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Real Madrid Claims Spanish Soccer Title

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Real Madrid Beats Athletic Bilbao to Claim Spanish Soccer
Title

2012-05-02 21:51:28.895 GMT

 

 

By Bob Bensch

     May 2
(Bloomberg) — Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to win its record-extending
32nd Spanish soccer league title.

     Gonzalo
Higuain, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Real clinched its first
championship since 2008. Real leads Barcelona, which beat Malaga 4-1, by seven
points with two matches remaining.

 

For Related News and Information:

Top Sports Stories: {ISPO <GO>} {USPO <GO>}

 

To contact the editor responsible for this story:

Bob Bensch at +44-20-7330-7947 or

bbensch@bloomberg.net

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Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola Quits European Soccer

April 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola Quits European Soccer
Champion

2012-04-27 12:49:24.88 GMT

 

 

     (Adds comment
from Arsenal coach in 12th, 13th paragraphs.)

 

By Alex Duff

     April 27
(Bloomberg) — Pep Guardiola, the most successful Barcelona coach ever, will
quit the Spanish soccer club after losses in the last week ended its chance to
defend its league and European titles.

     The
41-year-old announced his resignation today at a press conference. Assistant
coach Tito Vilanova will take over, club president Sandro Rosell said.

     “After four
years, everyone gets tired,” Guardiola said.

“You can only recover by getting away and resting.”

     Barcelona lost
at home to Real Madrid April 21 to fall seven points behind Real with four
games remaining in the Spanish season. Barcelona was eliminated by Chelsea in
the Champions League semifinals three days later.

     Guardiola has
overseen two Champions League titles — more than any other Barcelona coach –
and three Spanish titles since replacing Frank Rijkaard in 2008. Johan Cruijff
and Rijkaard are the other coaches to have led Barcelona to elite European
titles, in 1992 and 2006.

     Guardiola said
he would take a break from soccer.

     “I will
probably return, but not now,” he said.

     Guardiola had
been coach of the Barcelona reserve team.

Former president Joan Laporta promoted him to lead the
first team after a single season because of his knowledge of the team’s style.

     He captained
Barcelona as a midfielder, playing 379 times for the team between 1990 and
2001. The period included winning the 1992 European Cup.

 

                     
      Success

 

     In his first
season as coach, Barcelona won each of the six competitions it took part in
including Spain’s La Liga and Copa del Rey, the world club championship and the
Champions League.

     Guardiola said
he told club executives in February that he was nearing the end of his stint as
coach. He had a rolling contract that expired at the end of the season, and the
former Barcelona player turned down Rosell’s offer of an extension.

     Barcelona lost
1-0 to Chelsea and then was held to a 2-2 draw April 24th at the Camp Nou to
lose 3-2 to the London team in the two-match semifinal.

     “I couldn’t
make a decision based upon one result,” the coach said. “My head had already
decided that this was my last season.”

     Barcelona’s
style under Guardiola has focused on accurate passing and ball control, giving
the team 60 to 70 percent of possession in most matches. Arsenal coach Arsene
Wenger said he was disappointed that the Spaniard was quitting because he
appreciated the squad’s fluid style of play.

 

                          
Philosophy

 

     “Guardiola is
one of the representatives of this philosophy and made this philosophy triumph
so I would have loved him, even going through a disappointing year, to stay and
come back and insist with his philosophy,” the Frenchman said.

“That would be interesting.”

     Vilanova was
Guardiola’s assistant for the last several years. He returned to the training
ground last year 15 days after an operation on a parotid gland. He trained with
Guardiola in Barcelona’s youth squad, but never played in a league match for
the club. The former midfielder played for Celta Vigo in Spain’s top league.

     “Why Tito?
Because he represents everything that this club represents,” Barcelona sports
director Andoni Zubizarreta.

“The style of play, the analysis, everything. He puts in
hours until he goes to sleep to prepare things. We need somebody like that.”

 

For Related News and Information:

Barcelona news: NI BARCELONA <GO>

Top international sports stories: ISPO <GO>

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Top Ten Soccer Drills Explained

December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

http://www.toptentopten.com/topten/soccer+skills+_+drills+explained_

 

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Ronaldo leads Madrid into knockout stage with #100

November 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

LYON, France (AP) Cristiano Ronaldo scored both goals,
including his 100th in 105 matches for Real Madrid, as the Spanish club beat
Lyon 2-0 Wednesday to keep a perfect record in Group D of the Champions League
and advance to the knockout stage.

Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 24th minute by curling
home a free kick.

The Portugal winger then notched his 100th goal for the
Spanish club by converting a penalty in the 69th after Lyon fullback Mouhamadou
Dabo had fouled him.

Read more: http://sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccerfront.asp?lg=chlg&eref=sinav#ixzz1duLFxRiY

http://sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccerfront.asp?lg=chlg&eref=sinav

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Soccer Skills; Futebol Tennis

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Futebol tennis is designed to develop ball handling skills under the stress of competition. Players are forced to handle balls using restricted touches and play balls back with accuracy and tactical reasoning. Players develop touch and enhance decision making skills while trying to engineer tactics to successfully out play their opponents. Most of all it is fun! Players will want to play all the time once they get the feel for it. Great way to train with a friend at home.

http://www.brasilianfutebol.com/futebol-tennis

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More Real and Barca

April 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Real Madrid can draw off its Copa del Rey victory and coach Jose Mourinho’s Champions League success over Barcelona when the pair meet in the first leg of the all-Spanish semifinal on Wednesday.

Madrid beat Barcelona for the first time in seven tries to earn its first domestic cup in 18 years.

Last Wednesday’s victory provides momentum and the nine-time European champions are now banking on Mourinho to repeat last year’s achievement when his Inter Milan team knocked the Catalans out to reach the final. The Portuguese coach also came out victorious in two out of three two-legged matches with Barcelona while at Chelsea.

Madrid’s cup win has shifted the momentum in its favor, especially after it routed third-place Valencia 6-3 on Saturday while Barcelona labored past Osasuna 2-0.

While Barcelona is on course for a third straight league title, Madrid cruises into Wednesday’s first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with more confidence and a more rested team, since Mourinho left most of his regulars on the bench against Valencia.

Madrid is without midfielder Sami Khedira, who has been key in stifling Barcelona’s attack. But forwards Emmanuel Adebayor and Angel Di Maria are expected to be available with the latter leading the attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil.

The drama may not be as high as Barcelona’s defense is depleted and is struggling without a natural left back with Adriano and Maxwell both injured. Eric Abidal’s absence coupled with the doubt over Carles Puyol’s availability means Javier Mascherano or Sergio Busquets is likely to partner Gerard Pique in central defense.

Reports in Barcelona on Tuesday suggested Iniesta may also be a doubt after the Spain international hurt his leg against Osasuna.

David Villa scored for the first time in 12 games on Saturday when Messi became the first Spanish league player to score 50 goals in a season. While the Argentina forward leads the competition with nine goals, he has yet to score at the semifinal stage in three previous tries.

Mourinho’s last four games against Barcelona have been physical affairs with his team finishing each game with 10 men, including last year’s semifinal with Inter.

Another bruising encounter may trouble a Barcelona team that many believe is showing the physical effects of the long season.

“We need to focus on our game – be solid at the back and attack with scoring goals in mind,” Iniesta said. “That’s the only mentality.”

While Barcelona is playing in its fourth straight semifinal, Madrid has beaten its rival twice before at this stage en route to victories in 1960 and its last win in 2002. Madrid returns to the last four for the first time since 2003 with the winner going on to play either Manchester United or German club Shalke.

Wednesday’s meeting is the third of four between the bitter rivals in 18 days. The pair drew 1-1 in the league before Madrid’s 1-0 extra time cup final win.

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Soccer; Developing skills

March 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Juggling is a great way to develop skills needed in the game of soccer.  Developing the ability to strike the ball properly and consistently enough to keep a soccer ball alive and in the air can help players hone  eye/foot coordination – passing and trapping skills, and develop confidence on the ball that is needed to find success.

It’s not as simple as just learning how to juggle. Normal training is required for fitness, decision making and to sharpen all the movements, agility and mechanics involved in the game of soccer. But time spent with the ball juggling can be extremely beneficial as a compliment to all the fine skills needed to play at a high level.

Using a smaller ball like the Brasilian Futebol or even a tennis ball can accelerate progress and sharpen eye-foot coordination as well as develop balance, quick feet and touch on the ball. After becoming accomplished as a juggler with a small ball you will find it much easier to control and manipulate a normal ball.

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Project Play; A soccer ball for every child

March 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“Não há no planeta um lugar onde a pobreza extrema seja mais evidente do que na Africa Sub-Saariana. Quase 50% da população vive com menos de US$ 1 por dia, a mais alta taxa de miséria no mundo. Trinta e dois países entre os 48 mais pobres do mundo estão localizados nesta região, que está infestada de conflitos, falta a presença do estado, e tem alta incidência de terríveis doenças como AIDS e malária. A África Sub-Saariana é um dos poucos lugares onde não houve nenhum progresso nas Metas de Desenvolvimento do Milênio – o número de miseráveis dobrou desde 1981 nesta que é a região do planeta onde é mais importante a luta contra a pobreza”.


‘There is no place on the planet where extreme poverty is more evident than sub-Saharan Africa.  Almost 50% of the population live on under $1 a day, the highest rate of extreme poverty in the world.  Thirty-two of the 48 poorest countries are located in this region, which is plagued by conflicts, lack of functional governments, and terrible diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the few places that is not making progress on the Millennium Development Goals-the number of impoverished people has doubled since 1981-and perhaps the most important region on the planet in the fight against poverty`.

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Training with a small ball

February 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

http://www.brasilianfutebol.com/topics/soccer-videos

Add something different to your soccer training.

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Soccer: Success oriented training

February 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Soccer; Training to create success

We like it all; scrimmages, small games, 1v1, keep-away, shooting repetition, repetition of all sorts. Mix it up, introduce new tools and new concepts. The means to the end is the important part of the process. No matter what level and age group, the drills, technique, tactics and concepts need to fit. You need to start at  A and work your way through B, C and D   to whatever level your team can accomplish. It is important to have expectations and hold the bar high enough to make them reach and stretch in what they need to accomplish as individuals and as a team.

Ideally the coach should have a long term plan with short term goals that will incrementally guide players through a season in achieving the Big Plan. There needs to be consistency and transition from one level to the next, from 1v1 to 2v1 to 3v1 which then may progress to mare game-like situations of 3v2 where more defensive pressure/persistance requires better decisions and quicker responses; 5v2 tiger ball eventually turns into 5v5 keep-away to game tactics and hopefully players can break down situations to execute tactics learned in the 5v2 and/or 2v1 situations.

We feel it is important to start at A and cover it thoroughly, master it so to speak, before you go to B. A leads to B which leads to C. As you are performing the drill that includes A,B & C it should be emphasised that all should be executed with care, precision and to the best of their ability. Call this good fundamentals, base building or foundation. Building good habits early will lead to success. ”A”  may be the initial pass, B the trap and C the recognition and execution of the next pass after B (the trap). If the initial pass is poorly executed the trap will be difficult or impossible. If the trap is poorly executed the pass to follow may not happen.

We like to have a plan that starts at  Day 1 and takes us through to the last day, which hopefully is the championship game. Along the way the plan will be tweaked, may change depending on personalities, injuries etc ……Be adaptable. Stick with important concepts and fundamentals until players grasp it and execute to exepctations, but be able to recognize when a new approach is needed or when something is just way too advanced for this livel or time of the season.

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