11 season and this season he has been slacking off with just 15 matches in total for his club, and not on the England radar. So how does someone like this even register in someone's mind to put in a vote for him? It is somewhat baffling, as you think of some of the best defenders in the world; you think Maicon, Pique, Nesta, Alves and Abidal. You don't immediately think of penciling Rio Ferdinand into the back line of a world's best eleven.

With award nominations such as Ferdinand's here, they are more likely than not just based on, "Oh he's had a great career, a bit past it now, but let's give him a pat on the back." There is no truth or value in his nomination, there is no-one, fellow professional or not, who can say Ferdinand deserves to be in such a highly regarded crowd vying for a spot in the World's Best XI.

The way to look at it is this, if you were picking a World's best eleven to and play a match, would Ferdinand be anywhere near the squad? No. Bottom line. Would he even be the water boy? No, because he would probably injure himself running from the dug out to the touchline. His presence alone in this field of 55 almost cheapens the award by itself. Clearly he is not going to make the shortlist, let alone the team for this one. But what really makes a mockery of Ferdinand's inclusion in the World's best eleven, is that he was not even on the initial shortlist of 23 for the Ballon d'Or this season, which is recognition for the world's best player. Eric Abidal was there. Dani Alves was there. Gerard Pique was there. Ferdinand? Again, no. So it will probably always remain a mystery as two who nominated him. Bet any money it was someone wearing a Manchester United shirt though.

Barcelona have eleven players in the running to make the team, six of which made last year's best eleven; Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Villa. But we won't find out until next January as to who makes the final eleven at the FIFA Golden Ball gala. Bet any money that Lionel Messi will be in the team. In a world of handing out awards just for tying up your own boot laces correctly, this is one man who deserves all the praise which can be heaped upon him. He will win the Ballon d'Or over Xavi and Cristiano Ronaldo again, giving the little Argentinean his third consecutive title to put him up there with the greats Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten who all earned three of these awards.

That is the kind of company which Messi's name deserves to be kept with, not Ferdinand's. If you were going to name your best team, you would pretty much just pick Lionel Messi anyway. You really wouldn't need Ferdinand or anyone else.

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Liverpool FC Player Profile - Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is probably one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, after signing his professional contract with the club in 1997 and making his first team debut a year later he has never looked back. Viewed by many as the most complete footballer of the modern game, his speed, skill, goal scoring attributes and his commitment to the cause have been rewarded with nearly every football medal available, apart from an elusive Premier league winners medal.

By the beginning of the 1999-00 season Gerrard has established himself in Liverpool's first team and his form was so impressive he won his first full England cap in May 2000. Gerrard played an instrumental part in the Reds treble winning success of 2001, wining the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup and he was also voted as the Young Player of the Year, a prestigious award.

During the 2003-04 season Steve Gerrard had become the Liverpool captain when he took over the role from Sami Hyypia, a role which he still assumes today. The pinnacle of Gerrard's career would have to be lifting the European Cup in May, 2005 which was the club's fifth European Cup success, the captain inspiring his team to the greatest of all comebacks, trailing 3-0 to Milan at half time to draw the match 3-3 and win the trophy on a penalty shoot out.

Following the epic final, speculation of a move to rivals Chelsea was rife, but Gerrard finally ended the speculation by signing a new four year contract with the Reds. The following season Gerrard went onto score 23 goals from 53 appearances, the season ended with a dramatic FA Cup final victory against West Ham, with the Reds captain scoring two of the goals in a 3-3 draw, the final goal with literally the last kick of the game to send the match into extra time and then a penalty shoot out which Liverpool won, the goal was voted as the best of the season and Steve Gerrard was also awarded the prestigious professional footballers player of the year award for his outstanding performances during the season. In 2006 Gerrard was awarded the MBE for his services to sport, which was presented by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in December of that year.

The beautiful game hasn't always been glorious for the Reds captain, Liverpool reached the Champions League Final again in 2007 only to be defeated 2-1 by AC Milan and later that year Gerrard captained his country as they lost 3-2 against Croatia and failed to qualify for the European Championships and despite scoring 21 goals during the season the Reds finished without a trophy.

The 2008-09 saw Gerrard score 24 goals during the season and pass his 100 goal mark for the club, but the elusive Premier League title was a step too far as Manchester United piped them to the title. Captain marvel made his 500th appearance during 2009 but the team finished a disappointing 7th place in the league.

Injuries have beset the Reds captain during the last twelve months which have limited his appearances but he is now well on his way to recovery and is back to inspire his team once more as they search for more silverware and the success to which the club have become accustomed.

Steve Goodwin is an expert author, football fan and retailer of Liverpool merchandise available from the Liverpool Shop all products from the Liverpool Store are available to ship worldwide.

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Liverpool FC Player Profile - Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson began his football career with the West Ham United youth academy before signing a professional contract in 2001 before he joined Chelsea in 2003 for a fee of £6 million, when he became the first signing of the Chelsea revolution under the new owner Roman Abramovich.

Johnson actually made his Chelsea debut at Anfield and went on to enjoy a Premier League title and collect a League Cup winners medal during his time with the Blues. As his first team opportunities became more limited he was loaned to Portsmouth in 2006 before making his transfer complete the following season.

A regular player at Portsmouth, Glen was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 2008 and he also has the accolade for scoring the goal of the season during 2008-2009 for his goal against Hull.

An already established member of Fabio Capello's England squad, Johnson signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2009 for a transfer fee believed to be in the region of £17.5 million. The defender quickly established himself in the Liverpool first team, making his debut against Tottenham Hotspur in August of 2009 and scoring his first goal for the club a few days later against Stoke City, and he scored a further two goals for the Reds during the 2009-2010 season, which culminated with Johnson representing England at the World Cup Finals in South Africa, where England were eliminated in their final 16 match against Germany. Glen Johnson has now made 34 appearances for England.

During the 2010-11 season the defender suffered several injuries which limited his playing opportunities, but he has established himself in the resurgent Liverpool side under returning manager and Reds legend Kenny Dalglish. A willingness to play at left back as well as his favoured right side has demonstrated a versatility that has proved many sceptics wrong. Johnson signed a contract extension at Liverpool during the summer of 2011.

While showing versatility in defence, Johnson is also a threat going forward, showing great speed, skill and determination, he demonstrated his attacking prowess when he scored a brilliant solo goal in the closing minutes against his former club Chelsea during the 2011 season in the game at Stamford Bridge, the goal secured a 2-1 victory for the Reds in the closing minutes.

Johnson established The Glen Johnson Soccer School in 2007 along with former West Ham player Sam Taylor, the aim of the school is to develop football skills for children aged 4-16 and this is based in Dartford, Kent, England.

Steve Goodwin is an expert author, football fan and retailer of Liverpool merchandise available from the Liverpool Shop all products from the Liverpool Store are available to ship worldwide.

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Football Betting Tips: Using The Revenge Factor To Give Yourself An Edge

When it comes to football betting tips, there are very few you'll find that will really be of true value to you. There are many websites you can go to that will offer you football betting tips. A lot of times you will get this information for free, but exactly how valuable is that information if it is being given away for free?

Well, I'm going to give you a few football betting tips, well more like one. However, this one tip is going to be very powerful and if used correctly can make you a consistent profit. Now how often have you been watching a football match where one team was so much more superior to their opponent that you felt a win was virtually guaranteed? Did you have money on this game?

If you did you might have been very disappointed when that team lost. You shouldn't be, because you can use what just happened to you as a means to create a very powerful betting strategy. The superior team that just lost most likely will have to play the inferior team again. They may have been caught off guard the first time around, but the second time around they are going to prepare extra hard. Note that if they meet again in the same season, they may be playing in a different venue. However this can be to your advantage, as the prices on offer might be better than you expect.

The next matchup is going to be seen as a revenge game. This is the type of game where one team is going to go out and play with a lot of intensity and a lot of emotion. If they are clearly the superior team than their talent should win out in the end. It doesn't work the other way around when one team is inferior. Even if they were humiliated in the last game, simply coming out with a chip on their shoulder doesn't mean they are going to win.

What it might do is cause a more competitive match and not a crushing blow out. Looking for a revenge match or a grudge match is one of the best football betting tips I can offer you. These are the types of games where players come ready to leave it all on the field in order to send a message.

When you find these types of betting opportunities you must pounce on them. It may take a while for one to come up, but when it does it can prove very profitable.

You can find the best football betting tips at football betting champion. They are very through in their research. All this helps you build a career in football, and succeed in a business that can be very risky.

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Old Trafford

The massive stadium of Old Trafford has a seating capacity of 76,000 and is located in the area of Great Manchester. The construction work of Manchester City started in 1909 and the estimated cost of the project was 60,000 pounds. As the project continued, the cost of construction increased and 30,000 pounds had to be injected into the project to fully fund it.

The construction plan for Old Trafford was an ambitious one as it was planned that the huge stadium will be built with a seating capacity of 100,000 people. However, thanks to the respectable suggestion of J.J. Bentley, the final capacity of the stadium was revised to a more practical target of 80,000. The stadium was completed and officially opened on 19th February, 1910.

The stadium went through a tough ordeal in the World War II when bombing by the Germans caused significant damage to the stadium. As a result of this, the stadium had to go through major repairs and consequently, had a major uplift. The club was granted an amount of 4,800 pounds for the repair by the War Damage Commission and this served as a somewhat alleviating factor for the club. The total cost of repair for the stadium was 23,000 pounds and it took considerable time for the stadium to be bought in a working condition. The stadium was able to host its first game after the World War II in August, 1949.

Many improvements were made to the stadium after the Second World War. However, every improvement that was made to the ground meant that the overall seating capacity of the stadium steadily declined as a result of it. The original capacity of 80,000 had declined to around 60,000 by 1980 and continued to drop as more improvements were made to the ground.

In the year 1990, the club was forced to convert a portion of the stadium to all-seaters because of the recommendations of Taylor Report and demands of the local government. This meant that the club had to drastically alter their plan, costing three to five million pounds, of replacing a stand and to install cantilever roof. These forced development increased the cost of the overall plan to an estimated ten million pounds. Furthermore, it resulted in the seating capacity to drop to an all time low of 44,000.

The success of the club and the resulting popularity in the 1990s meant that the club was losing out on a lot of revenue in terms of the Manchester United Tickets because of the reduced capacity of the stadium. Furthermore, the stadium was to host games of the Euro 96 and this led the club to quickly work on increasing the capacity of the stadium.

The club continued to increase the seating capacity of the stadium until it reached 68,217 to become the biggest club stadium of not only England but UK, at that time. The club intends to further increase the capacity of the club to an estimated ninety five thousand in the future. This would enable the club to significantly increase their revenue from the Manchester United Tickets sale.

Lisa Dorgan is an English Football reporter, writing about the English and European football leagues, the Premier league football clubs, teams and players as well as specific teams such as Manchester United club and where to obtain online the Manchester United Tickets at excellent prices.

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History And Structure Of English Premier League

Even though the English Premier League has only been around since 1992, it has a rich and storied tradition that goes back much further. Featuring world famous football teams, such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, and the Blackburn Rovers, the League symbolizes the very best in the world of professional football and all it has to offer. Ruling the roost is Manchester United, which has won 12 championships since the league was formed. Part of the reason they've been able to do so well is they have uniformity and consistency in coaching. Sir Alex Ferguson has been the manager of Manchester United since the league was formed, the only current manager to boast this unique accomplishment of longevity. In addition to coaching, Manchester United has one of the most rabid fan bases in all the world.

They are chased for excellence by Arsenal and Chelsea, two clubs that have managed to win an impressive three titles apiece. Blackburn has won the only remaining title (in the 1994-1995 season). To say that the best teams in history have been owned by only a handful of organizations is beyond understatement. But while not every team has attained the greatness of these in terms of accomplishments, many have just as much to be proud of in terms of tradition. For instance, the Aston Villa have been playing football since 1888, along with clubs Stoke City, West Bromwich, and Wolverhampton. Liverpool goes back not quite as far to 1894.

The seasonal structure of the English Premier League is as follows: begins in August and runs to May. Twenty teams in all slug it out for supremacy. Each club twice does combat with the others during a "regular season competition." There are 38 games total. Three points are provided to a team for each win, while a draw will only draw one, and a loss leaves the loser with nil. Total points, goal difference, and the actual amount of goals scored, all weigh in to determining the final champion. If there is an outright tie, then a play-off will be used to determine the final champion. At the lower level, the bottom three teams will enter into a Football League Championship. The two highest ranking teams from this structure will be paired with the winner of a play-off between the ranked teams from three to six to determine final promotions.

While American audiences may find this system a bit confusing from their normal play-off system, many feel the league's format does a better job of determining who the best teams really are and bestowing the final rewards. You won't get a Super Bowl or a cut-and-dry system here, but what has been done has worked for fans of the EPL.

For Arsenal Gifts & Merchandise or Manchester United FC Gifts, Merchandise, turn to only one source. Visit our site today for more details!

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Shin Guards Facts - Five Things About Shin Pads You Didn't Know

Shin guards are worn in a variety of sports including football and hockey, and are designed to protect the sensitive tibia bone from injury. Some sports have mandatory rules governing the wearing of shin pads to reduce the number of injuries. If you are a regular or even occasional player, make sure you invest in a pair of good-quality shin pads to prevent long periods of absence from the pitch due to injury.

Although we often think of shin guards as a modern invention, perhaps due to the cutting-edge technologies often used in their construction, they are actually descended from ancient armour worn by infantry troops. Read on to find out more, along with four other tips about shin guards that you probably didn't know!

Shin pads are descended from the greave - like many modern objects, shin guards are descended from objects used in battle. The greave was a piece of armour that protects the leg, made from materials including padded cloth and steel. They were most commonly used by heavy infantry, and were developed in ancient times, although they continued to be used during the middle ages.

Unions would like to see teachers wearing shin pads - in August 2011 in the UK, unions urged the Government to provide teachers with shin guards to protect them from violence from school pupils, citing the number of students expelled each year for unruly behaviour. The GMB union said that teachers and teaching assistants should be issued with protective gear, including shin pads, to prevent injury.

Shin pads for sport were first used in cricket - shin guards were originally used in cricket to give the batsman a strategic advantage; by placing his legs in front of the stumps he could use his legs to block the path of the ball and prevent his wicket being taken. The overuse of this led to 'leg before wicket' rules being introduced in 1809. Leg guards continue to be used in cricket, mostly as protection, and are worn by the wicket-keeper, the batsman, and by fielders close to the batsman.

The most expensive shin pads cost £150 ($233) - shin pads range in price, all the way from a couple of pounds for a non-branded pair of guards to £150 for a top-of-the-line pair of Diadora Totti Mondiali Shin Pads. Personally cast from Francesco Totti's leg and featuring F1 Technology, these carbon-fibre shin pads are made from a layer of Titanium fibre on the inside, and a layer of Kevlar fibre on the outside. If you've got money to spare, these are the bee's knees.

People initially laughed at the use of shin guards - the first person to use shin guards in Association Football, or soccer, was Sam Weller Widdowson in 1874. At the time soccer was unregulated and brutal, and Widdowson was looking for ways to cut down on the injuries sustained during the course of a match. As a regular cricket player, Widdowson decided to cut down a pair of cricket shin guards and attach them to his legs using straps of leather. And he was met with ridicule from the other players! However, they soon saw the advantages and so the practice began to spread.

We hope you found these facts interesting - please remember to wear shin guards when practising or playing in a match to keep your legs protected and comfortable.

This article was written by James Smith from Shinnerz, who provide shin guard socks to wear beneath shin guards when playing football and hockey. Shinnerz socks prevent rubbing and chaffing, provide an additional level of protection and wick away moisture formed between the leg and the shin pad.

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How Much of Soccer Is Mental?

Growing up coaches always told me, "90% of the game is mental." I'm willing to bet you've heard that from a coach or two also. But do you know what it means and how it can help you? I know the coaches that told me the game is 90% mental were well meaning. In fact, they probably even thought they were doing me a favor telling me that. But NEVER did any of the coaches I have support their quote with an explanation that made a difference in my results.

So I thought it would be helpful if I shed some light on how your player can use the mental game to get better results in practice and in their very next game.

Personally, I don't believe you can measure whether the game is 90, 95, or even 99% mental. Maybe I should invent some sort of "mental meter" that measures the percent of the mental game and retire to an island.

But anyway... what I do know is that visualization is a part of the mental game. In fact, it's the most underused portion of the game I see today. Yet, the players that do use some form of visualization (consciously or unconsciously) always tend to be the exceptional players that get the best results on the field.

What I want you to gather from today's newsletter is this... adding 30 seconds of visualization to your practice can help you double your skills.

Let me give you a recent example:

At my last training session, I asked my student what his juggling record was. He told me and I helped him set a goal that was 40% higher than his record. He looked at me and said, "I don't think I can do that many." I reminded him to take a deep breath and then to visualize himself achieving his new juggling goal.

About 30 seconds later he tossed the ball in the air and began. I watched as the ball stayed close to his body and bounced straight up and down time after time. He remained calm and kept his eye focused on the ball.

After about 30 seconds he approached his previous record and easily passed it.

He was counting out loud and I could hear the excitement in his voice as he surpassed his previous record. He lost his focus and the ball fell to the ground.

A huge smile crossed his face. Immediately I suggested he set a new goal. I reminded him to breathe deeply and visualize himself surpassing his old record and achieving the new mark.

30 seconds later he launched the ball in the air and began bouncing the ball off his knee, foot, head, chest, and thigh.

Two minutes later he was again all smiles as he easily set a new personal best.

With the power of visualization and deep breathing I helped my student double his juggling record in about 7 minutes.

Now let's take a look at YOUR soccer player. I'm betting they want to improve. I'm betting there is at least one area of their game that visualization could double their results in.

I'm betting they would be ecstatic to become a better goal scorer because they learned how to visualize themselves as a goal scoring machine.

There is so much growth available to young soccer player who learns how to use visualization and mental pictures.

The results players get are truly amazing.

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Reasons Why Soccer Fans Are the Craziest in the World

Soccer fans are known for being obsessive and even fanatical about their sport. If you're a genuine soccer fan and supporter of your club or your national team - you are attached to them for your entire life and everything that they go through. The moments of elation in victory are matched only by those of utter despair in defeat. Soccer is a magnification of all the intense emotions related to winning and losing. It is an extremely tribal sport, arguably the most out of all of the team sports around.

This tribal aspect also means that you have rival "tribes". In soccer this rivalry can go from a heated debate about your club to a passionate argument, and in extreme cases hooliganism and actual physical confrontation.

Naturally, club matches spark impassioned rivalries but it's the international (National club Teams) across the world which really gets the blood boiling. International football tournaments are amazing events and are by themselves sporting rituals. There is this cliché about soccer that the national team represent elements of the country's character in the way the team plays. For example: the English team plays with a kind of doggedness, they do not necessarily play with a lot of flare, but with a lot of determination. The German team plays with order and precision, while Spain plays with panache and a Latin grace.

The sense of national identity that is coupled with this international sport is important and cannot be ignored. It is for this reason that soccer fans sometimes seem to go overboard with their zealous support of their team. One group of soccer supporters are known as "Ultras". They are distinguished by their elaborate displays of support which includes the use of flares, chanting and carrying large banners. They do this not to only encourage their own team but also to intimidate the apposing team and fans.

While" ultras" can become violent, the vast majority of matches they attend are concluded with no violent incidents. Unlike these fervent supporters soccer hooligans are also a part of the scene in some games. Unlike the "Ultras" they don't usually wear their team colors, in order to avoid being detected by the authorities. Hooligans exhibit destructive behavior and are knows for their street fighting, vandalism and intimidation. Fights between supporters of rival teams can take place before or after football matches, or they can explode suddenly at the stadium.

It is unfortunate that it these hooligans receive most of the attention from the media and have therefore characterized in some way the view that a lot of the people have of soccer fans. The truth however is that this group only represents a very small percentage of the "real soccer fans"

The" real fans" may seem to a lot of people as slightly "crazy" but they are peaceful and just simply love their team and the beautiful game of football/soccer. The most common way to show your support for your team would be wearing your team's "colors". Soccer jerseys are a multibillion dollar industry, which shows you just how much soccer fans relate to this sport and their teams.

To find the latest Euro 2012 shirts come visit us at Jersey99.com to buy the latest soccer shirts online.

Jersey99.com is a leading online retailer of football shirts with worldwide delivery and secure online payment. Customization options are available for name, numbers and patches. Come get all the latest club and national team jerseys at unbeatable prices.

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The First Week of the Champions' Round of 16

The 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 is on and some have already got roughly beaten.
By Camilla Mancini

The first eight clubs from the Knockout Phase of this prestigious tournament met between Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th for the 1st leg fixtures. On each of the four matches there was a triumphant club that now has a foot in the quarterfinals, either with a narrow advantage like Lyon, or with an almost-unbeatable one, like Milan. This first fraction of the last 16 will now have to wait until March 6th and 7th to continue with the challenge and look up for the chance move over to the next phase; but first the remaining 8 will meet between tomorrow and this Wednesday. All the same, here is a short review of the first matches:

February 14th - Lyon 1-0 APOEL: these two had their encounter at the Stade de Gerland, where the Cypriots seemed to be in disadvantage against Olympique Lyonnais, which dominated during the whole game. Although Les Gones still have a higher UEFA coefficient than APOEL, the Cypriots have been improving a lot during this season and in fact it has become the first Cypriot club to reach the round of 16. APOEL's performance has been very good during the competition but on Tuesday it wasn't enough and Alexandre Lacazette saw a chance in this to place the goal that gave his team the current lead.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 Barcelona FC: at the BayArena were playing the Werkself and the recently most intimidating club in the Champions, Barça, which now is half-way into quarterfinals. During the first half the Germans stood up strong blocking the Spaniard squad, but at 41' Alexis Sanchez scored his first Champions League goal, giving the lead to defending champions few minutes before the break. In second half Leverkusen welcomed the visitors with a goal from Michal Kadlec, however this just revolved the zeal of the visitors to fight back and 3 minutes later Sanchez was scoring again, to then be followed by Messi at 88'.

February 15th - Zenit St. Petersburg 3-2 Benfica: A last minute goal from Shirokov broke the tie favoring the Russians. In spite of the harsh low temperature (-10 C) both teams did a great job and kept things quite even. The first to score was Maxi Pereira at the 20', but 7 minutes later was followed by Roman Shirokov's first goal of the day. By the 71st minute a chance to score arrived for Sergei Semak, but there was also one for the Portuguese Oscar Cardozo at 87' to reach a draw; however a minute after a second goal from Shirokov gave Zenit the lead.

Milan 4-0 Arsenal: the harshest of the results from this week has been the 4-0 that Milan nailed on Arsenal. The Italians had less possession of the ball than the Gunners, but that didn't make any difference, in the end the 53% of ball possession that Arsenal had didn't meant anything. Kevin-Prince Boateng got in the score sheet at 15', followed by Robinho scoring once on each half (38', 49') and to close the heavy defeat a penalty was placed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his compatriot, Djourou, knocked him over.

Camilla Mancini is one of the most qualified copy writers on Sports Betting and currently writes for Instant Action Sports. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

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How Arsenal Copes Up With 2012

There's no doubt that spring is approaching, because you can see the Gunners already going out. Every year, the Gunners' routine shows us that you don't have to worry about the title, as it won't be theirs.

With Arsenal knocked out of the FA cup and 17 points behind Manchester City in the League, there's nothing less than sheer disappointment in the club. Indeed, some critics say that things turned over for the team as soon as they were crushed 8-2 by the Red Devils and the desperately wanted title was far gone by the time they were beaten by Fulham, Swansea and then Fergie.

An overview of the season would definitely be shameful for the club and the last game lost 4-0 to AC Milan is shameful as it is. The knockout from the FA Cup owing to the 2-0 beat by

Sunderland is just another eye-opener for Arsenal.

So what exactly is the cause of such a performance? Is it Boss Wenger to blame? Or is it the squad? Or maybe both.

Wenger is holding on to his sixteenth year with the club and is going through his seventh consecutive season without any silverware. Facing the truth, anyone can guess what would have happened to Mr. Wenger in any other club; yes, he might have lost his job for good.

Seven years is a remarkable time and it is certainly time for him to turn things around. Seven years ago, things would have been quite different; the Champions League final in 2006, it might have gotten unlucky for the team but that was six years ago. 2008, OK, maybe Galla's protest came in the way but a whole 2 months before the finals? That is no excuse. 2012, and the team is still no where close to the title.

If this pressure isn't enough, it's really hard to get over the news that unless something serious is done, legendary players (like Robin van Persie) would be waving the club goodbye and that isn't just any rumor that van Persie is already set to hit the deck.

Turning to the crucial stuff, fans say that Wenger is the person to blame. Although his policies have been admired for a while now, like his youth talent policy, but some things definitely need to be changed now.

Some of his poor policies resulted in the exit of Fabregas, Nasri and some other talented players from the club. Overall, it can be said that the success chart of Arsenal surely seems to be going down and Wenger must be doing something about it, fast and efficiently.

To get all the information you need about football clubs, you can always follow us. You can read more about latest Arsenal, matches Previews, Match Highlights and Free Football Live Stream learn all about football latest news, transfers news and more

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The Most Popular Liverpool FC Merchandise

There is no doubt that Liverpool FC is one of the truly great soccer clubs of the world. Admittedly in recent years they may not have dominated the game in the way they did in the 1970s but the truth is that they have always made their impact felt at the highest level of European soccer.

And so it is hardly surprising that Liverpool has thousands of ardent fans scattered all over the world. Many of these fans never lose a single opportunity to feel closer to their club. One way of doing this is by getting hold player's shirts and other playing kits and memorabilia that can easily be found in stores selling Liverpool merchandise.

Actually there is a very wide range of different stuff that you can buy. Even with the team shirts you will have to choose between the shirts the boys usually wear for their home games and what they would ordinary don for away matches. Or if you are a really serious fan you can make sure that you get both the strips.

As is the case with other soccer clubs, Liverpool FC player's shirts are amongst the most popular merchandise that fans look to own so as to identify themselves with this great soccer club. There are even fans who purchase the complete team set right up to the goalkeeper.

Liverpool merchandise can also be a great idea if you need to get a gift for somebody whom you already know is a fan of the club. However it may be a good idea to start by finding out what memorabilia they already have so that you do not end up getting them something that they got a long time ago.

Another Liverpool item that is wildly popular are the hats if you have watched Liverpool games on TV you may have noticed what most fans like wearing. The most popular hats are called the beanies and will usually be decorated with the Liverpool colours and may sometimes even have the names of players and shirt numbers they usually wear.

Fans usually prefer to have the names of Liverpool legends on these hats. One such Liverpool soccer player who is a true legend is Steve Gerard. Although at a tender age he even had a trial with Manchester United, Gerard ended up signing his first professional soccer contract with Liverpool. The amazing thing is that in his first season he always looked pretty nervous and not the kind of player who would make any impact at Anfield. But in the 2000-2001 season Gerard exploded. Not only did he score 10 goals but he was clearly a very key member of the team that ended up winning both the FA cup and were also UEFA champions.

Who can forget Gerard's enormous contribution to that sensational Champions league victory where Liverpool came from behind having conceded 3 goals by half time and ended up winning. This determined player won man of the match then.

And so you will understand when Liverpool fans seem to be crazy about Gerard wearing all kinds of team memorabilia and Liverpool merchandise that has his name or shirt number on it.

Eddie Stone owns and runs 4FootyFans a PREMIER UK online, Officially Licensed, Football/Soccer Gifts, Memorabilia and Merchandise Store.

It has around 2500 items in stock at any time, including a full range of top Liverpool and other Top Clubs products

The store ships worldwide.

There are many aspects that set us apart from our competitors:

Low prices
Top quality, licensed products
Range ever-changing
Years of personal football fan experience

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Why Free Soccer Predictions Might Not Be Successful In The Long Run

It might seem like a good idea in the beginning to use free soccer predictions to try and make a profit with soccer. You must ask yourself one important question though. If the soccer prediction has any sort of value then why would any reputable person be willing to give it away for free? Just think about how much time it has to take to come up with a prediction.

It can take hours to analyze various statistical data, trends, patterns and other information that changes by the hour. Why would someone be willing to give away that information for free? There is no such thing as a free lunch, so you should be asking yourself - why are these tips free? Even if the goal was to ultimately draw you in as a paying customer, giving away such valuable information just wouldn't make sense.

Here is the problem; sometimes you may get free soccer predictions that are successful. You will make a return on your investment and this will get you excited. In most cases you are going to be required to subscribe, even if you are only receiving free soccer predictions. In some cases you might receive free soccer predictions consistently, without having to ever pay for anything.

Here is the problem with that, if the predictions are actually successful and you start making money what do you believe is going to happen? You might begin with very small stakes, just to see if the free soccer predations are actually good. If they started to win and your betting bank began to grow, you will most likely increase your stake.

What is happening is the person giving you the free soccer predictions is most likely on a good run at the moment. You just so happen to get in during this good run. Once this person hits a bad run, you are going to be betting higher stakes because of your previous success. Whatever money you have won will be wiped out, along with any confidence you gained along the way.

You have to understand that although free soccer predictions can be fun, the only way to make a consistent profit is to go for a paid option. True professionals focus on long-term profits. Professionals who do strenuous research would never part with their findings for free, at least not long-term. At some point they would require you to sign up if you want to continue receiving their picks.

If, like me, you find that having a bet makes a football match even more interesting, try these soccer predictions. I have had a lot of fun with them over the recent months and you will not find better soccer picks anywhere.

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The Man in Black

I have a dilemma, I am both a football fan and I am a qualified Referee. Ok, I'm not at the same level as Howard Webb, in fact I don't even Ref at league level, but I would argue that I know more about the laws of the game than the average fan.

So what does it take to be a Referee in today's game at any level? Well the game may be played at different levels, but the problems are very similar.

I know that I have made wrong decisions in a game, you have to react how you see it at the time, we all make mistakes, even at the highest level, and whilst Mr Webb gets all his actions scrutinised by pundits and commentators, I have to suffer verbal abuse that I can hear, and that I am not expected to react to, Howard Webb probably does not hear any of the abuse from the fans, because it's drowned out by other noise.

That is the crux of the problem, whilst Howard Webb has to suffer the analysis of an ex-player who's probably never officiated a game in his life, and has the benefit of replays, computer simulation and an audience that will be biased into believing what he says is the truth, I do not.

One of the biggest complaints fans have is that the Referee is not consistent from game to game, we have seen this season several two footed tackles, in the case of Kompany he was sent off for one and not for the other, yet Chris Foy gets the criticism for sending him off, whilst the other Ref gets lauded for not making him walk. So who is inconsistent? Well at the start of the season all Referees including myself were told that a two footed tackle is an automatic red card, whether the tackle makes contact or not. So in the Kompany case, Foy is NOT the inconsistent Ref, the one who DIDN'T send him off is. This is where knowledge of the game and of Referee's instructions are important, if commentators and pundits spent as much time researching the laws and its variations during the season as they do on which player is shagging who's wife, we would all be better off for it.

Referees don't demand respect, they deserve it, without them there would be no games. So next time you go to a match, if it's amateur remember the only one being paid is the Ref; if it's a Semi-pro or Pro game, remember you paid to and watch it.

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Karim Benzema Brilliant Performances

The 23 year old striker has achieved a lot is his career. This can be attributed to his humble nature and the fact that he is an extremely mature person who works diligently to excel. He is extremely loyal and this can be judged from his career. He started playing football with Olympique Lyonnais, when he was 9 years old, in 1996 and stayed with the club for 13 years. He was transferred from Lyon to Real Madrid in 2009 and even with his new club he signed a long term contract of 6 years.

Karim Benzema started his football career with a domestic club and later joined Olympique Lyonnais - the biggest club of the city. He started playing with the club when he was 9 years old and progressed through the ranks of the club fairly quickly. He was able to make his professional debut in the 2004 - 2005 season and played on and off during the season.

Benzema made his mark in the season of 2007 - 2008 when he scored 30 goals over the season to guide his team to winning their 7th successive league title. It was a magnificent year for Benzema indeed as he was the center of attention all around and the highlight of the season was him being named the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year award.

His services acquired by Real Madrid in 2009 for a six year contract. The start of the 2010 - 2011 season was disappointing for Benzema as he failed to make any regular appearances for the team and was only used as an occasional striker. However, the injury of his team mate Higuain meant that Benzema was to take the responsibility of Higuain's shoes. Benzema grasped the opportunity with both hands and performed remarkably in the role of the first choice striker of the team. The sale of the Real Madrid Tickets increased majorly because of his spectacular performances.

Benzema played a key role in the Real Madrid's Copa Del Rey. It was a match for which the Real Madrid Tickets were extremely difficult to procure for the fans. His overall superb run of performances throughout the year of 2011 led him to winning the award of French Player of the Year.

This led to everyone having high expectations from the young French striker for the next season of 2011-2012. Benzema certainly didn't disappointed his fans with his brilliant pre season performance in which he scored a total of 8 goals in 7 matches. Benzema went to score the fastest goal in the history of El Clasico. He scored the remarkable goal in just 22 seconds to distinguish himself prominently in the history of El Clasico. He performed remarkably throughout the match and his goal gave his team an early edge in the game. However, Real Madrid failed to capitalize and lost the match 2-1.

Benzema has also represented his national side of France at the youth and international level. His brilliant performances have made him the center of much speculation - Will he take his team to the ultimate glory in the next FIFA World Cup?

Lisa Dorgan is an English Football reporter, writing about the English and European football leagues, the Premier league, Champions league, La Liga, football clubs, teams and players as well as specific teams such as Barcelona and Real Madrid and where to obtain online the FC Barcelona tickets as well as the Real Madrid tickets at excellent prices.

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Arsene Wenger: Best Bargain Signings

What can Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger do with under £10 million? He does love a bargain signing, in fact you could argue that he's made a career out of them. Here are some of his best.

Kolo Toure - £150k - To say Kolo Toure was plucked from obscurity would be an understatement. When the Arsenal scouts found him he was playing for the Ivorian club ASEC Mimosa (no, we haven't heard of them either), he impressed on a trial and cost just £150,000 when signed permanently. He played 225 games for the club, so that transfer fee works out at less than £700 a match. Pretty good business, hey?

Cesc Fabregas - £500k - Cesc cost a rumoured half million when he signed for the club in 2003, and before he had turned 18 was an Arsenal regular. You don't need me to tell you that he hasn't looked back. He went on to captain the club before his big money return to Spain, and at 24 is still in the early stages of a glorious career.

Thierry Henry - £11 million - Okay, so if he does have £10 million to spend, Arsene can only buy 10/11ths of a Thierry. £11 million pounds isn't cheap. All I will say is this; Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea - £30 million. Arsene also made a tidy profit when he sold Thierry on, good business all round.

Robin Van Persie - £2.75 million - RVP was a snip at under 3 mill from Feyenoord. He's approaching 100 goals for the Gunners now, and if he is sold will surely make a huge profit.

Nicolas Anelka - £500,000 - Anelka may have played less games for Arsenal than any of the others, but was an uncovering of talent that epitomises Wenger's transfer policy. Sold on for 44 times the amount he was purchased for.

Indeed, I'm sure it is the 'selling on' that worries the Arsenal faithful, who will be fearing RVP will follow the rest of the list out of the arsenal door in the summer. Arsenal can curse the outgoings of the last 10 years all they like, but at least they've got the best in the business when it comes to nabbing young talent. £10 million can buy Wenger a whole crop of 16 year olds who will be primed for a title challenge in...5-10 years. Just a joke Gooners, please don't send me abusive emails.

For more Football articles, news, previews and player profiles and even interviews, head to my blog http://www.thenorthstand.com/ - The ultimate football blog.

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How to Put Yourself in the Zone

Tonight I watched a young man (15 year old, Sophomore), get his first crack at "playing" varsity football. We'll call him Aaron, well because Aaron is his name.

Aaron's a superb soccer player the doubles in the fall as a field goal and place kicker. Some have said he's a natural.

But I believe he is not a natural. I've seen his work ethic, focus, confidence, and mental toughness. Those are the secret pieces of the puzzle that got him pulled up to Varsity as a back up kicker as a sophomore.

Tonight he stepped up mentally and was prepared to step into the game when the head coach called on him.

After tonight's game his stats look like this:

Touchback
Missed P.A.T.
False start kickoff
Kick off returned 15 yards

I could see and feel, in his mind this was a superb performance.

When the game ended I rushed to catch up with Aaron to find out his mental state after his performance.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Did you see my P.A.T.? I wish I could take that back!"

I decided this was a good opportunity to help him leapfrog his current mental position. So I encouraged him to "Let it go mentally" and then asked him two questions:

1. Where was your mistake? He said, "I was thinking about it!"

2. What do you do when you play soccer? With a smile on his face He said, "I JUST PLAY!"

He got it... There's no reason to think about it in a game situation. All you do is "JUST PLAY!"

One of the secrets to success is remembering that thinking, contemplating, analyzing mistakes are important to achieving success. But they should be done at home, in the car, while showering, before bed, at practice - but NEVER in the game.

Mental rehearsal and evaluating mistakes are to be done pre-game and post game.

Game time is only about Doing. Acting. Execution. Allowing the work you put in at practice to flow through you.

Game time is your opportunity to breathe deeply, remember the goals you've already set, focus on the end result. Then Let it Go! Breathe Deeply! Then Go Do IT.

This my friend is the fastest and most effective way to achieve success.

Add in the Zen breathing exercises I teach and you will find yourself centered, relaxed and focused on your goals. You'll be in the zone!

If you want the greatest opportunity to achieve your goals and perform at your highest potential then I strongly urge you to follow the system I laid out in this report.

That way you can put yourself in the ZONE on command.

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Free Soccer Drills - Available Online

Soccer Drills

If you are looking for some great free soccer drills that will help to improve your team's performance on the field, then you should do an online search. There are dozens of great websites out there that offer soccer drills of all types and they do not require you to buy anything. You get the advanced or novice you have been searching for, for Free! It is incredibly easy to find websites that have quality free soccer drills. Take a moment to browse through these helpful websites so that you may gain more knowledge about this contact sport.

There are a number of websites that offers you information on soccer drills and they offer all this helpful knowledge to you absolutely free, no gimmicks and no hidden charges. Just by searching on the internet for "Free Soccer Drills" on the website returns a large number of websites and you start reading about everything from Soccer drills to Soccer Fitness as well as helpful nutrition tips and other resources that will encourage and help your team to do its absolute best. You will find a wide variety of soccer drills to choose from such as drills for children under the ages of 6, 8, 10, 14, 16, and 18 years.

Some of the drills that I have found include:

The Numbers Game and Pirates of the Pugg for the under 6 to 8 age group.Split the Defenders Passing Game, 1 vs. 1 competition and Dribbling Warm up for the under 10 to 12 age group.Finding the Target Player, 4 vs. 3 Attack vs. Defense, Four Corners Passing Game and a 2 vs. 2 challenge for the under 13 to 16 age group.Passing Combinations, 4 vs. 4 Wide out of the Back, 1 vs. 1 Defending the Dribble, Goal Keeper Arc Drills and Soccer Pass and Move Drills for the 17 and up age groups

Most of the websites that offer free soccer drills will teach you useful soccer drills that help develop the skills of your players. They often have loads of helpful coaching advice with updates every week, and you get it all for free. These websites offers you expert training that will show you how to gain more player participation, more touching of the ball, more 1 vs. 1 attempts from your team, how to get more goalkeeper participation, how to get your team to attempt more passes and much more helpful content. You can receive all of this information by signing up for their weekly emails when you visit their website. You'll receive amazing coaching tips that will help you succeed as a youth soccer coach and be able to get the most out of your players during every game. You'll find out ways to improve your player positioning as well as improve the confidence of your young team players so that they can get out on the field, have a lot of fun, and be successful during the big game.

There are more helpful websites out there that offer great free soccer drills as well as coaching advice. Visit these websites today to help improve your team's skill level and game play.

Nigel Reed has been involved in soccer during the 60's, 70's and 80's as a player and has been coaching youth soccer in Australia since 2000.

Learn more on How to play soccer and take advantage of the Soccer Drills on Nigels website

Good luck with your coaching, unless you play my team of course and remember Practice Makes Permanent

© 2009 Coaching-Youth-Soccer-For-Success

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Milan, Benfica, Barca and APOEL in Quarterfinals

The men from APOEL continue making history in the Knockout Stage and are already qualified for Quarterfinals; along with the Cypriots are Benfica, Milan and Barcelona.

The eight clubs advancing from the Round of 16 to quarterfinals are almost complete with four clubs in and four empty spots set to be filled between next Tuesday and Wednesday. Milan and Barcelona are already qualified as it was expected; however the way they did it wasn't exactly as we picture it. The Italians for example allowed Arsenal to scare a bit the Rossoneri fans with three goals against, from Koscielny, Rosicky and the Gunners top goal scorer, Robin Van Persie. But in the end, the 4-0 victory at San Siro three weeks ago gave Milan the point needed in the aggregate to continue in the Champions League.

In Barcelona's case, it went the opposite way, and when crushing Bayer Leverkusen would've been enough, they instead made a bloodbath of the German club. The 7-1 result at Camp Nou that settled which one of these groups would join the last 8 phase, has been the highest defeat of the knockout stage so far. Actually the ones who settled it were Lionel Messi and Cristian Tello, for they scored 5 and 2 goals respectively. The lonely goal from Leverkusen was placed by Karim Bellarabi when Barça was more than safe, at the 90'.

After their fought first leg fixture against Zenit, Benfica recovered the necessary points on Tuesday with a 2-0, which has placed the Eagles in quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. Two goals were exactly what the Portuguese needed to run over the Russians and though they converted the second goal a little late, patience paid back well. Once again Maxi Pereira opened the scoring against Zenit, this time during the first minute of the first half's injury time. After the break you could cut the tension with a knife in the Estadio da Luz as both clubs were looking for the advantage that would keep them in the tournament; still only one could win and it would be Nelson Oliveira the one to obtain the triumph for Benfica by intercepting a pass from Bruno Cesar in the 90'.

Nicosia, homeland of APOEL, must be still cover in confetti after the celebration for the victory, because this club not only is the first Cypriot club to reach the knockout stage, but it keeps also advancing in the competition. Although the first match was a triumph for Lyon, the 1-0 didn't look like the biggest threat for APOEL, since it was a low advantage for the French. So, on Wednesday the Cypriots stood up firmly to Lyon and early in the encounter settle the tied on the aggregate score with a goal from Gustavo Manduca.

But the first 90 minutes passed by with no changes on the score as well as the extra 30 minutes, so the draw had to be unsettled with penalties. Lyon started the shootout with Kim Kallstrom, followed by Lisandro and Gomis; while the hosts' first three men were Aílton, Nuno Morais and Alexandrou. Until then every player had converted their penalties, keeping it even in 3s. However Dionissis Chiotis sharpen up and when the next two men from OL, Alexandre Lacazette and Michael Bastos stood in front of him, Chiotis put a stop to their hits and saved his team. To help Chiotis, Ivan Trickovski scored the last for the Cypriots and together placed the 4-3 in the penalties shootout.

By Camilla Mancini

Camilla Mancini is one of the most qualified copy writers on Sports Betting and currently writes for Instant Action Sports. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

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FA Cup Preview - Liverpool Play Oldham Athletic

Liverpool will face Oldham Athletic at their Anfield Stadium on Friday in the FA Cup 3rd Round. The Reds who have previously won the Cup on seven previous occasions will be firm favourites to beat Oldham, who are currently playing in League One, the Latics have never reached the Cup Final, although they have reached the semi-finals three times, their last semi final appearance was in 1994.

Having not beaten Liverpool at Anfield since 1914, the odds will certainly be stacked against the visitors, who have only beaten the Reds in six of their last twenty nine meetings and this will be the first match between the two teams since 1994, when Liverpool emerged as 3-0 winners.

Oldham are currently in 14th place in League One, two leagues below and in total they stand 51 league places behind the Reds, who are comfortably positioned 6th in the Premier League, but the Latics who are currently managed by former Manchester City player Paul Dickov, will be boosted by the Reds 3-0 defeat at Manchester City earlier in the week and also the prospect that Reds manager Kenny Dalglish may be tempted to rest some of his regular first team players for the game.

Liverpool may be tempted to give first team opportunities to some of their younger players such as England youth international Jonjo Shelvey and Uruguayan Sebastian Coates, more well known players such as Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez have had limited first team opportunities this season, but they may be given the chance to start the game. The Reds captain Steven Gerrard may start the game as he continues to build his fitness following an ankle injury, having made several substitute appearances in recent weeks. Brazilian goalkeeper Doni, who signed from Roma last summer, could replace Pepe Reina to make his first Liverpool appearance, while Martin Kelly and veteran Jamie Carragher may also feature.

Oldham are likely to field their strongest possible tam as they look to stage a major upset with striker Shefki Kuqi, who is Oldham's top scorer this season and Dean Furman will probably captain the side for the Anfield fixture. The Oldham team includes several Liverpool fans including defender Zander Diamond who has visited Anfield once before, having paid for a tour of the famous Stadium.

Having previously won the FA Cup on seven occasions, Liverpool appeared in the first Cup Final in 1914, but lost to Burnley 1-0. The Reds didn't win their first FA Cup final until 1965 and the guidance of manager Bill Shankly. Current manager Kenny Dalglish won the Cup with the Reds in 1986 and 1989, although it is now six years since the Reds have secured any silverware so they will be hoping to win a trophy this season.

Steve Goodwin is an expert author, football fan and retailer of Liverpool merchandise available from the Liverpool Shop all products from the Liverpool Store are available to ship worldwide.

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What If 'The Magpies' Play Champions League?

It's been not less than a miracle season for the Newcastle fans who were left fuming when Newcastle were relegated from the premier league in 2008/09.

A run of brilliant form is now getting them to the next level. The dream of playing European football is almost sure watching their current form. But whether it will be Champions League or Europa League remains a question! It's just a matter of 4 big games.

A winning streak of 6 games has kept them just above 5th placed Tottenham, and with Tottenham's poor run of form continuing with the defeat to Norwich City at home and QPR away, anything is possible. However, they can still catch up the third place if it goes like this. Arsenal was not called to be a contender for the fourth place when the season started. But they have come from outside to displace Tottenham at third and are three points clear from Newcastle and six from Tottenham with an extra game played.

This Newcastle team seems to be of entirely different mentality than that of 2 years back. They struggled through the sole effort of Kevin Nolan for the last few years, who is now not even in the team. The controversial sacking of manager Chris Hughton and the sell of players like Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique, made everyone sure of Newcastle finishing in the lower half of the table. But with manager Alan Pardrew's hard work, some young signings and strong defense, they have put a stamp on mouth of those who were predicting the worst sitting on their chair.

The factors of this great run can be:
1. Strong defense with much stronger Tim Krul, which has notched 14 clean sheets till now.
2.. Signing of Papiss Demba Cisse, team-mate of Senegalese striker Demba Ba, who has reached double figures in goals with his Senegalese team-mate.
3. Return of Ben Arfa, who was out for most of the season and now forming a great partnership with Cisse.

However, the end of their dream run may come to an end when they meet the two richest team of the league, Chelsea and Manchester City, in a week's time. With an easy run of fixtures for Tottenham and probably Chelsea, it is unlikely for Newcastle to finish fourth. Meanwhile, Chelsea can ruin this all if they win the Champions League on May 19 at the Allianz Arena, Munich.

But this is why soccer excites us; we never know what happens next?

To read more about Champions League, English Premier League football, Euro and many more interesting facts about soccer, check http://normalfootball.blogspot.com/

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El Clasico European Final - Is It Still Possible?

Everyone expected something big from the two Spanish giants in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. But it turned out to be different from what was expected.

Real Madrid lost 2-1 at Munich whereas Chelsea defeated Barcelona with a single goal from Drogba.

Madrid's last clash with Bayern in the Champions league saw them defeated by away goals, 4-4 on aggregate.

They last met in the last 16 of Champions League in 2006-07, where a late away goal from Mark van Bommel in the first leg proved to be crucial for Bayern to progress.

But the situation is different this time. Jose Mourinho will be the man to watch in the second leg as his tactics always makes the difference in these types of situations. He is in the run for his third Champions League title with a third team and will be the first manager to do so if he succeeds.

However, all eyes will be on that man, Cristiano Ronaldo. He has been criticized a lot for failing to spark in big situations and this might be the right time for him to show what he is capable of. A goal with a clean sheet will be enough for Real to progress but with Bayern out of the title race In their domestic league and Real still holding the lead in La Liga, predictions seem to be worthless.

A similar situation is with Barcelona-Chelsea clash. A controversial 1-1 draw at the Stamford Bridge and 0-0 at the Nou Camp saw Barcelona progress to the final of the competition when they last met in the Champions League semifinals in 2009.

There is a turn around this time with Chelsea winning the home clash with 1-0 win. But Barcelona are still supposed to defeat them at home as they have been doing in the past few seasons to their opponents.

It all depends on one man, the little magician Lionel Messi. He is the reason why Barcelona are playing their fifth semifinal in five successive seasons. His sparks on the game is not the question to be raised but will Chelsea be able to stop him from scoring remains to be seen.

While this might be the turning point for the temporary manager Roberto de Matteo, Chelsea's defensive fragilities need to be analysed as well.

Fans expectations might differ from the team's this time as we expect an El Classico European final but the Spanish giants would pray for easier opponent in the final or a third possibility is always there, Bayern playing the final at home against Abramovich's Chelsea. Anything can happen and this is the beauty of the Champions League.

To read more about Champions League, English Premier League football, Euro and many more interesting facts about soccer, check http://normalfootball.blogspot.com/

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Soccer Picks: Using Your Picks Combined With The Draw Bet To Increase Wins

Are you good at making soccer picks? You might very well be, but it is not going to matter much if you are not good at making money from those selections. What you need is a form of bet you can use to make those picks mean something. And one form of bet is betting to draw. Below I have explained some of the reasons for this.

Why betting on the draw is the most powerful bet

If you are looking to make good soccer picks, then you are going to find yourself in the same boat with a lot of punters who just do not know what it takes to beat this game long term. Now you have some people who will try to focus on draws, but this can prove to be difficult as well. So as a result the draw bet has gotten a bad name.

The draw bet is considered to be the same as a loss to some people and it is not seen as being a popular bet. A lot of punters have more fun betting on a team to win anyway. But is there ever a good time to bet on a draw, and can it be done successfully over the long run? Yes there is and there are specific reasons why you should do this.

Reasons to bet draws as your soccer picks

The reality is that when it comes to soccer picks, draw bets pay pretty well. However, they do not have to be the only type of bet you make. But you can find times where betting to draw is going to be a good bet. What you want to do with your soccer picks in this case is find a match where both teams are going to have a tough time breaking each other down.

What you want to do is look for matches between an in form mid table side that is playing at home against a top table away side. In this case the visiting team is going to have a strong chance of getting out of there without losing, but surely they are going to have a hard time scoring against an in form home side. This is where you make your soccer picks.

Why does this situation result in a draw more often?

In these types of situations making soccer picks on a draw are more likely to win because both teams are happy to settle for a draw. And in most cases this is going to be the result. You can also look for Asian Handicap odds to help you. All you have to do is look for games where the handicap is set to 0 or level ball.

If you really wanted to win more often you could decide to only make soccer picks when a chance for a draw was likely. This would mean having to always wait for the right spot, but when it came you would have a much better chance of winning then those who bet to draw without being selective. This methods works and can turn a long term profit.

As you can see making soccer picks can be time consuming and even then if you make just one error all your work might be in vain. If you are looking for accurate soccer picks, why not let football betting champion to al the heavy lifting. They have been around since 2006 and keep providing good picks year after year.

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Football Betting - Tips to Make It Work Every Time

Football betting has proved to be an affair that can help make lives better since it provides many with the chance to make some real cash as they continue enjoying the sport. The betting is not however as cheap and easy as it seems since it can cost one a lot especially when wrong decision or decision that are not well thought out are made.

This is a process that needs good calculations especially for the football fans that are looking to make money besides enjoying the matches. Wrong betting can be very disappointing and can actually leave one in financial woes especially when he or she had placed huge amounts of money in a bet that went contrary to the expectations.

This makes it very important to consider all essential facts about the match that you are about to place a bet on every single time. It is actually very beneficial to start looking at the likely outcomes of the matches that you are looking forward to placing the best on since this will ensure that you are aware of every single aspect. Early analyzation is also helpful since it ensures that no detail about the matches is left out and the fan is of course in a better position to make sound decisions.

Always ensure that you find a reliable betting site and one that has a good reputation to it. This is because fraudsters take part in almost everything and when you settle for any site you might end up losing your money in a bet that never was. A good site should be reasonable enough and should make available safe and convenient ways of making any deposits of withdrawals. Always remember that online transactions can be very risky.

When making the football bets, always make bets that are reasonable in relation with the football odds. This will ensure that you make bets that won't hurt much even when the expected results are not achieved. It is not very advisable to place large amounts of money especially in cases where the odds don't seem to be giving a very clear line on which line to follow in the betting.

Also, take the time to know the strong team players and what their absence in the matches could mean to the team and the results in general. Past matches can also be considered and how prepared the teams are in relation to the time they have had to relax since their last matches.

If you are a keen football fan and are looking for the very best free Football Odds and free Football betting then you are on the right site! Only Football Odds offer free betting tips for the champions league and also for the best odds available for all your favourite clubs and their competitions.

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London 2012 Olympics: The Return of Uruguay's Soccer

Land of Champions

Universally famous for its talented footballers, the South American republic of Uruguay will compete in the men's Olympian soccer championship in the Briton capital of London in July and August 2012, after a 84-year absence in the Olympiad. Along with Brazil and the host country, it is one of the "heavy-favorites" to win the crown in the multi-sport event, an Olympic title won by Pedro Cea and his fellow Uruguayans in the 1920s (a couple of years prior to winning the Inaugural World Cup). Curiously enough Uruguay would have won more medals, but in the middle of the 1970s it refused to attend the Montreal Games and then an international boycott deprived the country of the opportunity of making an Olympian appearance in the former Soviet republic of Russia.

Olympic History

By mid-1924, the national side left Montevideo (country's capital city) for Paris to attend the Games of the VIII Olympiad. There, with passion and discipline, Uruguay's team made headline news across the world when it was the champion in the men's football tournament, ahead of Switzerland ( silver) and Sweden (bronze). In the meantime, it also became the first non-European team to receive the global title. Uruguay's roster included footballers such as Andres Mazali, Pedro Arispe, Jose Vidal, Santos Urdinaran, Pedro Petrone, Angel Romano, Umberto Tomasina, Alfredo Zibechi, Jose Nasazzi, Jose Leandro Andrade, Alfredo Ghierra, Hector Scarone, Pedro Cea, Jose Naya,Pedro Casella, Luis Chiappara, Pedro Etchegoyen, Zoilo Saldombide, Pascual Somma, Fermin Uriarte, Pedro Zingone, and Antonio Urdinaran.

In the wake of its triumph in Western Europe, they were received as national heroes in their homeland country, at that time one of the most prosperous nations in the Spanish-speaking world.Over the years that followed, the peaceful republic of Uruguay was able to defend successfully its global trophy, gaining the admiration and respect of the world.

In the pre-Olympic year 1927, the Football Continental Cup had been won by the Argentine side after their win over Uruguay. Nonetheless, shortly after, these results changed in the Summer Olympics in the Netherlands. In a South American duel, the Uruguayan squad came first in the Olympiad upon their historic victory over Argentina 2-1 in the gold-medal match. Prior to the finals, the host nation and Germany were eliminated by the Uruguayan side. In Amsterdam (Holland), the Olympian winners were Andres Mazali, Pedro Arispe, Lorenzo Fernandez, Antonio Campolo, Pedro Petrone, Santos Urdinaran, Hector Scarone, Juan Arremon, Roberto Figueroa, Jose Nasazzi, Jose Leandro Andrade, Alvaro Gestido, Pedro Cea, Hector Castro, Adhemar Canavesi, Juan Piriz, and, Juan Peregrino Anselmo, Venancio Bartibas, Fausto Batignani, Domingo Tejera, Angel Melogno, and Rene Borjas.

Without Olympic Medals

During the 1930s and 1950s, the country's squad earned the FIFA Cup twice; the last time with a stunning win against the host nation in Rio de Janeiro. As well as being world champion and nine-time winner of the South American contest, they also earned five Intercontinental events, eight Libertadores cups, seven Junior Continental championships (1954-1981), and one gold medal in the 1983 Pan American Sports Games (by defeating Brazil in the semis). It was really interesting. Yet despite these global achievements, the country's sportsmen could not compete for the Summer Olympic Games.

The Return of Uruguay

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, tiny Uruguay had been plagued by political violence, financial crisis (budget deficits), mismanagement, and other social problems. But Uruguay's nightmares did not stop. Additionally, this former Spaniard colony, once called "the Switzerland of the Americas", began a war against rebel groups. But these problems came to a head when the nation's anti-Marxist Head of State Juan Maria Bordaberry was overthrown in a coup in the latter half of the 70s. Soon afterwards, a heavy-handed military rule was installed for a 11-year period. As a consequence of this atmosphere, sport was gradually losing its status. Over the next few years, thousands of soccer players had been forced to play outside Uruguay, mainly in Argentina and Western Europe. Meanwhile, the country's teams also had hurdles to make trips abroad.

Uruguay's football - often referred to as one of the world's finest squads-- apparently appeared to emerge from its crisis in 1976. In February of that year, after some early successes in the Continental Tournament on Brazil's northern coast, the national side gained a berth at the Montreal Games following a 48-year period of decline. During these decades, astonishingly there were not Uruguayan squads in the Summer Games, being defeated by Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Paraguay in the Continental Olympic Qualification tournaments.

Nevertheless, the 1976 team inexplicably declined to go to Quebec, Canada, losing an important chance to capture one of the three Olympian medals in the amateur event. Later that year, the men's football team failed to qualify for the FIFA World Tournament for the first time. Over the following period, soccer continued to face many obstacles: Prior to participating in the 1980 U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics because of its complex relationship with the Soviet Bloc, the country's sports officials refused to compete in the Pre-Olympic Cup in Colombia, which gave Olympian tickets to South America. During this same period, Uruguay's participation in the VIII Pan American Sports Games was suspended despite being the winner of the 1979 Junior Continental event.

The authoritarian government was brought to a close in 1985 when Julio Maria Sanguinetti won the multi-party polls. During the decades that followed, Uruguay's democratic society began a new period with good news in many aspects.

Traditionally, South America is the "big favorite" in the Olympic championships. By 1988, Brazil assembled a squad of top footballers such as Romario, Bebeto, and Tafarell, who were runners-up in the Olympiad in Korea, a medal that Brazil had won in 1984 in Southern California. In the second half of the 1990s, Argentina was second and Brazil, with its global star Ronaldo, third, respectively. In the following century, Ivan Zamorano --- one of South America's finest footballers-- and his fellow sportsmen helped Chile to win its only medal in the Games in Oceania. Then, Argentina won two consecutive titles; by 2008 the Argentine side led Latin America to its fourth Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Aside from this, Paraguay's football players earned the silver medal in the 2004 Modern Olympics in Greece's capital city of Athens. At London 2012, South America is represented by Uruguay and Brazil.

The national squad won the right to attend the London 2012 Games after finishing second in the South American Youth Championship in early 2011 on Peruvian soil. During the regional tournament, Uruguay's contingent made history when it defeated Argentina -twice Olympic gold medalist, 2004 & 2008 -- 1-0. The Uruguayan Olympic Committee probably will send the following footballers to London 2012: Diego Polenta (who plays in Italy), Adrian Luna, Matias Vecino, Diego Forlan (the country's best athlete in this century), Federico Rodriguez, Pablo Capellini, Matias Jones, Ramon Arias, Nicolas Prieto, Camilo Mayada, Leandro Cabrera (plays in Spain), Luis Machado, Luis Suarez ( one of the world's top players), Alvaro Pereira, and Sebastian Gallegos (plays in Spain).

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: Within a span of three years, Alejandro has produced a host of high-quality articles/essays about cultures of the world, "re-discovering countries" and exploring exotic locations -from Chad to Vietnam, from Kosovo to the paradise island of Dominica - and new biographies (from such disparate individuals as Halle Berry, José Gamarra Zorrilla...). He also has made a name for himself as an expert on Summer Olympics, becoming the top "Olympian author" at Ezinearticles.com; stories based on athletic perseverance and Olympian spirit in global sports, including the United States of America. Under this backdrop, he has declared himself as "the world's No. 1 fan of the Olympics". As a keen sports fan, he says "I am passionate about sport-writing about it, playing it, watching it, and talking..."

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Football Player's Position

If we are talking about playing football, I think most of us want to be a striker or forward player, it's because we think that the striker is the best position in the game and the others just for supporting the striker. And also we think that the striker is a hero for the team because he makes scores and finally wins the game. Sometimes common people say that they win only because of the Forward players or the strikers. But actually, their assumption is wrong, because the main thing that is important in football game is teamwork. Each player in the game must be discipline and do their duty based on their position. Without that, the play will be bad and the team won't win the game.

In football game, basically we know about 4 positions of players; Goalkeeper (GK), Defender (DF), Midfielder (MF), and Forward or Striker (FW). In each position, they have their main duty in a game. So, what are actually the characteristics of each of them? Okay, let's check it out.

The first position is a Goalkeeper. Goalkeeper is a position which has a main task to protect the goal post from opponent attack. This position actually is placed in the back of the others position. So, he just stands under the goal post and blocks the ball that comes to the goal. The characteristic of this position is goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball with his hand.

The second position is a Defender or we usually call it as Back. Someone in this position has main task to protect their area from opponent attack. The position of back is in front of the goalkeeper. Usually in a game, defender is divided into two; Center Back (CB) and Side Back (SB). Center Back is a player who stands in the middle of defense area and in front of the goalkeeper. This kind of position holds the biggest responsibility in team after the Goalkeeper. Then the Side Back is a player who plays in the side of the defense area. Sometimes, this kind of position is helpful when attacking.

The next position is Midfielder. I think this is the most flexible position in the match. Because someone in this position can do everything, both attacking and defending. The midfielders play in the middle of the field. And also, midfielder is a position that is very important in a team. Because, they can make the defender are connected to the forward players. It means that the midfielders are the Playmakers in the game. Actually in the real game, the midfielder is divided into 4 positions; Center Midfielder (CMF), Defending Midfielder (DMF), Attacking Midfielder (AMF), and Side Midfielder. CMF tends to make the beautiful play by giving pass to others teammate. While DMF tends to more help the defender to defense. It means this kind of player is more defensive. Then an AMF is the contrary of DMF. It means that this player is more offensive. And the last is SMF, this player can both defending and attacking in the side of the field. This kind of player is usually called as a Winger.

And the fourth position in football game is a Striker or Forward player. This player has the main task to make scores by driving the ball into the goal post. In this position, the player should have good instinct and can make good positioning. And the Striker should be able to maximize the chance to make a score, because in the real game, the striker is always kept by opponent player.

By knowing about the characteristics of football players, we can conclude that, each position have their own duty and role in playing football. It means that the striker that cannot bring the team into victory without support from their teammate. Also the team cannot win the game without the participation of strikers. So we can say that all types of position in the game are important and each of them cannot stands alone, it means that the most important thing is teamwork. Without that, I think it is hard to reach victory.

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Using A Soccer Betting System: How Can You Tweak It To Make It Better?

If you are planning to use a soccer betting system, whether you are creating one or using one you purchased, you need to tweak it first. I would say this rule applies more if you have purchased a soccer betting system. If you have created your own you have probably already tweaked it to fit your betting style and your profit goals.

Those who have purchased a soccer betting system need to know what rules they can apply in order to make it stronger. Now, these systems might already have applied what I am about to mention. However if they have not, then by you applying these rules you will increase your strike rate and your profitability.

Take whatever soccer betting system you have purchased from someone else and make sure you conduct your own research concerning the teams you will be betting on. Never mechanically bet on a particular team without digging deep. The goal is to look for answers to key questions that will turn it into a stronger bet if it is weak.

You want to know if a particular team is on a winning streak.

Teams that are hot tend to stay hot, betting against them is to be avoided. This is very important. Next, you want to find out are there any player rivalries within the team. Whenever there are multiple people competing with each other within a team to be the best, this can be a good thing or a bad thing. This might cause them to play their best on the field, or it may cause chemistry problems.

Next you want to research how the team has been playing lately in terms of quality. This isn't the same as them simply winning or losing. You want to see how they are losing and how convincingly are they winning. If their wins have been questionable then this may represent a potentially bad betting proposition.

Lastly, you can make a soccer betting system more powerful by analyzing a particular team's history at home and away from home. There are certain teams that represent far safer betting propositions when they are at home.

A mechanical system might not take this into mind, which is why you'll need to. Following these rules will help you to avoid mechanically applying a soccer betting system. Even though it may have mechanical rules, you still want to adjust bets to particular conditions.

The soccer betting system used by the folk at Football Betting Champion is simple: find more winners and give fewer losers to their members. They achieve this by using the deepest research to determine their soccer picks.

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Daniel Sturridge Is Among the Rising Stars of the Premier League

Daniel Sturridge is 22 years old and the young striker is among the rising star of Barclays Premier League. Sturridge made his first team debut with Chelsea in the current season of 2011 - 2012 and he has become a permanent fixture of the first team in a short span of time.

He faced competition from stars like Drogba, Anelka, and Torres for the vital position of playing as the striker of the club, Chelsea. He thus improvised and found his niche in the right wing position of his team. This has enabled his club, Chelsea, to make killer attacks from the right wing as the young striker is equipped with extreme pace and is able to beat defender with ease. Furthermore, his striking abilities mean that he can cut inside from the wing and fire killer shot onto the goal to give another crucial attacking advantage to his team.

Daniel Sturridge was born on 1st September, 1989 and his full name is Daniel Andre Sturridge. The younger striker started his playing career with the club of Aston villa and then moved to Coventry City. His big break came when he moved to the club, which is the current league leaders, Manchester City. It is the opinion of the experts that Manchester City was the club where Daniel Sturridge developed his talents that has enabled him to become the player that he is today.

His performance in the FA Youth Cup was exceptional and he garnered much acclaim when he led the club to the finals two times. This led to him getting a place in the professional team of Manchester City and he made his debut for the club in the same season. He thus became the only player in the history of the Premier League to have scored goals in the same season on the three different competitions - FA Cup, FA Youth Cup, and the Premier League.

The ultimately resulted in him becoming a player of high demand and many players pursued the young striker with Chelsea ultimately signing him in 2009. However, he initially failed to make the same impact with his new club of Chelsea as he had done with Manchester City. Consequently, the club of Chelsea loaned him out to Bolton Wanderers and it turned out to be a good move as his performance picked up and when he made his return to the club of Chelsea, he was a recharged player. Since then, he has become a formidable force in the lineup of Chelsea.

Sturridge was instrumental in the win of Chelsea against Manchester City, which broke their undefeated run. Before the thrilling encounter, Manchester City had been on undefeated in the season and it was an excellent display of football in which the Sturridge performed brilliantly. The win over Manchester City put Chelsea back in the title race and the resulting increase in morale has been visible in the following games of Chelsea.

The Barclays Premier League is going through a remarkable time indeed. The two league leaders - Manchester United and Manchester City - have been knocked out the Champions League and have subsequently, dropped to the Europa League. On the other hands, the two teams that had an extremely dismal start to the season - Chelsea and Arsenal - have progressed to the last of the Champions League. The way these two teams have picked up their form is incredible and this is well reflected in the sale of Chelsea Tickets and Arsenal Tickets.

Lisa Dorgan is an English Football reporter, writing about the English and European football leagues, the Premier league football clubs, teams and players as well as specific teams such as Chelsea FC and where to obtain online the Chelsea FC Tickets as well as the Manchester City Tickets at excellent prices.

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Infractions And Penalties In Soccer

In the game of soccer, there are a number of player infractions that will result in the referee halting game play, and possibly even implementing disciplinary measures according to regulations set by FIFA, which is the primary governing of the sport all over the world. Here, we take a look at the different soccer penalties and the infractions that may bring them about.

Direct free kicks

With the occurrence of certain fouls, referees may award a direct free kick to the disadvantaged team. In the event of such penalties, the free kick is taken from the spot where the infraction occurred, with the team making the kick essentially having a free shot at the opponent's goal, guarded only by the goalkeeper and a wall formed by the defending team.

Direct free kicks are awarded to the opposing team in the event of any one of the following infractions committed by a player:

Kicking or attempting to kick another playerTripping or attempting to trip another playerJumping at an opponentCharging an opponentStriking or attempting to strike an opponentPushing an opponentTackling an opponent before making contact with the ballHolding an opponentSpitting at an opponentHandling the ball with the hands

Penalty kicks

When any of the above offences are committed by a player within his team's penalty area, the opposing team will be awarded a penalty kick which is taken from twelve yards away from the defending team's goal. Unlike the direct free kick in which players of the defending team may form a wall comprised of two or more players, the penalty kick is guarded only by the goalkeeper of the defending team.

Indirect free kicks

An indirect free kick may be awarded to the opposing team if the goalie commits any one of the following infractions:

Taking four steps or more with the ball in his handsTouching the ball after releasing it without it having been touched by another playerTouching the ball with the hands after it has passed by a teammateTouching the with his hands after a throw-in

Indirect free kicks are also awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any one of the following infractions:

Playing in a manner that can endanger other playersPreventing an opponent from movingPreventing the goalkeeper from releasing the ballCommitting an infraction that results in the player being warned or taken out of the game

Yellow and red cards

In addition to the above penalties, referees may also opt to impose disciplinary actions signified by yellow or red cards. Yellow cards are given to a player for offenses ranging from poor sportsmanship to delays in restarting game play. Red cards are given in the event of more serious infractions, including violent acts, spitting at any player or the referee, or preventing a player from the opposing team from scoring a goal by deliberately touching the ball with the hands. Red cards may also be given to any player that has received two or more cautions in the same game.

Find a nice collection of free online soccer games, videos, wallpapers and soccer game related articles on the net.

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