Pierluigi Collina

Pierluigi Collina (born 13 February 1960) is an Italian former football referee.

He is still involved in football as non-paid consultant to the Italian Football Referees Association (AIA), and is a member of the UEFA Referees Committee.

He is regarded as one of the best referees in the world.

Collina was born in Bologna and attended the local university, graduating with a degree in economics in 1984. During his teenage years, he played as a central defender for a local team, but was persuaded in 1977 to take a referee's course, where it was discovered that he had a particular aptitude for the job.

Within three years he was officiating at the highest level of regional matches, while also completing his compulsory military service. In 1988, he progressed more rapidly than normal to the national third division, Serie C1 and Serie C2. After three seasons, he was promoted to officiating Serie B and Serie A matches.

About this time he contracted a severe form of alopecia, resulting in the permanent loss of all his facial hair, giving him his distinctive bald appearance and earning the nickname Kojak.

In 1995, after he had officiated at 43 Serie A matches, he was placed on FIFA's Referees List. He was allocated five matches at the 1996 Olympic Games, including the final between Nigeria and Argentina. He refereed the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United; he cited this as his most memorable game because of the cheers at the end, which he described as 'lions' roar'.

In 2002, he reached the pinnacle of his career when he was chosen for the World Cup final between Brazil and Germany. Prior to the game, Oliver Kahn told the Irish Times: "Collina is a world-class referee, there's no doubt about that, but he doesn't bring luck, does he?" He was referring to two previous high-profile matches that Collina had refereed which involved Kahn: the aforementioned UEFA Champions League final in 1999, a 2–1 defeat for Bayern; and Germany's 5–1 defeat against England in 2001. Kahn's luck did not change in the final.

In 2003, he published his autobiography, The Rules of the Game (Le Mie Regole del Gioco).

He was referee for the 2004 UEFA Cup final between Valencia and Olympique Marseille. Euro 2004 was his last major international tournament, as he reached the mandatory retirement age of 45 for FIFA referees early in 2005. His last international match was Portugal - Slovakia, for a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. The Italian Football Federation raised its mandatory retirement age to 46 in order to accommodate Collina for a further season. However, a dispute emerged between the federation and Collina early in August 2005, following Collina's decision to sign a major sponsorship deal with Opel (also advertising for Vauxhall Motors in Great Britain - both are owned by General Motors). As Opel was also a sponsor of Serie A club A.C. Milan, the deal was seen as a major conflict interst and Collina was disbarred from refereeing top-flight matches in Italy. In response, Collina handed in his resignation, effectively ending his career. The Italian Referees Association then attempted to reject his resignation, but he persisted with his retirement. He did, however, referee the Soccer Aid matches for charity in May 2006 and September 2008. During the latter of these games, Collina was involved in an awkward fall and was stretchered off after 21 minutes of play.

Collina attending a Champions League match in 2007.

One of his last games, a Champions League qualifier between Everton and Villarreal, was shrouded in controversy as he disallowed a goal by Everton that might have sent the game into extra time. This was seen by many as an error because Ferguson had not appeared to commit a foul. But this did little to tarnish a career in which Collina was almost universally considered to be the best referee in the world, and perhaps the only referee that teams were ever happy to be drawn with.

Perhaps one of the greatest distinctions of Collina’s career was earning the hatred of Luciano Moggi, the Juventus official and chief instigator of the 2006 Serie A scandal. Collina was one of the referees that Moggi attempted to have punished for decisions that Collina made against Juventus.

He was chosen as the cover figure for the popular video game Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (and subsequently Pro Evolution Soccer 4, alongside Francesco Totti and Thierry Henry). This was unusual, as football games had come to almost exclusively feature only players and managers on their covers; in addition, he appeared as an "unlockable" referee in the rival game FIFA 2005. His easily recognisable face (to followers of football) also led to his appearance in a 2006 Vauxhall Vectra commercial, which aired during 2006 FIFA World Cup matches (in the advert break) in the United Kingdom. He also appeared in adverts for Mastercard and Adidas during the 2006 World Cup.

Although Collina is closely identified with football, his favourite sports club plays basketball. He is a lifelong supporter of Fortitudo Bologna, one of Europe's leading basketball clubs.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Goalkeeper Training Tips

Diving

Drills to do Alone

One of the most important things for a goalkeeper to learn correctly is to dive. With a correct diving technique the chance at injury is far less and your football/soccer career can proceed longer. One drill that I have my students do is to put a ball in front of a post at the six yard box. Then put your hand on the far post, take two side steps and dive toward the ball. This will make you attack the ball and learn to land correctly. When you are comfortable with that, add another ball to jump over, and so on. Once one side is comfortable, switch sides and dive the other way.

Drills to do with Someone Else

Drills for a keeper are always easier with another person involved. Here you can incorporate the same drill as above, but have the other person kick it to the space. Once comfortable with that, have the person take full on shots while you dive over a ball or even another player on their knees to incorporate the power dive.

Handling and Catching

Catching a ball cleanly will help prevent any rebounds. The best drill for this is the simplest of all, just have another player kick a ball directly at you. Utilize the “W” technique for your hands (Thumbs together to create a W), and catch the ball cleanly. Once caught bring to your chest. For the low shots bring it in to your chest and fall on your arms. To incorporate catching and handling in your dive, make sure you catch the ball that is kicked or thrown to you and pin it to the ground.

Footwork

In order to work on the footwork, a keeper must utilize everything they can to make the drill a success. Set up five balls about a foot apart, and another ball at an angle about five feet away. Small jumps over the balls, then once you land dive toward the ball at the angle. After a few times, switch sides and work on the other way.

Distribution

This again is best utilized with another person that can throw the ball back to you, however you need to set up target areas to hit with your throws and kicks. If you are alone, then use the goal as your target and step out to midfield. Ideally you should be able to throw a ball just as far as you can kick it if doing it correctly.

Angles

Get the top scorers on your team and have them take shots from all over the 18 yard box. Then have them mix it up and try some break away shots. This will force you to work on your angles and also help you learn where the best angles are to where it becomes second nature to you during a match.

Dribbling

A dribble is one of the most difficult ball skills to master and one of the most useful attacking moves. In typical game play, players attempt to propel the ball toward their opponents' goal through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling (running with the ball close to their feet).

Dribbling is often invaluable especially in the third part of a pitch or at the wings, where most attacks take place. Dribbling creates space in tight situations where the dribbler is marked (closely guarded by a defender), and the dribbler can either score or create scoring chances after a successful dribble. However, dribbling, if poorly mastered and used, may result in the loss of possession either when the ball is intercepted or tackled by a defender.

When used appropriately, a good dribbler is often hard to dispossess; unsuccessful tackles (which do not reach the ball) may result in a useful free kick situation, a yellow card for the offender, or both.

Early references to dribbling come from accounts of medieval football games in England. For example, Geoffrey Chaucer offered an allusion to such ball skills in fourteenth century England. In the Canterbury Tales (written some time after 1380) he uses the following line: "rolleth under foot as doth a ball". Similarly at the end of the 15th century comes a Latin account of a football game with features of modern soccer which was played at Cawston, Nottinghamshire, England. It is included in a manuscript collection of the miracles of King Henry VI of England. Although the precise date is uncertain it certainly comes from between 1481 and 1500. This is the first account of an exclusively "kicking game" and the first description of dribbling: "[t]he game at which they had met for common recreation is called by some the foot-ball game. It is one in which young men, in country sport, propel a huge ball not by throwing it into the air but by striking it and rolling it along the ground, and that not with their hands but with their feet... kicking in opposite directions". It is known that dribbling skills were a key part of many nineteenth century football games at English public schools with the earliest reference to ball passing coming in 1863 rules of the The Football Association.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org

History of Futsal

The origin of Futsal^® (Five-a-Side Soccer) can be traced back to Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930 when Juan Carlos Ceriani devised a five-a-side version of soccer for youth competion in YMCAs. The game is played on basketball-sized courts, both indoors and out without the use of sidewalls.

The term FUTSAL^® is the international term used for the game. It is derived from the Spanish or Portuguese word for "soccer"-- FUTbol or FUTebol, and the French or Spanish word for "indoor" -- SALon or SALa. The term was adopted by U.S. Futsal since it includes the initials "fUtSAl" (USA). The term was trademarked in the United States after U.S. Futsal changed its corporate name within the state of California.

The game is frequently referred to as Five-A-Side or Mini-soccer. Once Ceriani got the ball rolling, Futsal gained rapid popularity throughout South America, particularly in Brazil. The skill developed in this game is visible in the world-famous style the Brazilians display outdoors on the full-sized field. Pele, Zico, Socrates, Bebeto and other Brazilian superstars developed their skill playing Futsal. While Brazil continues to be the Futsal hub of the world, the game is now played, under the auspices of FIFA, all over the world, from Europe to North and Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and Asia and Oceania.

The first international competition took place in 1965, when Paraguay won the first South American Cup. Six more South American Cups were held through 1979, with Brazil winning all of them. Brazil continued its dominance with a victory in the first Pan American Cup in 1980 and won it again the next time it was played in 1984. A U.S. team took part in the 1984 cup, but finished out of the running.

The U.S. Futsal Federation was founded in 1981 and incorporated in January, 1983. Osvaldo Garcia was it's first president. The game is referred to as Minisoccer, five-a-side soccer, Futbol Sala or Futebol de Salao, but it is also widly refereed by it trademark name, Futsal. The current Federation president is Alex J.C. Para.

The first Futsal World Championship conducted under the auspices of FIFUSA (before its members integrated into FIFA in 1989) was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1982, with Brazil finishing in first place. The Brazilians repeated as champions at the second World Championship in 1985 in Spain, but lost in the third World Championship in 1988 in Australia to Paraguay. FIFA took over direct sponsorship of the event in 1989 in Holland and 1992 in Hong Kong. Brazil won both times. The U.S. Futsal (Indoor Team), finished third in 1989 and second in 1992 at the FIFA Five-a-Side World Championship. The highest showing by any team from the United States in a FIFA tournament until the U.S. Womens team won the gold medal in China for outdoor soccer. The Third FIFA World Championship was held November 24 through December 11, 1996, in Spain and for the first time FIFA names it the FIFA Futsal World Championship. The Fourth FIFA Futsal World Championship was held in Guatemala between November 18 to December 4th, 2000. The fifth Futsal World Championship was held in Taipei in December 2004.


source: http://www.futsal.org/

World Cup History

The World Cup was originated by Jules Rimet, a French lawyer and businessman who was also passionate about football. He was on the FIFA Board during the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, and when he watched Uruguay win, and was inspired to create the idea of a worldwide football-only competition. He proposed the idea of the World Cup, and this accepted by the FIFA members in 1928 in Amsterdam. Later, after a special FIFA congress in Barcelona, the Uruguay was selected to host the first World Cup. And so in 1930 Uruguay celebrated both its centenary year of independence, and its first World Cup event.

1930 - Uruguay: Uruguay
Due to the small matter of crossing the Atlantic Ocean, most European teams decided not to participate in this World Cup. With British teams refusing to compete with the rest of the world, only four European sides travelled to Montevideo – Romania, Yugoslavia, Belgium and France. Although the first World Cup didn’t see the “best of the world”, the competition was played at a high standard, due to the presence of all the teams from South America. Thirteen teams went into 4 groups, with the winners qualifying for the semifinals.

The first ever World Cup goal was scored by French striker Lucien Laurent, but unfortunately the specially built “Estadio Centenario” was not readied in time to host this historic match. The stadium was opened on July, 18th (Uruguay’s Independence Day) with Uruguay beating Peru 1-0. Uruguay, Argentina, Yugoslavia, and USA won their groups; Brazil were the big disappointment of the competition.

Both Argentina and Uruguay won their semi-final matches with the same 6-1 score; the Argentines reaching the final after beating the USA, with the hosts beating Yugoslavia. The final featured the tournament’s two best teams. Uruguay were twice Olympic Champions (1924-1928), and had Andrade (called “Maravilla Negra”), Nasazzi, and strikers Scarone and Pedro Cea. Argentina had the best attack of the tournament, with Guillermo Stabile that finishing as Top Scorer. Uruguay took the lead with Dorado scoring in front of 90,000 spectators, but Argentina were 2-1 up at half time through Peucelle and Stabile. But the hosts then scored three beautiful second half goals (Cea, Iriarte, Castro), and Captain José Nasazzi lifted the Jules Rimet trophy (created by French sculptor Abel Lafleur) for the very first time.

1934 - Italy: Italy
The second ever World Cup was Europe’s first. Italian dictator and sport fanatic Benito Mussolini saw it as a good means for propaganda, and Italy became hosts. This second edition of the cup had a new format – FIFA had decided on a knockout-only format for the 16 participating teams, across eight different venues.

Although the English and champions Uruguay withdrew, the tournament had its first African team, with Egypt representing their continent. Italy were one of the tournament favourites, but it was Austria, under coach Meisl that were known as “The Wunderteam”, and boasted Matthias Sindelar – the best player of that era. They had a difficult first round, needing extra-time to beat France 3-2 (with an off-side goal from Schall). Italiy had an easier time, beating the USA 7-1, Spain saw off Brazil with the help of their great goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora, and Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia all also progressed to the quarter-finals.

Here, a (sort of) derby between Austria and Hungary was won by the Austrians, while Italy needed a replay to defeat Spain (mysteriously without Zamora), 1-0 with a goal by Meazza. Germany got through with another close win (2-1) as well as Czechoslovakia, who beat Switzerland 3-2. If Uruguay 1930 was the South American tournament, the Italian edition was a triumph for Central Europe.

In the semi-final however, Italy beat the Wunderteam 1-0 with a goal scored by the Italian-Argentinian Guaita. The Austrian ‘keeper was perhaps at fault, though in those days the goalies received no protection from referees. The Austrians complained bitterly because their star Sindelar was kicked throughout the game, without any response from the referee. Sindelar was hospitalised for a few days after the game. In the other semi, Germany surrendered meekly to Czechoslovakia, losing 3-1 to a hat-trick from Nejedly.

The final was played in front of 50,000 viewers at the PNF Stadium in Rome. Puc scored for Czechoslovakia in the 70th minute, and after some desperation Italy equalised 10 minutes later through Orsi (another Italian-Argentinian striker). The hosts then sealed the win in extra-time, going ahead through Schiavio (a striker that later retired to concentrate on his clothes shop). Italy were World Champions for the first time, and Mussolini was happy: his propaganda operation had gone well. In a tournament where 70 goals were scored, Nejedly finished as top scorer. There were no own goals, and only a single red card in the whole tournament, shown to the Hungarian player Markos.

1938 - France: Italy
The FIFA congress in Berlin (August 1936) decided to give France the third World Cup. The format remained the same – 16 teams in a knockout-style tournament to be played across nine different venues. The qualifiers had consisted of 27 different teams, and the tournament was heavily influenced by politics. Spain withdrew due to the Civil War, and Austria disappeared after the German annexation (the “Anchluss”), with some Austrians like Sindelar refusing to play for the German team. Coach Herberger had been confident of German success, but they had to go home after being defeated by little Switzerland in a first round replay. Holders Italy had a difficult first round, needing extra-time in Marseilles to beat Norway. The game was notable because of the number of Italian political refugees in attendance, electing to boo the Italians and support Norway. Brazil were the most spectacular side, with stars like Leonidas and Domingos, and defeated Poland 6-5! Cuba, Sweden, Hungary, France (3-1 over Belgium) and Czechoslovakia all qualified for the quarter finals.

France-Italy, at the "Stade des Colombes” in Paris was the main match of the cup. Italy played in black (the colour of fascism) and faced a hostile crowd. However, they won 3-1 with two goals scored by young striker Silvio Piola. Hungary, Sweden and Brazil also qualified to the semifinals.

Italy-Brazil was the most exciting game of the tournament. Brazilian star Leonidas was out injured, and someone in the Italian camp had motivated the Italians by telling them that the Brazilian coach Pimenta had saved the “Black Diamond” for the final. Italy scored first through Colaussi, and then added another through a penalty. The penalty was taken by Meazza, and interestingly he had to do so with his hand holding his shorts, because the elastic around the waist had broken. Romeo pulled one back for Brazil, but it was a case of too little, too late. The game was played in Marseilles, again with many Italians supporting Brazil. Hungary dominated the other semi-final, 5-1 over Sweden, and the final was a classic Central European encounter.

The match was exciting - Italy went ahead twice, and at half-time they led 3-1. Hungarian striker Sarosi scored after a counter-attack, then again Piola scored the decisive goal after a pass from Biavati. Italy were World Champions for the second time, and the newspapers had superlative headlines like “World Champions for Life”. A fantastic era was completed for the Italians, with two World Cup titles, and a gold medal at the Berlin West Germany Olympic games in 1936. Brazil’s Leonidas finished as Top Scorer with 7 goals.

1950 – Brazil: Uruguay
Having been unable to hold the competition because of World War II in 1942 and 1946, it was decided in Luxembourg after the war that Brazil would host the 1950 edition. The post-war atmosphere in football was sad, and the game had changed - the Olympic Games in 1948 had been dominated by Northern European teams. For the first time, the format saw groups - 16 teams playing in 4 groups of four across 6 venues. However, Scotland, India and Turkey withdrew, and so only 13 teams participated. England took part in the cup for the first time, but were unlucky, losing to a USA team that were called the “Ellis Island Team” because of all their immigrant players. England lost again to Spain, who progressed to the final round. Brazil won their group defeating Yugoslavia and Mexico. Sweden surprisingly defeated Italy, while Uruguay had to play just one game to qualify for the final round – they beat Bolivia 8-0. There were no knock-out games in that edition; after the first round the format had a final group with the four qualified teams. Of course, Brazil with stars Ademir and Zizinho were the favourites. They won 7-1 over a strong Sweden (Skoglund, Jepsson) and 6-1 over Spain. No one could contemplate a Brazilian defeat, and a draw would have given them the title. Uruguay, their last opponent, had just 3 points after a draw with Spain and a 3-2 win over Sweden. Mario Filho Stadium, better known as Maracana, was full of people: 160,000 spectators in the world’s biggest stadium (although some people suggested it was closer to 220,000) were waiting for Augusto to lift the trophy.

Sure enough, when Friaca scored, Carnaval broke out on the stands, but tragedy was soon to follow for the crowds. Pepe Schiaffino equalised for Uruguay in the 66th minute after a cross by Alcides Ghiggia. Uruguay captain Obdulio Varela said “They're over”, and Ghiggia then shot instead of crossing, and Brazilian goalie Moacyr Barbosa was beaten. The “Maracanazo” was completed (many Brazilians committed suicide), the “Barbosa curse” became famous all over the world. Brazilian Ademir won the Top Scorer with 6 goals.

1954 – Switzerland: West Germany
All the best teams in the world took part in the fifth World Cup in Switzerland. FIFA gave the tournament to the small Alpine country after their congress in Rio de Janeiro in 1950. There were big discussions about the 6 venues, since the stadiums were considered too small for a World Cup. Hungary, unbeaten since May 1950, were favourites for the cup, which once again had a changed format: 16 teams (14 qualified, title holder and host nation), 4 groups of 4 teams, followed by the knockout stages of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (and 3rd place playoff). Strangely, the groups were not round-robin - the teams played just 2 games and, if there was a tie after that, there would have been a play-off. The tournament saw some newcomers like South Korea and Turkey, whilst Germany was now divided in two, with only West Germany qualifying.

The biggest surprise of the group stage was in Group 4, where Switzerland knocked out Italy in the play-off, 4-1 in Basel. Also, West Germany won over Turkey in a play-off, and got through with Brazil, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Uruguay, Austria and England. There were lots of goals in the quarter-finals, especially in the derby of the Alps, where Austria defeat Switzerland 7-5 in Lausanne. Title holders Uruguay beat England 4-2, the same result as Hungary-Brazil, where the “Verde-Oro” were knocked out. West Germany beat Yugoslavia, 2-0. They then easily beat Austria 6-1 to the Austrian, thanks to Morlock and Fritz Walter, while Hungary had to struggle to beat Uruguay; only two goals by Kocsis decided the game.

The predictions had come true - Hungary were in the final with West Germany. So, after Austria won the Bronze Medal, Hungary were ahead 2-0 at half-time in Berne. But West Germany stormed back after the interval, and scored through Morlock and Rahn (twice). There were rumours about doping being carried out by the Germans, but nothing was ever proved. Hungarian Kocsis was the Top Scorer with 11 goas, but it was not a consolation for him, Puskas, Hidegkuti and all the other great players of the “Aranycsapat”.

1958 – Sweden: Brazil
At the same 1950 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, FIFA had also decided the hosts for the 1958 World Cup - Sweden. There were 12 venues, with only two stadiums having a capacity greater than 50,000. 48 teams played in the qualifiers, with Northern Ireland knocking-out Italy in a big surprise, and the same happened to Uruguay. The newcomers this time were, together with Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland (all the British teams qualified to the final round), the USSR and Paraguay. The USSR were also one of the journalists’ favourites, but they lost one of their stars Streltsov (arrested and placed in a gulag in Siberia) a couple of months before the World Cup. England was in the group of death along with Brazil and the USSR, and they lost the play-off with the Soviets. Only Wales and Northern Ireland got through from the British teams, whilst Germany, Czechoslovakia, France, Yugoslavia, Brazil and Sweden also qualified to the quarter-finals. Brazil had a little-known 18 year-old in their team of stars, who went by the name of Pele. He scored the decisive goal in the 1-0 win against Wales, and Brazil for the second time reached the semifinal. Sweden defeated USSR, West Germany won over Yugoslavia, and France knocked out Ireland 4-0. Didi, Vavà, Pele got Brazil through to the final in their win over France, while Sweden defeated West Germany 3-1 in the other semi. France won the third place match 6-3 over the Germans (striker Just Fontaine was the tournament’s Top scorer with 13 goals, which is still the record). Brazil won their first World Cup, defeating the hosts 5-2. Gilmar, Dialma Santos, Nilton Santos, Garrincha, Didì, Vavà and Pelé: one of the greatest teams ever won the World Cup.

1962 – Chile: Brazil
In 1962 the World Cup was back in America, but the choice of Chile (4 venues) as hosts created some controversy: Chile weren't a top footballing nation, and the country was in the middle of an economic crisis, and rife with political problems. The format stayed the same, although it was decided that in the group stages, in the event of a tie, goal difference would be the deciding factor instead of a play-off. After the group stage, six European teams (USSR, Yugoslavia, West Germany, England, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary) and 2 American teams (Brazil and Chile) qualified for the quarter-finals. Italy were knocked out after a much-discussed game against Chile, where two Italians were sent off, one of them with a broken nose. Other important things that happened in the Group stage were a Pele injury during the game against Czechoslovakia, and a fight in the USSR-Yugoslavia match.

Chile knocked-out USSR in quarter-finals, and Garrincha helped Brazil to do the same with England. Pele was replaced by young Amarildo, but it was Mané who took leadership of the Seleção. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia with their star Masopust qualified for the semi-finals. Brazil won easily over the Chileans, but Garrincha got a red card for kicking the Chilean defender Rojas, and was banned for the final against Czechoslovakia (who knocked out Yugoslavia). Incredibly, the Brazil’s Prime Minister intervened to cancel the ban, stating that Garrincha was a clean player and he did not want “Stalin's Nephews” to win the Cup! The President of Peru even asked the referee (also from Peru) to write in his report that the there was a mistaken identity! Anyways, Garrincha played the final and Brazil won their second title in a row, beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final.

1966: in England, England
Football was finally “coming home” in 1966, when England were chosen as hosts for the World Cup, to be played across 8 different venues, including the historic Wembley Stadium. The qualifiers had involved 70 teams, and eventually 10 European teams qualified, along with 4 from South America, and Mexico and North Korea, the newcomers from Asia.

North Korea were the big surprise of the first round, scoring a goal via the PE teacher Pak-Doo-Ik, and sending Italy out in the process. Italy were received by a furious crowd back home, that threw vegetables on the players. USSR won Group 4, Brazil were knocked out by Portugal, and Hungary, England, Uruguay, West Germany and Argentina all got through.

North Korea also seemed set to surprise in the quarter finals; the Asians were leading 3-0 over Portugal, when Eusebio scored four goals as Portugal won 5-3. England knocked out Argentina, West Germany won easily (4-0) over Uruguay, and the USSR also qualified to the semi-finals.

Bobby Charlton helped England to a 2-1 win over Portugal in the Wembley semi-final, Germany beat the USSR with the same result in Liverpool. As for the final at Wembley - everybody knows what happened. West Germany managed to equalise for 2-2- right at the very end, and then in extra-time Geoff Hurst took a shot on goal, which may or may not have crossed the line. Swiss referee Dienst was not sure, and he consulted the Russian linesman, who said the ball had crossed the line. The final ended 4-2, with Hurst scoring a hat-trick. Captain Bobby Moore received the Cup from the hands of Queen Elizabeth, and finally England were not just the inventors of football, but also the World Champions. Top Scorer of the competition was, of course Portugal’s Mozambican forward Eusebio.

1970 – Mexico: Brazil
Mexico were chosen as hosts at the FIFA congress in Tokyo, in 1964. 75 teams entered the qualifications, but only 70 played. Mexico and England were admitted as hosts and champions, the other 14 qualified teams were finally representative of many continents and regions: El Salvador, Israel, and Morocco all got through.

In the group stages, Mexico got through with the USSR from Group 1, and Italy and Uruguay from Group 2, where the Italians finished in first place scoring just one goal (and keeping clean sheets). Brazil defeated England but both qualified to the quarter-finals, and both Germany and -for the first time - Peru also went through.

The hosts’ dream ended 64 minutes into the quarter final in Toluca, when Italy took the lead for 2-1, after Gonzales goal and the Italian equaliser (own goal by Pena). West Germany took the revenge for the 1966 final, defeating England 3-2 after extra time. Brazil and Uruguay got through as well, and Brazil again defeated Uruguay in the South American semi-final.

The European one, between Italy and West Germany, became one of the most important games in football history, especially the extra time. Italy took the lead and German defender Schnellinger equalised at the very last minute. Then, an exciting 30 minutes followed, with the teams scoring 5 goals. Germany took the lead with Müller, but Burgnich and Riva put Italy up 3-2. Müller equalised, but at the end Rivera scored the decisive goal in 4-3 win.

Of course Italy were tired after such an exciting game, but when they lost in the final, it was because the Brazil Seleçao of 1970, was the strongest team ever in the history of football. Carlos Alberto, Clodoaldo, and especially the attacking “quintet” of Jairzinho, Gérson, Tostào, Pelè and Rivelinho were immensely talented players, carefully assembled by ex-coach Saldanha (he could not go to Mexico due to his communist ideas, and so Mario Zagallo took charge at the World Cup). Müller finished as Top Scorer with 10 goals. Whenever a team wins the World Cup thrice, they get to keep the trophy, and after this World Cup Brazil kept the “Jules Rimet Trophy” for good; this was replaced by the “FIFA Cup”.

1974 - West Germany: West Germany
After Mexico, the World Cup returned to Europe. FIFA had decided in London in 1966 to award the 1974 edition to West Germany, where nine venues would be used. A record 99 teams entered the qualification this time, with only 92 playing. West Germany and Brazil qualified automatically, and then 8 European teams, 3 from South America, Haiti from CONCACAF, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and Australia filled up the other spots. England had failed to qualify, eight years after being World Champions. The format was also changed - after the Group Stage, there were two Semi-final groups: the winner of each group went to the final, with the runner-up playing the Third place game.

One of the talking points of the draw was that West Germany and East Germany were drawn together: the “Bruderduell”, as they called the match, was played in Hamburg and East Germany won 1-0 with a goal scored by Sparwasser, but eventually both teams got through. Chile and Australia qualified from Group A, and in Group B Scotland managed to go out of the tournament despite not losing a game, after Yugoslavia beat Zaire 9-0. Brazil qualified together with the Yugoslavians, while in Group C, the Netherlands with their “Total Football” won their three games and qualified along with Sweden. Poland and Argentina won Group 4, while Italy went out on goal difference, just like the Scots.

The Dutch were on top of Group A in the semi-final stages, beating Argentina (4-0), East Germany (satisfied with their win in the Bruderduell) and title holders Brazil (both 2-0). The Oranje finished with 6 wins from 6 games, 14 goals scored, and just one conceded. The Netherlands were comfortably in the Munich final, and Brazil had to play the third place game. Group B was won by West Germany (3 games, 3 wins), with Poland finishing second, and the Poles then beat Brazil 1-0 to finish Third. In Munich, on 7 July 1974, German fans were distraught by Johan Neeskens penalty after just one minute, but an equaliser from a Paul Breitner penalty (the “Marxist” player of the team) settled their nerves, and then Müller on gave West Germany the lead on 44 minutes, and subsequently their second title, like Italy and Uruguay.

1978 – Argentina: Argentina
Although the hosts (Argentina) had been chosen in London in 1966, there were some doubts about the event because of a coup by military forces in the in-between years that had seen a dictatorship take charge. Still, the plans went ahead, and the format remained the same as in Germany 1974, and the 1978 edition saw first appearances for Iran and Tunisia. The cup had returned to the Southen Hemisphere after 16 years, and it was almost winter when it started, at six venues, in five different cities. England once again did not reach the Final Stages, knocked out by Italy on goal difference in the qualifiers. Italy finished atop Group 1, although they conceded a goal in the very first minute of their World Cup. Hosts Argentina managed to get through as well, despite having lost to Italy. In Group 2, West Germany and Poland went through, but Tunisia had played well, even managing a draw against Germany. Austria were the surprise team of Group 3 - they beat Spain and Sweden, but lost their third game, which allowed Brazil to get through. In Group 4, the Netherlands qualified in second place behind Peru, and only because of a better goal difference than Scotland.

The semi-final groups were very close: the Netherlands won Group A with 5 points, defeating Italy 2-1 after the Italians took the lead with an own goal. Italy would play the Third Place match. In Group B, Brazil and Argentina won their first games, but then drew 0-0 against each other. In their third match, Brazil defeated Poland 3-1, while Argentina had to beat Peru at least 4-0 in Rosario, to be in the final. The Argentines won 6-0, in a match that is still called “Marmelada Peruana”. The Peru goalkeeper, Ramon Quiroga, was an Argentinean that had become a naturalised Peruvian. He was born in Rosario and many years later he admitted he let Argentina scored as many goals as they needed to be in the final, as Peru had no chance of qualifying. So Brazil unfortunately ended up in third place. In the final, Argentina and The Netherlands drew 1-1 after 90 minutes, with the Dutch hitting the post in the very last minutes. During extra time, Kempes and Bertoni scored, giving Argentina their first World Cup. After Italy in 1934, another dictatorship had been able to use the World Cup for political and propaganda purposes. The Netherlands, unluckily, lost their second consecutive World Cup to host teams. Argentina’s Kempes was the Top Scorer with 6 goals.

1982 – Spain: Italy
The World Cup was a chance for Spain to open itself up to the world, after democracy had been installed in 1975. For the first time, more than 100 teams had entered the qualifications, and so the format had also changed: 24 teams instead of 16, 6 groups (of four teams) instead of 4, followed by 4 groups of 3, and then semi-finals and finals. This new format increased the number of teams from the other continents; there were newcomers like Honduras, Algeria, Cameroon, Kuwait and New Zealand.

The most interesting aspects of the Group Stage were the good performances of Algeria, who had defeated Germany and unfortunately missed out on the next stage on goal difference (there were allegations of Austria and West Germany colluding in this regard). There was also the incident where the Kuwait FA president stormed onto the pitch and convinced the referee to disallow a goal, because the players had heard a whistle and stopped playing. Italy got through with three draws in second place, and many journalists stoked rumours of another match-fixing case, this time with Cameroon. All the most important teams qualified through to the second round. In Group A, Poland won 3-0 over Belgium, and drew against the USSR to get through to the semi-finals on goal difference. In Group B, England drew against Spain, giving West Germany the chance to win their third title. In Group C, Italy were not the favourites against the giants of Brazil and Argentina, but they beat both. Italy 3-2 Brazil is one of the legendary matches in football history - Italy took the lead three times with Paolo Rossi's goals. It was a surprise, because of the negative performances Italy had shown in the first round. France easily won Group D against Northern Ireland and Austria.

The semi-finals had a different result. Italy easily won 2-0 over Poland (without their star Boniek), while West Germany needed goals from Rummenigge and Fischer to come back to 3-3 against France, before eventually winning in a penalty shootout. Poland won the Third Place match 3-2 over France, and Italy got their third World Cup. Cabrini missed a penalty during the first half, which ended 0-0. But Rossi, Tardelli and Altobelli secured the win for the Italians, despite a consolation goal from Paul Breitner was useless. Paolo Rossi finished as the top scorer, despite not scoring in the first four matches; he had 6 goals in his last 3 games.

1986 – Mexico: Argentina
The 1986 tournament was originally given to Colombia, but in 1982 they had to withdraw from hosting the Cup due to organisational problems and them being unable to meet FIFA requirements. A FIFA congress in Stockholm decided to give the WC to Mexico, 16 years only after they hosted their previous one. Nine new teams were in the qualifications, and a total of 113 participated. The number of teams in the tournament remained the same (24), but the format was again changed. After the first Group stage, 16 teams (winners, runners-up and the best 4 third-placed teams) qualified to the knock-out stages in a Round of 16, to be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals. Iraq and Canada were the newcomers at this tournament, but both lost all their matches.

The Group stage had no surprises, with all the major teams qualifying to the last 16. African football was growing and Morocco won Group F in spite of big competitors like England, Poland and Portugal. The North-African side once again put in a great performance against West Germany, but lost to an 88th minute goal from Lothar Matthaus. Mexico, Belgium (after extra time over the USSR), Brazil, Argentina, France, England and Spain all also qualified to the quarter finals.

Three matches of four in this third round ended in penalty shoot-outs. There was controversy as well, as the world saw the best and worst of Diego Maradona. In the Argentina-England match, Maradona famously scored with has hand, and Tunisian referee Benachour allowed the goal. It was called “El Mano de Dios” (The Hand of God) by Maradona, and added fuel to a fire that was already burning high from the aftermath of the Falklands War. In the same match, Maradona scored again, but this time it was a goal of pure brilliance, considered by many to be the greatest goal at the World Cup, if not the greatest goal in football, dribbling through the entire English defence before calmly rounding and slotting past Peter Shilton in goal. Lineker pulled one back for the English, but it was too late. Belgium and Germany knocked out Spain and Mexico respectively to round-off the semi-finalists.

Once again, France and Germany were paired up at the semi-final level, but France could not avenge their previous defeat, and Germany won 2-0. Maradona helped Argentina to defeat Belgium by the same score. France had some consolation, winning the Third Place Match in Mexico City, whilst Argentina and West Germany fought for the title in a fantastic game. Argentina took a 2-0 lead, before Germany drew level with goals from Rummenigge and Voeller. However, in the 81st minute, when the match seemed set for extra-time, Maradona led a brilliant counter-attack to set up Jorge Burruchaga, who scored the goal that gave Argentina their second World Cup. The Germans were shattered, and unable to mount a comeback. England’s Gary Lineker was Top Scorer with 6 goals.

1990 – Italy: West Germany
Like Mexico, Italy also would host a World Cup for the second time. 105 teams participated in qualifying, although Mexico were disqualified due to having played an overage player in an earlier youth tournament. Twelve venues were selected for the 24 teams, in a format identical to the previous tournament in Mexico. Amongst the 24, the newcomers were Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ireland.

There were no real upsets to speak of, but Argentina only managed to finish third in their group, and had to play Brazil in the Round of 16. However, a goal from Claudio Caniggia after a counter attack gave them the needed win. Cameroon defeated Colombia (flamboyant Colombian goalie Higuita conceded a goal after unsuccessfully trying to dribble past Cameroon’s Roger Milla), and Italy beat Uruguay. England, West Germany (beating the Netherlands), Ireland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia all also got through. Cameroon and Yugoslavia, the surprises of the tournament, lost after very close games. Cameroon were defeated by England after extra time, but they had won over the fans’ hearts with their exuberant style, and left the pitch to thunderous, appreciative applause. The Yugoslavians surrendered to Argentina only after a penalty shoot-out. Close 1-0 wins were had by Italy (over Ireland) and West Germany (over Czechoslovakia).

In the semi-finals, Naples provided the stage for the match between Italy and Argentina. It was an electric atmosphere in a place where Maradona (the star for Napoli) was a huge idol. The Italians took the lead with a goal scored by Schillaci (the Italian hero of the “Magic Nights” together with Baggio), but after a miscue by Walter Zenga coming off his line, Caniggia equalised. Nothing further happened until the penalty kicks, where Sergio Goycoechea became the man of the match, and Argentina moved on final. There, they faced Germany, who had defeated England with the same result (1-1 a.e.t., then 5-4 on penalties), after a decisive miss from Chris Waddle. Italy won the Third place, and the final in Rome began with some shame: the Italian fans booed the Argentinean anthem, and the game that followed was not so good. Andy Brehme scored a penalty (the foul for which was not very clear), the only goal of the game, to give Germany their third World Cup. Maradona cried, and Argentina lost. Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci was the top scorer with 6 goals.

1994: in USA, Brazil
For the first time in World Cup history, the tournament was played outside Europe and Latin America. It was an attempt to make people in the US passionate about football (the sport they called “soccer”). Ten different venues were chosen, with the final to be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. 133 teams played in qualifying and for the first time Yugoslavia did not participate, due to the UN sanctions and civil war. Russia replaced the USSR, and Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia all qualified for the first time, while giants like France, England and Euro 92 champions Denmark failed to qualify. Important changes in football rules had also come into place – goalkeepers could no longer touch the ball with their hands when receiving back passes, and wins were now awarded with 3 points. The tournament format remain unchanged.

After their strong showing at the last tournament, Cameroon were the big disappointment of the group stage, the Indomitable Lions picking up just 1 point. The big surprise was Saudi Arabia’s performance; they defeated Belgium reach reached the last 16. Not so good were Italy and Argentina, who squeezed through qualifying as best third-placed teams.

Nigeria also qualified to the second round, where the Africans had to face Italy. Nigeria led until minute 89, when Roberto Baggio equalised, and then in extra time he scored a penalty kick to help his team win 2-1. Saudi Arabia were knocked out by Sweden, and Argentina (after Maradona had been banned for doping) lost to Romania. Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Bulgaria and Spain all got through to the quarter-finals. In Boston, a very exciting game between Italy and Spain finished with a 2-1 Italian win, 2-1, but it caused a lot of discussions as, unseen by the referee, Tassotti had elbowed Luis Enrqiue. The Italian defender was however banned for 9 games after taking TV evidence into account. Brazil defeated the Netherlands in another exciting game that finished 3-2. Bulgaria beat Germany, and Sweden did the same with Romania after penalty shoot-outs. The semi-finals were Italy-Bulgaria and Brazil-Sweden.

The favourites both won, but in close games – Italy winning 2-1, and Brazil 1-0. Then in the final, the World Cup was decided on penalties for the first time. Neither of the two teams scored in 120 minutes of normal and extra-time, and the game itself was of a poor quality, played in extreme mid-day heat on July 17th. For Italy, Baresi, Massaro and Roberto Baggio all missed their penalty kicks, as opposed to just one by the Brazilians, a mistake from Marcio Santos. Brazil won 3-2 on penalties, and lifted the trophy for the fourth time. Sweden finished in third place, and Bulgarian legend Stoichkov and Russia’s Salenko were joint top scorers, with 6 goals each.

1998 – France: France
A new format was decided for the 1998 World Cup in France. A staggering 174 teams had entered qualifying, and so the final tournament featured 32 teams. The group stage now featured 8 groups of four teams each, with the winners and runners-up of each group going on to the knockout stage of 16 teams, to be followed by quarter-finals, semi-final and finals (as before). These would be played in 10 venues across 9 different cities. Croatia, South Africa, Jamaica and Japan all took part for the first time. The host nation France, was finally back at a World Cup having failed to qualify in both 1990 and 1994. They were favourites together with Brazil and Euro 96 Champions Germany (unified since 1994). The tournament also featured an important rule change – tackles from behind would now be given a straight red card.

The only surprise of the Group stage was the knocking out of perennial underachievers Spain in Group D, where Nigeria and Paraguay qualified. In the last 16, Brazil won easily over Chile (4-1), with Denmark doing the same to Nigeria. France knocked out Paraguay, 1-0 after extra time. Argentina and England drew 1-1, before the Argentines won after penalty shoot-outs in an exciting game, in which David Beckham was sent off. Italy, Croatia, Germany and the Netherlands all got through with close wins. Once again Italy had to say goodbye to the World Cup on penalties. After a goalless 120 minutes with France, Luigi Di Biago hit the bar to give his opponents the win. Germany, for the second time in a row, were knocked out in the quarter-finals in a bad 0-3 defeat by Croatia. The Netherlands beat Argentina, and Brazil knocked out Denmark 3-2 with two goals from Rivaldo.

In Marseilles, Brazil reached the final after penalties, with Dutch duo Cocu and De Boer missing their kicks. In the other semi, Croatia took the lead in Saint-Denis stadium with a goal by 30 year-old striker Davor Suker. It took two goals scored by a defender, Lilian Thuram, to give France their first final in an inspirational comeback win.

The final was in Saint-Denis, on July 12, but there was controversy as Ronaldo played in very poor condition, amidst unconfirmed rumours of an epileptic fit the night before the game. Edmundo had been pencilled in to start instead, but Ronaldo eventually played and was ineffective. Juventus playmaker and genius Zinedine Zidane was the hero of French National team, scoring twice, before Arsenal duo Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit combined, allowing the latter to score in a sensational 3-0 for the French, and cries of "Allez Les Bleus” rang out all night long in the Champs Elyséés. Croatia finished in third, with their striker Davor Suker finishing as top scorer with 5 goals.

===2002 – Japan and South Korea===: Brazil
For the first World Cup of the third Millennium, the tournament was hosted in Asia for the first time. The format remained the same, and 199 teams entered the qualifiers. It was also the first time the World Cup had been co-hosted (resulting in a record 20 venues for matches), and the Golden Goal rule was introduced for extra-time in the knockout stages (the first goal scored in extra-time would now be the winning goal). France, Japan and South Korea qualified automatically, and China, Ecuador, Senegal and Slovenia were the newcomers. A big shock was the failure of the Netherlands to qualify.

The group stages also saw a big upset, with World Cup 98 and Euro 2000 champions France finishing last in their group, which saw Senegal and Denmark go through. Argentina went out at the first stage, unable to advance from the “Group of Death” which saw Sweden and England go through. South Korea and USA advanced at the expense of Portugal, and Italy advanced only because Ecuador beat Croatia in their final game. The Italians and Mexicans had been involved in come controversy – the Mexicans had been outplaying the Italians, but with most of the second-half still remaining, both teams seemed to settle for a draw, as it would guarantee both their participations in the next round. There was controversy also in Brazil’s game against Turkey, where Rivaldo produced a horrible dive to get Turkish defender Alpay sent off, pretending as if he had been hit in the face.

Germany won 1-0 in the last minute against Paraguay, with a goal from substitute Oliver Neuville. England thrashed the Danish, 3-0, and Senegal surprisingly sent out Sweden after a Golden Goal scored by Sedan striker Henri Camara. Ireland equalised against Spain right at the death through Leeds striker Robbie Keane, but lost in the penalty shoot-out. USA won 2-0 against local rivals Mexico, and Brazil beat Belgium by the same score. The host countries had both performed well thus far, but Japan conceded an early goal to Turkey’s Umit Davala and could not recover. South Korea however played against Italy, and referee Moreno gave the Koreans an early penalty that Juventus keeper Buffon saved. Then Christian Vieri scored, but the Koreans somehow drew level in the 89th minute. In extra-time, Totti was shown a red card, after picking up his second yellow for diving. Then on 117 minutes, Ahn (playing in Serie A club Perugia) scored with a header to give the Koreans a victory on the Golden Goal rule. Much criticism was made of the officiating, with the Italians claiming that the linesmen and referee were biased towards the home crowd.

This controversy once again reared its head in the next round when South Korea beat Spain in a penalty shoot-out. Two Spanish goals had been disallowed for highly debatable off-side decisions. With Italy, France and Argentina out, England-Brazil was the most exciting quarter-final match-up. Owen scored early after a mistake by Lucio, but Brazil got a comeback win, with the goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, the latter scoring a cheeky long-distance chipped free-kick over England ‘keeper David Seaman. Germany had not played particularly well in the tournament, but managed to defeat USA 1-0. In the “derby” of the underdogs, Turkey beat Senegal 1-0 with a goal in extra-time from the flamboyant Ilhan Mansiz.

Brazil easily beat Turkey in the semis, with Germany brushing aside South Korea. Unfortunately German’s most influential and effective player, Michael Ballack, received a booking in this match, and was suspended for the final. Starved of their best player, Germany were thumped 3-0 in the final, with two goals from the in-form Ronaldo. Brazil had won for the fifth time, and Ronaldo finished as top scorer with 8 goals. Turkey got an historic third place.

=2006 – Germany: Italy=
Germany hosted the 18th World Cup, which was to be played in 12 venues in 12 cities. The qualifiers, with 198 teams entering, had seen many upsets and surprises. In Africa, giants Cameroon and Nigeria failed to qualify, with 4 newcomers reaching the finals (Togo, Ivory Coast, Angola and Ghana). 2002 Bronze medallists Turkey were knocked out by Switzerland in the qualifying play-offs, and Ukraine qualified for the first time, giving AC Milan superstar Andriy Shevchenko a chance to showcase his talents on the world stage for the first time. Trinidad & Tobago made their debut, along with Australia, who had defeated Uruguay in their OFC vs CONMEBOL playoff. Denmark failed to qualify.

The end of the group stage saw all the Asian teams eliminated. 10 European teams qualified to the last 16, along with 3 South American ones, and Mexico (CONCACAF), Australia (OFC) and Ghana (CAF).There were a lot of close games in the Round of 16m although Brazil won easily over Ghana, 3-0 with goals by Ronaldo, Adriano and Zé Roberto. Germany defeated Sweden with two goals from youngster Lucas Podolski. Sweden had played badly, and Germany deserved to get through. In the quarter-finals, the hosts had to face difficult opponents in Argentina, who had beaten Mexico 2-1 after extra time, with an incredible goal from Maxi Rodriguez. England beat Paraguay 1-0 in a boring encounter, in complete contrast to the Portugal-Netherlands match that saw 4 red cards and 8 yellow cards!

Switzerland were eventually knocked out by the Ukraine on penalties, although they went home without having conceded a single goal, unbeaten in normal time. Meanwhile Australia, Italy needed an extra-time penalty kick to get through – Fabio Grosso dived to win the penalty, which Francesco Totti duly scored. Spain took the lead with a penalty in their game against France, but the French came back strongly to win 3-1. The quarter-finals saw a European dominance – 6 out of the 8 teams were from the host continent, along with Brazil and Argentina.

Germany-Argentina and France-Brazil were the main matches. Germany won on penalties, after an inspiration performance from Jens Lehmann, but the match was overshadowed by a brawl at the end, when one of the Argentines was unable to contain their frustration and kicked a German player. Unfortunately German midfielder Torsten Frings was banned on TV evidence. France defeated Brazil 1-0, spoiling Brazilian hopes of a revenge for the 1998 final. Although the Brazilians were the favourites, Thierry Henry scored the decisive goal from a Zinedine Zidance free-kick. Italy beat Ukraine, 3-0, and Portugal knocked out England after a bad game: 0-0 after extra-time, and 3-1 on penalties. Like in 1982, there were 4 European teams in the semis, except with Portugal instead of Poland.

The first semi-final was Germany-Italy. The game was very tight, and with minutes left and everyone anticipating penalties, Fabio Grosso curled a lovely shot in after a corner from Andrea Pirlo. Moments later, as Germany poured forward in search of an equaliser, they were caught out on the counter-attack, and Alessandro Del Piero scored to make it 2-0. France meanwhile had defeated the Portuguese 1-0, to meet Italy in a final that was a rematch of Euro 2000.

Germany finished third with a 3-0 win over Portugal. In the final in Berlin, France took the lead with a penalty scored by Zinedine Zidane. It was Zizou’s last match before retirement and a fitting stage for one of the world’s greatest players, who had lit up his last World Cup with a series of goals and assists. He once again showed his talent in this finally, electing to chip his penalty past Gianluigi Buffon, one of the world’s greatest keepers. However, Materazzi equalised for the Italians with a header. Later, Luca Toni hit the crossbar and Gianluigi Buffon made an incredible save from Zidane. The match went to extra time, no goals were scored, and the game was heading towards penalties. However, Zidane completely lost his cool after being provoked by Materazzi, and headbutted the Italian in the chest, and was shown a red card. It was a sad end to a great career.

In the penalty shootout, the keepers were just observers – none of them got close to the shots, and the players all hit perfect kicks. However, Gianluigi Buffon could only stand and stare as David Trezeguet struck his penalty a little too perfectly into the corner, the ball rebounding off the underside of the bar to safety. Grosso then scored his penalty to give Italy the victory, and their fourth World Cup. There were many comments made about the Italian victory, with some people saying that their domestic match-fixing scandals had influenced some results, and that the World Cup win would help clean up their image. The Italians also did not manage to win over the neutrals – they played negative football despite many star players, and Daniele De Rossi received much criticism for elbowing an American player in the head. Also, where France beat Spain, Brazil and Portugal to reach the final, Italy played Australia (a controversial win), Ukraine and Germany.

German striker Miroslav Klose was the Top Scorer with 5 goals, all scored in the Group stage. For the first time, there were no hat-tricks in a World Cup.

source: http://www.oleole.com/

Freestyle Soccer

Freestyle soccer players are great to watch and learned from...some might say it's useful in a match and some not. Find out whether producing soccer tricks might be worthwile during the game.


This question raised curiosity because people are still confused with it. Freestyler’s ability to perform various combination of complex sequences of juggling and dribbling (ground) techniques makes them exciting to watch whether on the streets or through media such as internet. Nike launched freestyle campaign in the early 21st century through advertising and promoting competitions throughout the world enabling people to see the likes of Ronaldinho, Edgar Davids, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Francessco Totti, Ronaldo and others. But can freestyle football become practical to the "real" football game?

Freestyle Football Benefits
Juggling and dribbling techniques is the process to improve coordination, balancing and ball control. Mastering a complex set of juggling trick requires time, dedication and patience to become an exciting freestyler. Freestyle football allows individual to express their creativity on inventing new soccer tricks either on juggling or dribbling skills.

There are many dribbling tricks like the step-over that can be learned and practice. Each trick has different levels of difficulty varying from beginners to advance. Choosing and performing the right trick during a football match can be a crucial strategy. Applying these tricks require good timing and execution. Execute it perfectly and you’ll gain valuable seconds or create space for your teammates in tight situations. But make a mistake and you’ll allow your opposition to crawl back to their positions or you’ll lose the ball thus allowing them to hit on a counter attack.

Top professional football players such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo may have many tricks in the bag. But they only master or specialize one trick in a match known as their "trademark" trick like the famous 360-roulette, flip-flap and dummy are there to be seen.

The Downside of Freestyle Football Freestyle footballer has tremendous technical ability especially ball control but may lack in other attributes that are required during a football match.


Attributes are spread into three categories:

1. Physical
Many leagues especially in Europe require football players to meet the in-game physical demand such as stamina, strength, balance, agility, pace, speed, acceleration and jumping
2. Mental
Aggression, anticipation, bravery, creativity, decision making, determination, flair, influence, off the ball, positioning, team work and work rate
3. Technical
Ball control (technique), crossing, dribbling, finishing (shooting), heading, long shots, long throws, marking, passing, taking penalties, set pieces (free kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins) and tackling

Of course when you’re involved in a football training or match, some coaches may discourage you from doing tricks on the pitch. Instead they focus on other factors like team spirit, team movement and tactical battle which in my opinion necessary to win a match.

Is All About Playing "Beautiful" Football But who wouldn’t want to see top football players displaying their brilliance on the pitch. The "beautiful game" is more about football teams winning with style rather than scrapping for victories. After all, the modern game is more about entertaining the football fans than just winning at all cost. Sadly, some teams still adopt this unhealthy mindset. Never-the-less, being able to pull-off a trick and out-maneuvering your opponent is the best feeling in the world. Finally, let’s raised the "beautiful game" to another level.


"Ronaldinho is technically very good, but also very strong physically. He was against three players and I could not stop him. After that goal everything ended for us"
-- John Terry

History of the FIFA World Cup

No other sporting event captures the world's imagination like the FIFA World Cup. Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA's (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.

A group of visionary French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet, are credited with the original idea of bringing the world's strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions. The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet's name and was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.

When it resumed, the FIFA World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world. Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee's decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.

Since 1930, the 19 tournaments have seen only seven different winners. However, the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history - the United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea's defeat of Italy in 1966, Cameroon's emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990

Today, the FIFA World Cup holds the entire global public under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 billion people watched the France 98 tournament, including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone, while over 2.7 million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadium.

After all these years and so many changes, however, the main focus of the FIFA World Cup remains the same - the glistening golden trophy, which is the embodiment of every footballer's ambition.

Jules Rimet Cup

The World Cup (The Golden Nike) was founded in 1930 by Frenchman Jules Rimet, the creator of the world championship games. The cup was designed and made by a French sculptor, Abel Lafleur. 35 cm in height, weighing 3,8 kg and made of pure gold, the sculpture depicted Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory). In 1950 the statuette was named the Jules Rimet Cup after its founder. It was a trophy passed on to each winner and the team to win the tournament three times got to keep it (Brazil achieved this in 1970). In 1983 the Cup was stolen and it has never been found.

Two years before the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, the newly drafted regulations stipulated that the winners should be rewarded with a new trophy, with French sculptor Abel Lafleur being assigned this prestigious task.

The little trophy had a hazardous existence. The Italian Vice-President of FIFA, Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid it in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops.

Then in 1966, the cup disappeared while on display as part of the build-up to the World Cup in England and was only recovered, buried under a tree, by a little dog called Pickles.
Finally, in 1983, it was stolen again, this time in Rio de Janeiro, and apparently melted down by the thieves. The Brazilian Football Association, who had earned the right to keep the trophy after having won it three times, ordered a replica to be made.

The original trophy was 35cm high and weighed approximately 3.8 kg. The statuette was made of sterling silver and gold plated, with a blue base made of semi-precious stone (lapis lazuli).

There was a gold plate on each of the four sides of the base, on which were engraved the name of the trophy as well as the names of the nine winners between 1930 and 1970.

Soccer Balls History

The history of soccer balls is one surrounded in a mist of questionable facts and legends, which makes it hard for anyone to say for certain how the soccer ball evolved throughout time.

As legend has it, soccer started in a rather grim setting during the middle ages. In Europe and more specifically, in England, the first forms of "mob soccer" were played after public executions, when the head of the poor victim was thrown in the crowd and the mob started kicking it aggressively. With lot's of executions being performed during that period in England, it's easy to understand why the Brits took this sport as their own. Still, leaving legend aside, let's pass on to the fact-based history of soccer balls.

Since the history of the soccer game can be traced back to ancient times, it's quite clear that the soccer balls used back then were improvisations made out of daily used materials. The Aztecs used small, bouncy rubber balls in their basketball-soccer game of hoop kicking, whereas Chinese warriors would often enjoy a game of no-rules soccer using sewn up leather balls stuffed with light materials.

However, leather soccer balls were a luxury those days (who would spare a fine piece of leather for some silly game, when it could have been used for clothing, making bags out of or using it in armors?).

The most common type of soccer ball in ancient times, at least in Europe and Asia, was made out of animal bladder. Since pigs were the most common source of food for winter sustenance, their bladders were often extracted, cleaned, inflated and kicked around.

Although pig-bladder soccer balls were quite resistant, they were extremely light and could not have been used for more than a simple game of "hold the ball in the air", so calling them "soccer balls" is an overstatement at best.

Good thing that particular sport didn't evolve or we would still be playing soccer with balloons. When someone, somewhere had the idea to use stuffed leather in order to create a kicking object, we could very well state that it meant the start of a new era in the history of soccer balls and the soccer game.

Leather balls were harder, more controllable and more durable, although not as elastic as the rubber balls used in the Americas. However one of the biggest problems of that period's soccer balls, be they made of leather, rubber or bladder, was that they were highly irregular in shape and size, which made them less controllable.

In 1836, Charles Goodyear did us all a favor and patented vulcanized rubber and although his invention was to be used in more important areas at that time, it also helped taking the history of soccer balls one step forward, with the introduction of the first vulcanized rubber soccer balls (which were also designed by Goodyear, reportedly a fan of the game) in 1855.

From 1855 until today, the history of the soccer game evolved tremendously and so did its "work object", which evolved more in a century than it did in the entire history of soccer balls prior to this period.

Modern technology and the exponentially rising popularity and financial strength of soccer all worked together in bringing state-of-the-art super soccer balls and taking the history of soccer balls one step further.

We could say that the trend was always renewed each 4 years, with the introduction of a new World Cup soccer ball. It has been almost a tradition to have a new and improved soccer ball at each World Cup, each with its own characteristics.

For example, the World Cup soccer balls used in 2002 in Korea and Japan were lighter than those used as standard before and made out of a material that would be more controllable, favoring technically skilled players and thus, rising the entertainment value.

In 2006 at the Germany World Cup, a new soccer ball was introduced, which sparked the anger of many goalkeepers, including veteran Oliver Kahn.

The soccer ball, as Kahn and many other goalies would notice, is "built in favor of the striker" meaning that it has several characteristics that make shots stay on the ground and thus, having more chances to hit the goal.

On the other side of the barricade, many strikers stated that the 2006 World Cup soccer ball was extremely comfortable to shoot and that it didn't have the usual unintentional mid-air swerve that most other balls had.