A few weeks ago, I had the absolute pleasure of getting tickets to watch an international friendly soccer (football) match between longtime rivals Italy and Brazil. As a lifelong Azzurri fan, this is as good as it gets. While international squads often play friendlies in preparation for the next round of World Cup qualifying, a match between these two powerhouses is something more. A significant amount of pride is on the line each time they meet.
Now, like I said, I have been a lifelong Italy fan, through the highs (yes, still reigning World Cup Champions, no big deal) and lows (numerous, numerous low points). In the days leading up to the match, all I could think about was Roberto Baggio’s epic shootout miss against Brazil in the 1994 World Cup finals. It still draws tears of pain to my eyes. In a rivalry loaded with history and World Cup final clashes, this was sure to be a treat. In their previous matchups the teams were an equal 4-4-2, and I was thirsty for a victory.
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This article has been submitted by Trevor Smith.
Last time on BKAF, we took a look at Kaka and thus delved the world of AC Milan, my adopted team. My year abroad saw me frequent the San Siro on numerous occasions, most notably for their upset of Manchester United en route to a European title. How long ago that success now seems: not only were the Rossoneri eliminated in the First Knockout Round of the Champions League by Arsenal, but the team finished a lowly fifth in Serie A and thus lost its place to compete for next year’s European Cup (instead they will try for the inferior UEFA Cup).
So, why mention the club again if they are in such disarray? The answer lies in a certain attacking midfielder from Porto Alegre, Brazil: the esteemed Ronaldinho. Thanks to the deep pockets of billionaire Silvio Berlusconi, the former FIFA World Player of the Year will be joining Milan this fall (following his transfer from Barcelona for $34 million CDN). It is not every day that one’s favorite club acquires a player with other-worldly touch and 126 career club goals, so indulge me in profiling Milan’s latest savior via comparison to a star back from that other football…LaDainian Tomlinson.
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This article has been submitted by Trevor Smith.
While most Canadian fans appreciate The Beautiful Game, the strong majority of them haven’t been acquainted with its central personalities. Better Know a Footballer, The ODC’s new weekly feature, hopes to rectify this by means of juxtaposing soccer’s biggest names with North American sports notables we are more familiar with.
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known simply as Kaka, is the best soccer player from Brazil, the best player in Serie A, and perhaps the best footballer on Earth. What is my basis for suggesting this? The 26-year-old Brazilian attacking-mid was the recipient of both the Ballon d’Or (European Footballer of the Year) and FIFA World Player of the Year last year. As far as credentials for greatness go, those two trophies are as weighty as they come. North Americans likely are only familiar with Kaka’s play thanks to Milan’s run to last year’s Champions League title, but if they dig just a bit deeper and examine the evidence it becomes clear that we already know him by a different name: Dwyane Wade.
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This article has been submitted by Mostafa El Beheiry.
So it’s been a long road to the final match of Euro 2008, but here we are. This has been one of the most exciting tournaments in recent memory with boring, negative, defensively oriented teams bowing out, for the most part, in the group stages. In Germany we have a team that carried the odds to win the tournament but that disappointed in their group, finishing second to an up and coming Croatian team that should be feared come the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Germans regained their form against Portugal but were less than impressive in their win against the surprise of the tournament, Turkey, to put them into the finals.
Spain’s tournament couldn’t have gone better; they topped their group displaying some beautiful football and a degree of mental toughness that Spanish teams of the past have lacked. This strength got them through a penalty shootout against a team that thrives on them in Italy, putting to bed a 24 year curse that has kept them out of the semi-finals in all international tournaments. In fact, 24 years ago was the last time Spain has been in a major final and they broke that hex with their decisive semi-final win against Russia, putting them in a great position to win their first international title since 1964.
This year’s finals pit a country looking for its record 4th European title against a country looking to drop a 44 year reputation of being the biggest underachievers in international football. If you’ve been following my Euro 08 coverage, you know that I’ve been backing Spain to take the Henri Delaunay Trophy since the start of the tournament and on that note, this preview will be more to feed my ego than maintain any journalistic integrity that I may have. Sorry Germany.
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This article has been submitted by Trevor Smith.
Sports fans with international perspective know Europeans take ample shine to their version of football. The beautiful game is a religion and its players, saints. Thus calico stars receive extraordinary attention from the sporting media. For our part, Canada’s fascination with major international soccer competitions suggests the majority of sports fans are pitch-literate insomuch as they understand the game (or perhaps just like putting flags on their cars). While the stereotypical fan appreciates the game, a strong majority has not been acquainted with its central personalities. Better Know a Footballer hopes to rectify this, by means of juxtaposing soccer’s biggest names with North American sports notables we are more familiar with.
Cristiano Ronaldo is widely regarded as the best footballer in the world and is one of the most talented of his generation. No less an authority than Johan Cruijff (three time European Footballer of the Year) has said Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, two of the greatest players in Manchester United history. Yet the young winger is generally loathed. Fans in North America that are unfamiliar with Ronaldo should still have a grasp on the Portuguese star’s narrative because it is nearly indistinguishable from that of the Yankee we all love to hate: Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez. ARod is the best player in his sport and the odds-on player of his generation. His individual talents are without question…so is the public’s general repugnance toward him. Analysis of the pair of megastars shows their similitude shining clearly; Canadian sports fans hate Ronaldo the same as Rodriquez, they just don’t know it yet.
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This article has been submitted by Mostafa El Beheiry.
The quarter-finals followed up the group stage with some heartbreaking results with three of the four results considered upsets in addition to going to extra-time. The Germans “upset” Portugal 3-2 – they were underdogs based only on their runner-up status after the group stage, I don’t think anyone with a brain would have been able to pick an outright favorite for that tie. The same couldn’t be said about Croatia and Turkey, where everyone and their mother (except the Turks) expected Croatia to advance handedly. With the Croatian go-ahead and Turkish equalizing goals coming at 119 and 120 minutes of extra-time respectively, the Turks, with their never say die philosophy, advanced on penalties. The high flying Dutch from the group stage were nowhere to be seen against Guus Hiddink’s Russia, who advance to the semis to face a Spanish side that finally expelled their international tournament demons by beating Italy on penalties. I went 2-2 on the quarters with no success in picking scorelines, so here’s hoping my luck improves for the semis.
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This article has been submitted by Mostafa El Beheiry.
I’ll kick off the second part of the quarter-finals breakdown by introducing everyone to Trix and Flix, mascots for this year’s competition. Probably the gayest mascots ever conceived in the history of the illustrious profession. Anyways, the second half of the quarters will prove to be just as, if not more, exciting as the ties in the first half which have by this posting gotten underway. With the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Russia in the first knockout round we should see some beautiful football. Here’s how the teams match up.
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This article has been submitted by Mostafa El Beheiry.
With the start of the Euros, the ODC has seen more footy articles in the last 2 weeks than it has in the last year, and this little number will just add to that total. An incredibly exciting group stage that saw goals, upsets, red cards, and controversy has come to an end and now the surviving teams are left with little time to lick their wounds with the knockout rounds getting underway immediately. The format is pretty simple, group A and B will face each other in the quarters and then semis with the eventual winner facing the team to get out of groups C and D. With that being said, the quarter-finals promise some quality football with some dream match ups that even non-fans might find remotely entertaining.
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This article has been submitted by Alex Jackson.
Probably by this point you are sick and tired of hearing about this “Euro Cup” deal. Sadly, this is not your means of escape. I would like to think, however, that what I’m going to present is slightly different. At least that’s the intention 40 words in. We’ll see how it goes.
If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t really contributed a whole lot regarding “relevant” or “current” sports topics. I shared pictures of smokin’ hot women. I’ve discussed my experiences watching rowing and cross country skiing. I’ve even put together a crazy story about Lil’ Penny. But nothing “now.”
Not to be too much of a walking cliché for Christian Lander’s book/website, but I’m currently studying abroad right now in Vienna, Austria. As you know, this little city is playing a fairly large role in the Euro Cup. Not to sound too ignorant, but prior to last Saturday, I really couldn’t give a damn about this soccer tournament. I didn’t know who was playing. I didn’t know who was supposed to be good. I didn’t even understand what the big deal was. It was all a “ho hum” thing. I knew Manchester United was a good team; I have in the past watched Lady Bugs and the Big Green; and I had recently watched Green Street Hooligans, but this really wasn’t enough to “get me in the zone.”
But then last Saturday rolled around and there was something in the air. I rounded up some peeps and started to make the trek to Vienna’s Fan Zone. We quickly got side tracked and changed our minds.
Rather than going to the main Fan Zone, we settled for a smaller one, located close to Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, in the shadow of the world famous Risenrad ferris wheel. Baby steps. The wheel, which has been featured in “The Third Man” and the James Bond film “The Living Daylights,” was adorned with a giant Adidas ad featuring Czech goalie Petr Cech. The smaller venue was nice; we were given free rain ponchos, thunder sticks and some crazy hand things. It was a nice experience, but there were bigger fish to fry.
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