lislis

How to Understand Soccer Strategy

While the premise of soccer (known outside the United States as football) seems simple--to kick the ball into the opposing team's goal--the strategies are endless. Only by understanding the complexities of the game can you truly appreciate a good match. Here's how to enhance your understanding of this beautiful game.

Steps

1. Pay attention to diagonal runs behind the defense. A center forward making an angled run just behind another defender, say a 10 yard sprint, at just the right moment, could be getting ready to receive the ball. Is the opposition playing zone-defense and passing the offensive player to another defender? Is the player making the pass under pressure?
2. Look for how a third man running opens up the game. A midfielder and forward might exchange a few passes on the side and then a defender (a third player) will break towards the goal from behind to receive the ball – almost out of nowhere.
3. Watch how quick give-and-goes, both static and moving, open up the defense. A player can play a wall-pass (a give and go) just to get more time on the ball if he’s being closed down (static), or can play the ball and then sprint into the space to receive the ball. Keeping the ball moving relieves pressure and opens up space. Quick passes (the ball moves much faster than anyone else) breaks down a defense.
4. 

   

   Keeping them busy
   Discover how switching the field of play gives players more time and space. Two or three passes on one side of the field and suddenly there’s no space, the defense has closed the offensive team down, and that’s when they look for a long switch to the defender or midfielder on the other side. In soccer terms it's called, ‘short short long’ or 'switching play' – a few short passes and then a long pass. At times, this switch, when done cleverly, can surprise the other team, who is preoccupied on one side, and results in a chance for a goal or a cross.
5. Learn how counter attacks can lead to goal scoring opportunities. A team may just hunker down and pack their players into their goal box and leave one player up high, waiting to break down the field when they win possession.
6. Come to embrace the long ball in soccer. Don’t knock the long ball (no pun intended). Watch how a team might pick out their forward with a long ball. The forward will control the ball and enable the rest of his team to move up the field. Or, one long pass can lead to a perfect lay off or flick to an on rushing player for a goal.
7. Observe how 'overlaps' create opportunities for crosses. A wide defender might make a run around the outside midfielder, who has cut inside, and join the attack. An effective cross creates a goal scoring chance.
8. Watch how a 'take over' (when players interchange positions) opens up space or a time and a window of space for a shot or pass. One player might dribble right at another player and exchange the ball, the other player screening the defender for a moment.
9. Savor the blind pass. Look for a subtle back heel to an unseen player, looking in one direction but playing the ball the other, dribbling to the right but serving a long diagonal pass to the left side (you know that player is there). Watch for that one more pass that almost doesn't seem necessary but results in a tap in goal.
10. 

    

    Head to head
    Enjoy the most exciting play in soccer, when someone takes on another player on the dribble. Watch how they change pace once they’ve made a move, a cut or a feint. Sometimes it's a fake shot, a subtle shoulder dip and then a burst of speed.

Tips

• Go to a bar or restaurant to watch the game, to capture more of the atmosphere and excitement of the game.
• Start playing (more) soccer yourself! Being (or rather, running and kicking) in the player's shoes will help you see the field from their perspective and understand why they make certain moves.

Warnings

• Not every sport is for everyone! Don't feel bad or guilty if you can't enjoy soccer as an American, it's easy to be bored by some sports if you're used to watching games more along the lines of football or basketball with higher point totals.
• Never, ever fall into the group "hoodlum" mentality that is common in soccer overseas. It always leads to unnecessary injury and property damage, and sometimes death. Enjoy soccer in your own way without encroaching on other people's rights to enjoy the sport and their choice of teams.

Related wikiHows

• How to Understand Soccer Referee Signals
• How to Understand Soccer Assistant Referee Signals
• How to Do a Throw in Soccer
• How to Appreciate a Soccer Game on TV

from: http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Soccer-Strategy

Dear France...

Dear France,

We are currently not on speaking terms. I'm a mad at you.

Love,

Elis

History Can Repeat Itself

Dear David Beckham,

You are going down

Tell your team to watch out. History likes to repeat itself

Love,

Elis

P.S. even goalies can score game winning goals

Ghana to Win against US

Ghana Originally uploaded by azakeri.

In the US v. Ghana game, while I was really impressed by the US's aggressive style against Italy, my desire for an African country in the 2nd round may outweigh the US thing, esp. since the US, until then, had never wowed me.

Sunday's Picks

Game 1: don't care, sleepin in since I'm going to bed at 4 am!

Game 2: Brazil, as the favs. However, I'm cheering for both teams to make it through so don't kill em too much, Brazil. If it's an upset, like Ghana, I'd be even more amazed.

and a bit of

Game 3: Allez les Francais!

I was about to write about how I'll be expecting more from France, unlike against the Swiss, until I saw this picture and KNEW that I had to cheer for the French.

So... Go France!

Saturday's Teams should be:

Game 1: Portugal (OBVIOUSLY)

Game 2: Ghana, now that Ivory Coast is out, I need a new Africa team to cheer for

Game 3: A tough one, I'm not (honestly) a fan of either team. I refuse to cheer for Italy for what they've done to Brazil and other awesome teams in years past, but I also refuse to admit that the US deserves to make it past round one (we just don't have the heart, there are so many other teams who deserve to go on..cough cough Ivory Coast...)

So I'm Neutral

One last final note, If there was one round 1 game to have watched it would definately have been Argentina's Friday game. RIDICULOUS (phonetically - RE DIC YOUL US..for Amy)! Argentina is quickly becoming one of my favorites (my daddy is so proud of me right now I'm sure). Seriously though, THAT is how a World Cup Champion team should play! I'm super excited for them. Also, they've inspired me to make a world cup fantasy team based entirely on hot players. Thanks to you, Cambiasso

Ok, while he is amazingly skilled, maybe Maxi Rodriguez is the real inspiration for Team Hotness

Yes, leave it to me to make the World Cup focus on what's truely important: Hot Soccer Guys
In all seriousness though, hotness is not directly proportional to amazing soccer skills. Alas, and Alack, and Alaska.

Today I am Cheering For...

Game 1: Argentina

Game 2: Ivory Coast

Game 3: Mexico

Brazil v. Portugal: the Nike Version

The best thing about the World Cup, besides the games and the hot guys (both which I'll post on  later), has to be the ADs.

Yes, I am a sucker for the WC ads mostly because when do you ever get to really see soccer being advertised. This is probably why I'm so engrossed by the NDN ad campaign I mentioned in today's earlier post. Plus World Cup Soccer Ads show the amazingly limited range of acting ability of the previously stated hot guys. More importantly, they play out on so many different soccer themes, whether its the hatred of the refs, the soccer hooligans, amazingly fancy footwork, or just the love of the game (something missing in most American professional games).

Here, for example, is a fantasy game between my two favorite teams, Portugal and Brazil! If only we could see this game play out later...

Cleveland can't bear to witness another heartbreak

By Chris Sheridan
ESPN Insider

CLEVELAND -- A knockoff "Witness" T-shirt was being worn by the first person I came across this morning, a hotel concierge lounge host in his late 50s or early 60s who immediately assured me he was not getting his hopes up too high.

I poured a cup of coffee, picked up the Cleveland Plain Dealer and started reading a column on Page A1 headlined: "Are You Ready to Believe?" In the second graph, the writer asked: "Will our hearts be broken again?" Paragraph No. 4 referenced The Drive, The Fumble and The Shot -- nicknames for three unforgettable moments in this city's playoff history that everyone wishes they could forget.

Clearly, the folks in this town have a bit of a defeatist streak running through their collective consciousness, and I guess I can understand why. I scour my brain for a positive snapshot of the Cavs' past, and I draw a blank. The only highlight reel that comes to mind is Craig Ehlo's trying to defend a last-second shot by Michael Jordan, and we all remember how that ended.

You can count the positive moments in Cavs history on one hand, with a couple extra fingers to spare. They won the draft lottery in 2003, they reached the Eastern Conference finals in 1992 by defeating the Boston Celtics in Larry Bird's final game, and they made it to that same round in 1976 by knocking off the defending conference champion Washington Bullets in Game 7.

But that's about it for a franchise that has won only 35 postseason games in its 36 years of existence, two fewer wins than the Detroit Pistons have accumulated in just the past three years.

They just don't do championships in Cleveland, and decades worth of defeats have made this the Gloom Capital of the Midwest. The Indians haven't won the World Series since 1948, coming up short against the Braves in 1995 and the Marlins in 1997; the Browns haven't been champions of the NFL since 1964; and before this spring rolled around, the last time the Cavs had even made the playoffs was 1998.

Things have been so bad for so long, in fact, that Clevelanders are having a hard time coming to grips with the reality that they may just have the better team in this Eastern Conference semifinals series against Detroit. This, despite the fact that the series has swung decisively in their favor, with the Cavs winning the past three games to take a 3-2 lead over the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions.

Game 6 tips off at 7 p.m. ET tonight, and the only folks with as much fear and apprehension as Cleveland's fans may just be the Pistons themselves, whose legacy is suddenly at stake.

No longer do the Pistons appear as untouchable as they were throughout the regular season, and the sight of their playing tight and scared in Game 5 was just about as shocking as the final score itself.

This is the first time all season Detroit has lost three straight games, and the Pistons have found themselves as clueless as Washington was in the first round when it comes to finding a way to stop LeBron James. Quite suddenly, the Pistons are being exposed as a team with warts, from coach Flip Saunders' endgame management to Rasheed Wallace's height disadvantage against Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Tayshaun Prince's offensive disappearing act to Ben Wallace's Shaquillian free-throw shooting. (He was 0-for-7 from the line in Game 5, including two critical misses with 40.3 seconds left that left the score tied 84-84. Think that'll cost him a few dollars this summer when he becomes a free agent?)

"Everybody is to blame for us being down 3-2," Chauncey Billups said. "It's not just Flip. It's not myself. It's everybody. We're the best in the league at being a team, and now that we've lost a couple of games, everybody wants us to point fingers. That's not what we do."

The Pistons will enter Game 6 with their confidence intact, or at least that's what they're claiming. The Cavs will lace 'em up knowing they are on the verge of pulling off one of the most stunning upsets the league has seen for the better part of a decade, and the key to the game may just be whether the collective apprehension of their fans carries over into their locker room.

The only thing they've witnessed consistently in this town is disappointment, and being within one victory of nirvana is not enough to wipe decades worth of doubt from Cleveland's collective consciousness.

"We're hoping," said the waitress at Sportsman's Deli, the downtown restaurant shown advertising a special sandwich, the quadruple-double, in James' latest Nike commercial. "We've got to think positive."

Wait a minute. Did I just hear a glimmer of optimism? I pressed her on the issue, and she made a confession: She really doesn't like sports, and she doesn't really follow the Cavs. That explains why she might have been one of the few people walking the rainy downtown streets this morning who wasn't expecting the worst.

Cavs Day at Case

In honor of the Cleveland Cavaliers being in the NBA Playoffs, the Office of Human Resources invites university employees and the campus community to show their team spirit. May 19 has been designated as "Cavs Day" on campus, and everyone is invited to wear wine and gold, the team's colors. Casual clothing and team apparel are permitted if it does not interfere with normal business operations.