Welcome to my soccer page!
(All the information in this site is just my personal opinion and from other sources.)
A history of soccer
Purists believe that the game of soccer should be referred to solely as "football". Afterall, it is a game played with the feet only. The actual word football was used in mid-fourteenth century England to distinguish a game playing on foot from one play on horseback. There were virtual no rules as players kicked the ball, ran with it, threw it and used practically every body part to move the ball. However, contrary to popular belief, the history of football exists outside of the modern Europe. In 1697 BC, Chinese emperor, Huang-Ti, invented the game called tsu-chu, in which competitors kick a leather ball stuffed with hair and cork. One thousand year later, the Japanese engaged in a similar game called kerami Anyway, neither tsu-chu or kemari grew popular enough to have survived the eons nor to have any definitive record history.
England is widely credited as the country which is founded modern football. The first set of rules that the players are only allowed to use the hands only to stop the ball and the feet solely to move the ball was introduced by Thomas Arnold in 1842. On 26 Oct 1863, the oldest football association (FA) was formed to regulate the game throughout in England and on 8th Dec 1863, it published the rules banning running with the ball and hacking. Thus the game of modern football - soccer - was born. The FIFA was founded in Paris in 1904 and now has 203 members, proof indeed that soccer is truly the world's game.
The fact of soccer
World Cup: The first World Cup was played in Uruguay with the first game is France - Mexico (4-1). Only 13 countries take part in this World Cup but it clearly showed that it would become the biggest sporting event on earth. By the 16th World Cup, France 98, saw a cumulative television audience of some 37 billion viewers and 170 counties taking qualifying rounds. Brazil is the most successful World Cup campaigner with 4 time as winners, 6 times in the final and 9 time in the semifinal. Following are Germany (3-6-7) and Italy (3-5-7). The most World Cup appearance as player is Lothar Matthaus (Germany), he played 25 matches in 5 tournaments (also a record!) from1982 to 1998. The best goal scorer is Gerd Muller (Germany), he scored 14 goals: 10 in 1970 and 4 in 1974 World Cup. The best goal scorer in a World Cup is Juste Fontaine (France) with 13 goals in 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The record of goals in one match belongs to Oleg Salenko (Russia) when he scored 5 goals vs. Cameroon in 1994. Finally, the record of the crowd is 199,854 at Maracana Stadium in the final of the 1950 World Cup which saw the host nation Brazil lost to the mighty Uruguay 1-2.
The greatest player in soccer history: Pele. To millions worldwide he is the greatest soccer player of all time. A three-time World Cup winners and the most prolific goalscorer in history.
The greatest coach in soccer history: Sepp Hergerger, the father of German football. He founded a dynasty that would reap three Would Cups and three European championships. He became famous for summing up the unpredictable nature of football in little idioms like "the ball is round" and "the match last 90 minutes". Under his coaching, the Germany made the greatest upset in history by defeated Hungary 3-2 in 1954 World Cup final after was defeated by 8-3 in the first round.
The greatest goal in soccer history: Diego Maradona, his second goal into England's net in World Cup 86 after brilliant run from his own half. His first goal in the same match is also the most famous one in history. That goal is usually referred as "Hand of God" since it was score from his handball situation.
The world team of the history:
Goal keeper: Lev Yashin (Russia)
Defenders: Paolo Maldini Franco Baresi Franz Beckenbauer (capt) Carlos Alberto
(Italy) (Italy) (Germany) (Brazil)
Midfielders: Michel Platini Alfredo Di Stefano Johan Cruyff
(France) (Argentina/Spain) (Holland)
Strikers: Pele Gerd Muller Diego Maradona
(Brazil) (Germany) (Argentina)
Substitutes: Peter Schmeichel (Demark), Eusebio (Portugal), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary),
Bobby Charton (England), George Best (North Ireland)
Coach: Sepp Hergerger (Germany)
Soccer's dark side
In 1969, the "Futbol war" between Honduras and El Salvador was triggered by two tempestuous World Cup qualifiers matches. 6,000 people died, 12,000 were wounded and 50,000 left homeless.
In 1985, 39 Juventus fans were trampled or crushed to death in the European Cup final at the Heysel stadium in Brussels.
In 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed and suffocated to death.
In 1996, overcrowding claimed 89 lives in the Mateo Flores stadium in Guatemala. In 1998 in Nepal, a crowd rushing the stadium exit to escape a hailstorm resulted in 93 deaths. About 340 people died in Moscow in 1982 through crowd congestion exacerbated by police brutality. In 1999, 3 Leeds United supporters were killed by Galatasaray fans before the UEFA Cup semi-final.
After USA 94, Andres Escobar died in a hail of bullets after returning home to Colombia. His crime? He scored an own goal against his country.
Beside these, there are a lot of scandals in soccer history. In World Cup 82, Harald Schumacher (Germany) rushed out from his area and nearly killed Jerome Battiston when the French fullback was clear on goal. That is the most inexplicable moment of mental illness in the history of soccer. Platini later revealed that his teammates didn't know whether Battiston was dead or alive after the game resumed. And surprised, the referee actually awarded Germany a free kick!
In 1990, AC Milan losing to relegated Verona in a match where the referee was so biased that Marco Van Basten tore off his jersey in frustration, incurring red card and handing Napoli the title. In 1998, amid a flurry of accusation, Juventus won the "poisoned scudetto", pipping Inter to the title in a season in which two valid goals and countless penalty appeals were disallowed. Above all, in 1993 Bernard Tapie and Marseille scandal of fixing the match results.
Do you know?
A cafe owner in Macau died from exhaustion after watching the World Cup 90 on television for two days and nights - and working - without a moment's sleep.
A Nigerian student who suffered a heart attack during 1994 World Cup and died in hospital after watching his country lose to Argentina.
A Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer sued former FIFA president Joao Havelange for $35 claimimg that after hearing of Maradona's suspension after a positive drug test, he was too upset to work.
An Albanian, short of cash, staked his wife on a bet the Argentina would beat Bulgaria in the 1994 World Cup. His wife disappeared with the winner when Bulgaria won 3-2.
Matthias Sindelar, the brightest star of Austria in the 30's. He was forced to play for Germany in World Cup 1938 after Germany's invasion of Austria. Sindelar and his girlfriend turned on the gas, laid down and say goodbye to the trouble world.
The future - Looking at year 2060!
It has been a long fall but the team which under the old name of Manchester United was once Kings of Europe, today hit the bottom rung of the Avon and District Combination League. Sir David Beckham sated that "Bristol Rovers were luckier than us today and we just don't get a fair deal off the robot referees these days". Beckham's second son Peckham missed a penalty and David said his son was deeply disappointed and had to be consoled by his mother - Old Spice.
BskyB, the owner of MU has just decided to transfer Roy Keane to Canterbury rugby league and MU has not won a game since before the 2006 European Cup final where they were beaten 5-0 by the Israel champion club. Veteran Nicky Butt was sent off at 82nd minute.
Wales have again failed to qualify for a major championships, going down 7-0 to Mongolia in a play off for 64th and final spot in the 2061 World Cup, to be staged in Cuba next July. "It is a hard blow because I would have been over the moon if we had won" said Welsh coach, Mark Hughes, who complete his 400th game in charge of the national team. "It has been 60 years without a win and I am now 108 years old. I am sure that if I can concentrate on playing for Southampton I could register my first goal of the second millennium."
Kevin Keegan claimed he will not be able to take England to the 2061 World Cup. Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson is confident Scotland can hold onto their titles as world champion. He has three times led the Scots to the world champion since he called up 4 Zygonians playing in his squad. "Four legs are much more advantage than 2 legs" FA chairman Dennis Wise admitted.
Newcastle Utd boss, Bobby Robson, celebrated his 126th birthday and is still optimistic that his team can won a trophy for the first time in 100 years. Robson decided to keep playing skipper Alan Shearer. "I accept he is not as mobile as he once was, nut rigor mortis does that to a player."
More bad news for Paul Gascoigne, last night, he was taken to hospital after he drank 15 pints of Gatorade and overdosed on museli bars. Kevin Keegan denied it would effect Gascoigne's chances of a recall to the national team. "We've missed Paul's creativity over past half century and I keeping an eye on his progress. The door is very much open."