Football/Soccer Is The Greatest Game On Earth. | Page 93 | Golden Skate

Football/Soccer Is The Greatest Game On Earth.

BusyMom

Medalist
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Well, how did it end? Was it Germany-Brazil redux?
5-1 Man city scored all the goals. :confused:

The money is not there anymore. :slink:
That's so sad. At least Berlusconi did some thing good once in his life with Milan. :unsure: But I have a feeling that their fates might change with next game with Liverpool. Our defends s*** big time. :bang:

Here some reminders for good old day:
http://media3.acmilan.com/assets/images/site/web/hall-of-fame.jpg
http://www.jogjis.com/stock/ac-milan-wallpaper-for-ipad-and-desktop.jpg
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/pho...d-Beckham-david-beckham-25250579-1024-768.jpg

I hope they'll give Pippo a chance to turn the table around.
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014

BusyMom

Medalist
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Money plays a very big part in football these days. But is it really necessary? It is an awkward moment when you think about most of players in English and Spanish national teams earn more money than German players. For example; Torres makes 13.9 m GBP a year while Muller makes 2m Euro a year. :think:
 

TMC

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Liverpool 2-2 Man city. (Liverpool won the PK)
The reason we won last night??? http://i.imgur.com/Lzyocbr.png :biggrin: James Bond and Austin Powers are on our side.
Our defences are 2nd rated. And we were lucky. :disapp:

Many fans (as always) complained about the venue. But I think it just looks different with the pitch's size and maybe...too many ads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etVG_U81c3M

Blah I was on my way back from holiday and couldn't watch...Were we any good?
 

BusyMom

Medalist
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Blah I was on my way back from holiday and couldn't watch...Were we any good?
Man City was way better. Liverpool just got really lucky with Sterling on top form last night. But to tell you the truth..from the whole pre-season games, City have the best performances.
 

TMC

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Man City was way better. Liverpool just got really lucky with Sterling on top form last night. But to tell you the truth..from the whole pre-season games, City have the best performances.

Did they send their a-teams both?
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
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Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
Hello again

Just a wee message to let you know that the Women's U-20 World Cup from Canada started last night.

The reason I am bringing it up is that the thing that really struck me about the 2 matches that Eurosport showed last night was how empty each stadium was.

Now, I don't know a lot about how popular football is in Canada in general, or Women's football in particular. But, based on other Women's matches I have watched over the years, I was expecting at least a quarter of the stadium capacity to be filled. Yet there was barely a tenth!

And, it is not as if the teams playing last night were not quality sides. In the first match, we had Finland play North Korea in Toronto. North Korea is very strong in Women's football at all age levels, and are always a team to keep an eye on. They won this tournament in 2006.

The second match was in Edmonton and was a repeat of the 2012 Final - the USA against Germany. Apart from North Korea's single title, the USA and Germany are the only teams to have won this tournament - the USA in 2002, 2008 and 2012; Germany in 2004 and 2010. In fact, in every running at least 1 of these teams have made it to the Semis, with 2006 and 2010 being the only years that it was not both of them.

I don't know if tickets are only pre-sold, or if you can buy them on the gate. But, if there are any forum members in Canada that missed out on going to Rio, and still fancy being able to say that they went to a World Cup match, this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

Please, because I feel so sorry for those girls playing in front of such a small audience!

CaroLiza_fan
 

TMC

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
It's the same with Women's hockey. Slowly getting better though, especially after Sochi where the women showed extraordinary skills and some new teams did very well (the Swiss Bronze). Until then it had pretty much been USA/Canada/Sweden/Finland who were regularly beating other teams like 40-1 (seriously). This is a bit like where Synchro skating is now :biggrin:

To be honest as a fan and a woman I have to say that women's football (and hockey) was pretty crappy until it got much, much better in the early 90s. Same process started with hockey in the late 90s. In those years, if you watched on telly, you'd think to yourself "oh this is awful I can't watch this". Many people have kept this attitude/opinion and never thought to have a look after 20 years. Some insist/ed they can't play well because they are, well, girls, and some just never thought to give it another chance. I am one of the latter! I only started watching again about 8 years ago, when I caught a match on telly and the quality was like night and day compared to the first matches I saw in the late 80s.

1st of all, the talent pool is much smaller, because even though girls play, there are still folks who consider football/hockey to be a men's pursuit and women shouldn't be taken seriously. 2ndly, if you do get a team together, they don't get enough cash from governments compared to men ("because women"). Very few are professionals (in football there are pro teams already, but not everywhere) so they don't exactly get paid for playing. Often they have to manage full- or part-time jobs as well as training. Or join a men's team like Finland's Noora Räty and the Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser (Noora will be tending goal for a minor club this season, and Hayley also played in Finland 2002-2004).

No viewers ("because women") = even less money = no leagues = talent can't afford to play and move on. It'll take another decade or so of cash injections and national programs to get the audiences they need). It's a shame to see those empty audiences, but I believe it will get much much better :)
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
I don't think the stadiums were exactly packed for the U-whatever-age-it-was matches for men either, those I saw glimpses of in Eurosport... It looked like maybe family members and a couple more... Like the junior GP in FS basically...
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
It's the same with Women's hockey. Slowly getting better though, especially after Sochi where the women showed extraordinary skills and some new teams did very well (the Swiss Bronze). Until then it had pretty much been USA/Canada/Sweden/Finland who were regularly beating other teams like 40-1 (seriously). This is a bit like where Synchro skating is now :biggrin:

Oh, you just made me laugh! When you mentioned "hockey", I automatically thought of FIELD hockey. And I was thinking "Eh? Where are the Dutch? I always thought they were the top team." It was only when you mentioned Sochi that it twigged that you were talking about ICE hockey!

It just shows how culturally diverse this forum is! That said, field hockey was the main sport played at my school, so I've been indoctrinated to have it in the front of my head...! ;)

To be honest as a fan and a woman I have to say that women's football (and hockey) was pretty crappy until it got much, much better in the early 90s. Same process started with hockey in the late 90s. In those years, if you watched on telly, you'd think to yourself "oh this is awful I can't watch this". Many people have kept this attitude/opinion and never thought to have a look after 20 years. Some insist/ed they can't play well because they are, well, girls, and some just never thought to give it another chance. I am one of the latter! I only started watching again about 8 years ago, when I caught a match on telly and the quality was like night and day compared to the first matches I saw in the late 80s.

1st of all, the talent pool is much smaller, because even though girls play, there are still folks who consider football/hockey to be a men's pursuit and women shouldn't be taken seriously. 2ndly, if you do get a team together, they don't get enough cash from governments compared to men ("because women"). Very few are professionals (in football there are pro teams already, but not everywhere) so they don't exactly get paid for playing. Often they have to manage full- or part-time jobs as well as training. Or join a men's team like Finland's Noora Räty and the Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser (Noora will be tending goal for a minor club this season, and Hayley also played in Finland 2002-2004).

No viewers ("because women") = even less money = no leagues = talent can't afford to play and move on. It'll take another decade or so of cash injections and national programs to get the audiences they need). It's a shame to see those empty audiences, but I believe it will get much much better :)

I don't think the stadiums were exactly packed for the U-whatever-age-it-was matches for men either, those I saw glimpses of in Eurosport... It looked like maybe family members and a couple more... Like the junior GP in FS basically...

Unfortunately, everything you have both said is so true!

I can just about remember the time when, whenever somebody mentioned Women's football, you thought about East German women who looked like they were up to their eyes in steroids. But, when I actually watched a Women's match for the first time (coincidentally, the 2008 edition of this tournament), I was shocked to see all these really pretty girls.

I'm a guy, and I admit that for the first few matches I watched, it was the girls I was watching rather than the actual game.

But, I soon came to discover that Women's football is a totally different game than Men's football. It is like what Men's football used to be like before it became a big money business. It is all about the game. Just like amateur football is.

These girls are playing because they want to. They are not playing for the money, because there is none! They play fairly, and you don't often see the diving, or the amateur dramatics, that have spoiled the Men's game. (That said, there was a wee girl playing for America last night that had the most blatant dive I have ever seen!)

So, it is a real shame that most people still think that Women's football is still the same as it was 30 years ago. And it is an even bigger shame that, as a result, nobody is willing to invest in the game.

It says everything that the USA has always been the top team in the World in Women's football, at all age levels, but every time they set up a domestic league, it goes bankrupt within a few years.

I don't know if Women's football gets much TV coverage in other parts of the World. But, if it did, it would help change attitudes, and help bring money in. And this would help develop the game, and the players.

The fact that Eurosport has been showing live coverage of the FIFA and UEFA Women's tournaments, as well as selected Women's Champions League and Frauen Bundesliga matches, has done wonders to raise awareness of Women's football in Europe. And, as a result, national broadcasters have followed suit and started showing games.

In the UK, the BBC has started broadcasting international matches involving the England and Scotland Senior teams live. And BT Sport has a weekly magazine programme that shows highlights of the matches in the Women's Super League (the domestic league in England), and each month they also show a handfull of WSL matches live.

As a result of this, there has been more money invested in the WSL, and a lot of top international players are choosing to play in England.

This sort of model needs to be repeated in other countries to change attitudes. But, I don't think it would work in America. There are so many channels, and so many other, more popular, sports. Casual channel-hoppers will find something else to watch. And the broadcasters won't want to take a risk of showing something that most people will just flick past.

Why am I suddenly thinking I have been writing about figure skating for the past 5 paragraphs...?

CaroLiza_fan
 

BusyMom

Medalist
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
European football will officially start tonight with EUFA Super Cup (Madrid-Sevilla). :yay: Hope to see James Rodriquez tonight. :biggrin:
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
I'm woman, but I don't like the women's football, hockey, weightlifting, boxing, wrestling ect...
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
Right. I'm interested to know other people’s opinions on Claire Lavogez. Because I’m not too sure about her.

She plays for France.
She’s a very good player.
She’s very beautiful.
But she’s very arrogant.

Remind you of anybody?

For me, Claire Lavogez is definitely Louisa Necib 2.0

During the New Zealand match, Tim Caple was passing comment about Lavogez having an arrogance about her, and Jen O’Neill replied “She’s not Louisa Necib… yet”.

Well, to me, she’s not far off it!

The first time I saw Necib was when the French Senior team was playing in the 2009 European Cup. And, being a guy, the first thing that struck me was how beautiful she was. Necib was by far the most beautiful person on the pitch! (I don’t know if anybody else finds this, but there is something about girls with a North African background that makes them extremely attractive…)

But when the match started, I was struck by how great a player Necib was. She was by far the star player of the French team.

The problem was that she knew it.

That arrogance was always there with Necib. But, it has got worse as the years have gone on. The past few times I have seen her, she has not been playing anywhere near the level that she used to. But she still struts around the pitch like she owns it, looking down her nose at every-one.

Claire Lavogez is only a couple of years younger than Necib was when I first saw her back in 2009. And the similarities are striking. The only difference I can see is that Claire knows how to smile! :laugh: (I don’t think I have ever seen Louisa smile!)

After France kicked off their U-20 World Cup campaign against Costa Rica, Lavogez was rightly applauded for that amazing goal. This video has been doing the rounds on the internet, and has even been picked up by the mainstream press. (If you want to watch the unedited version, it is here)

Yet, in the next match against New Zealand, Lavogez was definitely the villain of the piece.

In the 42nd minute, French midfielder Margaux Bueno kicked the ball into the New Zealand box. Four players ran for it – Mylaine Tarrieu and Claire Lavogez for France, and Emily Jenson and Lily Alfield for New Zealand. Goalkeeper Alfield caught it, but there was still the inevitable collision as all four players converged on the same spot.

Lavogez ended up on her back with Kiwi defender Jenson standing over her. But before she attempted to get up, Lavogez kicked up into Jenson’s chest with both legs. It should have been a straight red card, but she didn’t even get a yellow! The referee just gave her a warning. And you should have heard the booing when the replay was shown in the stadium!

The irony is that Lavogez went on to score in the second half, and was awarded player of the match!

It is only in the past few years that Necib has started showing petulance like that. So, if Lavogez is already doing it at 20, it’s a worrying sign. What will Lavogez be like by the time she is 27, the age Necib is now? She could end up even more arrogant than Necib!

Which would be a great shame, because Lavogez is clearly a very talented footballer, and has the potential to be a great ambassador for Women’s Football in France.

Necib’s attitude meant she wasn’t a suitable role model for her sport. I hope the same will not happen Lavogez.

CaroLiza_fan
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
European football will officially start tonight with EUFA Super Cup (Madrid-Sevilla). :yay: Hope to see James Rodriquez tonight. :biggrin:

Will that be his first match for Real Madrid? I hope he is settling in nicely. :)
 

BusyMom

Medalist
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Will that be his first match for Real Madrid? I hope he is settling in nicely. :)
I think but not so sure since I'm not a Madrid fan. HT now with Madrid on a goal lead by Ronaldo. James still need time to adjust to the new team I guess. He is kind of standing still and watch Ronaldo being a human target (as Usual) too often. Bale has a good show though. Anyhow Madrid dominated the first half.
 
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