Indesit Football – Genuine football fan campaign
Appliances manufacturer, Indesit, officially launched their ‘Genuine Football Fan’ campaign last weekend at the Emirates Cup. In deals that Arsenal have described as ‘multi-million dollar’, they will be sponsoring four European teams in order to raise their profile in a number of markets. The four sides are Arsenal, Milan, PSG and Shakhtar Donetsk.
As part of the campaign they have of course launched a website (http://football.indesit.com), Facebook page and twitter presence where they will be posting various pieces of content. They will also be able to use four players from each club for their advertising campaigns without having to negotiate image rights deals with the individual players, something that could be a huge asset – especially given PSG’s recent spending spree.
As well as the unveiling and press conference at the Emirates before proceedings at the Emirates Cup, We Are Social and Indesit organised a 7 a side tournament at the Soccerdome – formerly the David Beckham soccer academy. They kindly invited a group of bloggers along to take part with a selection of journalists, Indesit employees and former professional players. The teams in the tournament represented each of the four sides being sponsored and the ex-pros were none other than Ray Parlour (Arsenal), Pietro Vierchowod (Milan) and Alain Roche (PSG).
So along I went, armed with little more than my football boots and gleeful excitement, to partner former France international Alain Roche in a winning PSG side – perhaps the only trophy the capital club will win this season. You can read a full match report here at the Indesit Football site, and there is a video below with a few of the weekends highlights.
I later found out that Alain Roche had won the Copa del Rey with Valencia back in 1999, scoring against and destroying Real Madrid 6-0 along the way. Thanks Alain, it was a pleasure.
Alain and I
Tuesday tit-bits: French Fancy
A decidedly French feel to this week’s links, at least to begin with. Most of this has been influenced by the recent goings on at PSG where their new shareholder appears to have given them license to print money, bringing in a number of new players. One such star has been Javier Pastore, whom I wrote an ode to at the weekend (go and read it if you haven’t already). James Horncastle has written a comprehensive profile of El Flaco’s career complete with a number of very interesting quotes from former coaches Angel Cappa, Walter Zenga and Delio Rossi. You can read it here.
Continuing our promenade, Ben Lyttleton sums up the ten storylines worth keeping track of in French football this season for Sports Illustrated. Storylines such as ‘Are Paris Saint-Germain the new Manchester City?’ and ‘Is this Yoann Gourcuff’s last chance?’
Sports Illustrated – Ten storylines to follow entering the French Ligue 1 season
Whilst there has been a huge exodus of talent from Serie A this transfer window, there have also been a couple of names arriving. Michael Cox (of Zonal Marking fame) profile one such arrival in the form of Bojan Krkic, who has moved from Barcelona to Roma.
ESPN – Bad blood as Bojan leaves Barca
Football stickers are great. Three Match Ban have produced a player quiz based on football stickers that is quite fun. See how well you get on with their latest offering on Copa America stars (old and new).
Three Match Ban – Guess the Copa America star from their classic sticker
Over at the Oval Log, @FilippoInzaghi (not THE Filippo Inzaghi) takes a look at the shambles going on in Argentina with the league restructuring which initially appears to be happening entirely in order to save River Plate.
The Oval Log – The new look Argentinian Premier League and the hope to avoid it
It wouldn’t be right for an Italian summer to pass without some reason for football fans to be cynical and concerned. The latest betting scandal could see Atalanta captain and club legend, Cristiano Doni banned for three years – effectively ending his career now that he is thirty eight years old. James Horncastle (again) explains how he got himself into this mess and why he’s regarded so highly by the locals of Bergamo.
Four Four Two – Atalanta fans in denial as hero Doni accused of match-fixing
Finally, a video of Javier Pastore put together by @AlexSLDN. Enjoy.
Tuesday tit-bits: A Roman Affair
Sharing is good, because it breeds a pleasant atmosphere. So with that in mind, here are some things I’ve been reading this week that you might like to take a look at.
Kicking things off with A.S. Roma fan, Di Elle, who has translated (with some help) an interview with Franco Baldini. The current England general manager is in the frame to take on a role at the capital club and some interesting comments were made regarding the future running of the club – and in particular with regard to Francesco Totti’s position in the Roman hierarchy.
LiveJournal – Baldini: “My rules for a clean Roma”
To help provide some context and comment on the aforementioned interview, Football Italia’s very own, Serafino Ingardia, has written a piece spelling out where the battle lines have been drawn for Roma. When the new owners take charge officially on Friday, they will want to ensure that any dissenters are dealt with swiftly to ensure the success of their project.
James Uanhoro, better known by his twitter handle @stonegold546 has produced a wonderful profile on, perhaps even an ode to, Sergio Busquets. Detailing how and why he is better than other defensive midfielders tactically, technically as well as mentally.
It’s alright but it’s not the real thing – Sergio Busquets
The Two Unfortunates have produced a little profile of Taiwo Atieno (born in Brixton, South London), together with some back drop about football in East Africa and how it is failing to develop with similar success levels to the opposite side of the continent.
The Two Unfortunates – The Monday Profile: Taiwo Atieno
Finally, by far the most interesting piece I’ve set eyes upon in the past week has been Miguel Delaney‘s examination of the world of agents within football. It contains the same thorough research as any other piece he’s written.
Eircom Sports – ‘Agents are only a symptom of the problem – football is rotten from top to bottom’
Please leave a comment with any other pieces you’ve enjoyed reading.
Ajax – A trio of magicians
Dutch football has been famously associated with beautiful, expansive and expressive play ever since Johan Cruyff and the great Ajax side that dominated the European footballing landscape in the early 1970s – although you wouldn’t know it if you based your view on the last World Cup. Below are three examples of Ajax showing off at their very best. The first is the most recent from 2009, Luis Suarez takes a ball on the right hand touch line and gives it a juggle. My favourite thing about this clip is how the full back can do nothing but applaud, if he’d listened to Lee Dixon he’d know he has to get much much tighter if he wants to stand any chance.
Left winger Richard Witschge goes one step further in October 1997 in a 4-0 demolition of Feyenoord, takes the ball on the run and juggles down the left wing…
Finally, the man who started it all, Gerrie Muhren. This bit of play is far more subtle, but the occasion was the 2nd leg of the European Cup semi final against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Muhren later stated that he was simply waiting for left back Wim Suurbier to reach him so he could release the pass, so he did some keepie uppies to use up time. The crowd could do nothing except acknowledge this man’s huge kahunas.
Biggest shocks of 2009-10 season
While the new season is closer right now than the season that has just passed, I thought it would be nice to take a look back at some of the biggest surprises that were thrown up by the footballing gods last season. Everyone likes a shock once in a while, that is after all what makes the sport an interesting spectacle rather than a pure statistical amusement.
5. Barcelona v Rubin Kazan (1-2)
First up a clash in the Champions League group stages. Rubin Kazan had qualified for the competition as champions of Russia, based in Russia’s 8th largest city deep in the Russian vastness it may have been less surprising had the result come at home. However the Russian’s went to the Nou Camp on the 20th October and came away with all three points.
Rubin’s manager, Kurban Berdyev, revealed his master plan after the match. Having seen Barcelona’s 0-0 draw with Valencia he noted that there was space to shoot from distance because of the Catalan midfielder’s reluctance to drop into the penalty area to screen the defence. Rubin’s players were told to shoot on sigh, in truth they were rather fortunate to score an absolute screamer of a goal and were lucky not to concede late in the second half when Barca forced an oustanding save and Yaya Toure headed against the post. Rubin pulled off a smaller shock at home two weeks later, taking a 0-0 draw in freezing temperatures.
4. Allianza Lima v Estudiantes de la Plata (4-1)
When Tim Vickery asked is the Copa Libertadores more entertaining (better) than the UEFA Champions league, he was served up the perfect example by Peruvian side Allianza Lima. They faced the holders Estudiantes one round after the Argentinians had demolished Juan Aurich, another Peruvian team, 5-1 at home. Estudiantes had also come within a mere minute of being declared club champions of the world when they faced Barcelona at the 2009 Club World Cup.
The game looked as though it would be another rout for the visiting side when Jose Sosa put the holders ahead after just 4 minutes. Wilmer Aguirre, the Allianza striker, was having none of it and scored a neat hat trick before Jose Fernandez put the icing on a 4-1 defeat.The altitude would certainly have been a factor in the defeat, Lima is approximately 5,000 ft (1,500m) higher than La Plata, but the first two goals came in the first half which suggests that fatigue was not purely to blame. You can see the highlights on Youtube here.
3. Spain v Switzerland (0-1)
In the build up to the 2010 World Cup Spain hit Poland for six, pardon the pun. They had held an incredible record over the past 4 years having lost just twice in 45 matches, the curse had been lifted at Euro 2008 and it appeared that they were absolutely unstoppable. Nothing would stand in their way, except for Switzerland’s determined dogged, determined and tenacious defending. Spain were stifled by their own lack of width and they were even showing signs of panic, they appeared to run out of ideas against a Swiss side harking back to the days of the ‘Verrou‘ or Catenaccio. Although Switzerland should’ve had 2 goals, it is safe to say that Spain were well and truly mugged.
We are all aware that they went on to take the trophy, so perhaps it gave them the wake up call required to really knuckle down and grind out the performances. They only won one of their 7 games by over a goal margin (against Honduras), they may not have been playing in the same manner as their pre-tournament friendly win but the Swiss lesson taught them to get the job done.
2. Manchester United v Leeds United (0-1)
The FA cup has a great reputation for delivering upsets to the fans. When these two sides met for their 3rd round tie there was not a vast chasm in leagues between them, just two divisions effectively separated the sides. The writing was on the wall however from the previous round. Leeds were held to a 1-1 draw against Kettering, both home and away, needing to go to extra time before they were able to despatch the conference side. After the initial draw at Kettering’s home ground the 3rd round draw was made and Manchester United together with Leeds United/Kettering Town were drawn as the final tie. Almost as though it had been scripted.
Leeds were by far the hungrier side on the day, after Jermaine Beckford’s scuffed shot trickled under Tomasz Kuszczak and into the United goal the home team appeared somewhat stunned and unable to reply. Leeds were hardly subjected to the kind of pressure cooker style attack that we normally expect to see in these types of game situations.
1. Real Madrid v Alcorcon (1-4 agg.)
Cup competitions are rarely taken as seriously in European countries as they are in England but I still think was the biggest shock of last season. Following the dawn of the new galacticos era Real Madrid spent hundreds of millions of pounds, euros and dollars in an attempt to buy some glory. Real Madrid travelled to Alcorcon with a side consisting of expensive reserves, not a single youth player was included in the side. The side was as follows: -
Dudek; Arbeloa, Albiol, Metzelder, Drenthe; Mahamadou Diarra, Guti (Gago, 46), Van der Vaart; Granero (Marcelo, 63); Raúl (Van Nistelrooy, 72), Benzema.
These millionaires were trounced by the lowly Segunda Division B, Spain’s third tier, side 4-0 in the first leg and were only able to win the home leg 1-0. Dumping Manuel Pellegrini out of the Copa del Rey, defeat was to become a running theme throughout the rest of Real’s season much to Pellegrini’s dismay.
I’d like to hear what your favourite shocks and cupsets have been over the past year or so.
Audacious penalties
Ezequiel Calvente scored an audacious penalty against Italy for Spain in the Under 19 European Championships on Saturday. Spain were already 2-0 up when the penalty was taken and cruising to victory but it is still a good piece of individual skill from the young Spaniard. The technique reminded me of Thierry Henry’s fake kicking skill.
This triggered the image and memory of a number of other audacious penalty attempts that I have seen. This one from Santos’ young starlet Neymar (just 19 years of age and tipped to be the next Robinho) when facing Ceara in the Brazilian National championships. Santos were losing 1-0 when the opportunity to equalise arose, the kid has balls!
This effort was performed on the training ground, but it is still a lovely piece of skill. Francesco Totti glides towards the penalty spot before spinning and backheeling it into the bottom left corner.
When Robert Pires was still playing for Arsenal he attempted a display of pure arrogance together with Thierry Henry and was left with egg and a whole load of Danny Mills’ saliva all over his face. He fails to strike the ball then touches it again, the referee awards an indirect free kick to Manchester City and Pires walks away in shame.
Many have attempted the training ground routine during games successfully before (I’m not aware of the teams involved in this video). But one of the games greatest innovators has to take credit for the trick. Johan Cruyff shows us how it should be done, even pulling off a one-two before putting the ball away.
I would love to see more examples if you have any.
Tuesday tit-bits
Haven’t done these for a while but hopefully you will like what I’ve found in the past couple of weeks or so.
Ajax youth academy
A piece in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago looks at the Ajax academy in great detail, describing the day to day goings on of some of the minor scouts as well as looking at the emotional roller coaster that the boys enrolled at the academy go through. The main comparison is with the US pay-per-play style system but the insight into things that happen at the academy and the things that scouts and coaches look for is still quite interesting and relevant.
“Like other professional clubs in Europe and around the world, Ajax operates something similar to a big-league baseball team’s minor-league system — but one that reaches into early childhood. De Jong, a solidly built former amateur player, is one of some 60 volunteer scouts who fan out on weekends to watch games involving local amateur clubs. (He works during the week as a prison warden.)”
I should warn you that it is a fairly long read, 10 pages, but it is well worth taking a look. You can read the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html
The greatest goal that never was
Have to give the guys at Match Pricks for this one, I’d never seen this before but I can’t stop watching it. The player is Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Hans-Günter Bruns almost scoring against Bayern Munich in 1983.
Capello as one of the boys
Giles Smith of The Times usually writes some great pieces that would be at home on the football365 fun area. In this piece he talks aboutthe escapades that go on when Capello tries to act like one of the boys and is buddied up with Ledley King in the team hotel. My favourite part by miles is the following: -
“Day Two By clearing aside King’s iPod dock and PlayStation console, and some of his grooming products, Capello manages, during the afternoon, to make space on the dressing table to work at his laptop. King shorts the hotel’s electrics by trying to dry his swimming trunks on the Corby trouser press. Capello loses four months of research files on Slovenia.”
You can read the full week long diary entry here at the Times Online.