Cheeky Chip

The Goalkeeper and the Void by Martz Azparren Featuring the...

afootballreport — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:39:45 +0000

The Goalkeeper and the Void by Martz Azparren

Featuring the words of Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, The Goalkeeper and the Void was a Jury winning film at the 2011 Machinima Expo, and primarily uses footage from the video game Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven). Though Chillida became famous for his abstract sculptures, when he was young he was the goalkeeper for Real Sociedad in San Sebastián from 1942 to 1943 before studying architecture at the University of Madrid. Using the relative freedom of a football pitch constrained to the reality of a video game, Martz Azparren is able to capture the essence of the “spatio-temporal intuitions” a goalkeeper must manage.

As Chillida states, “the conditions needed to be a good goalkeeper and a good sculptor are almost the same.”

Why does Germany wear green? The Ireland myth and the...

afootballreport — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:00:33 +0000

Why does Germany wear green? The Ireland myth and the truth.

After dropping a few hints over the past few months, Adidas released the new Germany away kit that will be used throughout EURO 2012. It’s green. Really, really green. Like you, we’ve seen a German flag before and could not find a trace of green on it. So where does this green come from? Well, there’s a popular myth and then there’s the truth.

The myth is that the roots of green lie in post-World War II Germany. Many believe Ireland were the first team willing to play against Germany after the war ended, and so the Germans remembered the gesture by donning Ireland’s traditional green kits.

The truth is, however, that the green does not have anything to do with Ireland. Actually, the first team to play Germany after the war was Switzerland. As for the green and white combo? Well, it wasn’t purely motivated by aesthetics. The colors are derived from the DFB (German football federation) logo, which was designed using green and white, the colors that make up a football pitch. So Ireland, you’re still great, but you’re not responsible for the creation of these awesome green kits.

The World Wildlife Fund wants Messi to wear a Real Madrid...

afootballreport — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:35:44 +0000

The World Wildlife Fund wants Messi to wear a Real Madrid jersey for a day

If I supported Real Madrid, I’d be pumping up my bike tires as I type this. In an effort to spread awareness for Earth Hour, which is an hour of “uniting people to protect the planet”, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has celebrities teaming up with the organization to help spread awareness of Earth Hour and promote sustainable habits. Now, by no means does this suggest that Messi will actually put on the Madrid shirt, but his image serves as an example because of Messi’s proactive role as UNICEF ambassador. Alongside Leo are the likes of Coldplay (if you want to hear a show on Youtube) or Matt Damon (if you want to see him tortured and get hypothermia).

Find more info on Earth Hour here. March 31st at 8:30pm.

#AupaMirandes (Come on Mirandés!) Miracle is the word that...

afootballreport — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:09:31 +0000

#AupaMirandes (Come on Mirandés!)

Miracle is the word that comes to mind as Mirandes go to Bilbao in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao won 2-1 at Mirandes’ Estadio Anduva last week, and the odds are overwhelming leaning towards them to reach the final, where they’ll play Barcelona or Valencia. But don’t count Mirandes just yet. The minnows sitting in the third tier of Spanish futbol have made a habit out of creating the dramatic, and maybe, just maybe tonight they’ll do it again. Regardless, #AupaMirandes will be trending on twitter later today, and we’re going to join in on the support for Spain’s Cinderella story.

Read More on Mirandés

FC Barcelona vs. Brazil in 1999 - The Full Match The beginning...

bearderic — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:02:10 +0000

FC Barcelona vs. Brazil in 1999 - The Full Match

The beginning of the week is never enjoyable, but let’s lessen the dosage of suffering with a glorious find on Youtube. 1999 was FC Barcelona’s centenary year and the whole season was quite the celebration of everything FC Barcelona. The highlight of the season (apart from winning the league title) was a friendly match on the 28th of April against the boys from Brazil who finished 2nd in the 1998 World Cup.

Ronaldo (the original) and Romario were making their return to the Camp Nou, but all eyes were on FC Barcelona maestro Rivaldo. Before the game, Rivaldo said he was happy to wear the Blaugrana jersey, but country won over club and Rivaldo played for his homeland. Legends were aplenty, as Figo (before the Real Madrid transfer) put on a show. Pep Guardiola started the match, but was subbed off at half time. Who subbed him off? Well, a certain young Catalan midfielder named Xavi. The match ended 2-2, and it was a real spectacle for all involved. (Full line-ups listed in the description of the video)

Time-Lapse Camp Nou Egoi Suso Rius decided that capturing a...

bearderic — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:07:50 +0000

Time-Lapse Camp Nou

Egoi Suso Rius decided that capturing a match, in its entirety, at the Camp Nou would be something special. It’s been done before, but not in 110 seconds. Egoi chose to film the Barçelona vs. Osasuna match in January and the results are fantastic. Set to musical stylings of “Sonata No. 11”, this video carries itself in a way that allows its fast-paced footage to be met something that’s not quite as intense. Oh, and the match ended 4-nil Barça.

"Football can go to hell if this is the situation."

afootballreport — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:52:19 +0000

““Football can go to hell if this is the situation.””

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Those were the words of Al-Ahly’s star player Mohamed Aboutrika in the wake of the tragedy in Port Said, calling for the Egyptian league to be suspended indefinitely. “Crowds are dying in front of us, and there aren’t any police or security forces,” he said.

The clash between rival fans of Al-Ahly and Al-Masry in the Egyptian city of Port Said killed at least 74 people and injured over 1,000 others in the deadliest incident since the country’s autocratic president was ousted a year ago. The bloodshed brought into sharp focus how much security has deteriorated over the past year as the revolt and its continuing ripples have chipped away at the pillars of the police state that Egypt once was.

Read more on the tragedy here (Wash Post), here (NYTimes), and here (Reuters). (posted by Elizabeth Cotignola)

How did Seven Nation Army take over Italy? It’s probably the...

bearderic — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:44:23 +0000

How did Seven Nation Army take over Italy?

It’s probably the indiest sports anthem ever, but if anyone was following the 2006 World Cup then they remember the simple, ever-so-catchy bassline of The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army. It ended up dominating the whole world of sports, but it became the beloved song of the Italian fans and players. How?

Alan Siegel at Deadspin did some research. We put it in bullet form.

It began on Oct. 22, 2003, at an AC Milan match in spontaneous fashion. The visiting Belgians moved out into the city center, still singing. They kept chanting it in the stands of the San Siro—Oh…oh-OH-oh oh OHH OHH—as Peruvian striker Andres Mendoza stunned Milan with a goal in the 33rd minute. Brugge made it hold up for a shocking 1-0 upset. Even when leaving the stadium, they continued to belt it out.

The song traveled back to Belgium with them, and the Brugge crowd began singing it at home games. The club itself eventually started blasting “Seven Nation Army” through the stadium speakers after goals.

On Feb. 15, 2006, Club Brugge hosted A.S. Roma in a UEFA Cup match. The visitors won, 2-1, and the Roma supporters apparently picked up the song from their hosts.

“I had never heard the song before we stepped on the field in Bruges,” Roma captain Francesco Totti told a Dutch newspaper later. “Since then, I can’t get the ‘Po po po po po poo pooo’ out of my head. It sounded fantastic and the crowd was immediately totally into it. I quickly went out and bought one of the band’s albums.”

The song traveled back to Italy again. Italians renamed it the “po po po po” song.

By the time the World Cup kicked off in Germany that June, it had become the Italian national team’s unofficial theme song.

Sports Illustrated reported that fans had serenaded Totti with the song during Italy’s group-stage win over Ghana. The Azzurri beat France in the final on July 9, and “Seven Nation Army” chants popped up on the streets of Rome amongst the celebrations.

On July 11, Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Materazzi led a crowd rendition of “Seven Nation Army” from the stage at a Rolling Stones concert.

Soon after, Jack White himself weighed in: “I am honored that the Italians have adopted this song as their own,” White said. “Nothing is more beautiful than when people embrace a melody and allow it to enter the pantheon of folk music.”

It’s an amazing story (again, read Alan’s article for the full story) that I remember so well having been in Perugia at the time Italy triumphed. The pre-Waka Waka days of the World Cup, ah, they were so beautiful…

Erlan Mealla’s Bolivian wondergoal If you knew who Erlan Mealla...

bearderic — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:11:19 +0000

Erlan Mealla’s Bolivian wondergoal

If you knew who Erlan Mealla was before seeing this, well, I simply don’t believe you. The words “must see” have lost their meaning over the years, but this is must see for anyone that can appreciate a tremendous goal. It comes from the Bolivian Campeonato Clausura, and Erlan, a 23-year-old Nacional Potosi striker, scored a 20-yard scorpion kick that ended up being the match-winner against their opponents who go by “The Strongest” No, really. [via DT]

Our Reaction to Transfer Deadline Day

bearderic — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:01:43 +0000

Our Reaction to Transfer Deadline Day:

afootballreport:

Pretty much. Unless you’re a QPR fan, nothing worth knowing went down. Though fake stories, false sightings of players on trains to [insert your city], and “Carlos Tevez to Aston Villa!!!” twitter hoaxes were in abundance. If you are interested, that’s fine. Our friends at The World’s Game summed up today’s events succinctly enough. Except actually.

The January Transfer Window led us once again into a cold and desolate world of agents and loan spells (with an option to buy for £3.5m in June, of course). But now that window has been shut, finally. Until tomorrow, don’t handcuff yourself to any goalposts.

Deaf Football in Great Britain I’m well-aware of blind...

bearderic — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:04:19 +0000

Deaf Football in Great Britain

I’m well-aware of blind football, but deaf football is something that has been completely off my radar.

Deaf Football in Great Britain has a very proud and strong history, dating back to 1871, a history that is virtually unknown to the majority of the followers of football in Britain. Most deaf teams in Great Britain compete in mainstream football leagues nationally. The majority of clubs compete in the British Deaf Football Cup annually, which has been running since 1959.

Deaf Football clubs have been around longer than the majority of all the teams in the English and Scottish Football League pyramid. Great Britain boasts the oldest deaf football club in the world in Glasgow Deaf Athletic Football Club, founded in 1871. Did you know that several deaf footballers have managed to reach the professional ranks over the last century?

Some have reached the highest levels of the game, while others have had only limited opportunities to succeed at the top level: some accounts suggest that yet more appear to have been rejected because of their inability to hear, rather than because of their footballing abilities.

You can find more information on Deaf Football in Britain here.

Back to Anfield South

bearderic — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:10:54 +0000

By Amy Eustace

There came a point at the beginning of last year when you simply knew it was coming. Perhaps it was the infamous Roy Hodgson face rub – a sure sign that man had reached his last bastion of pure desperation – the previous December, or the penalty that Steven Gerrard sent soaring uncharacteristically over the bar against Blackburn the same month. We all sensed Roy Hodgson was a dead man walking, and the Kop didn’t need to chant “Hodgson out!” to stress the point.

More cruelly, they sang the name of another; a player whose sublime touch and silky footwork had led the Kop in song throughout the 1980s and a manager whose reign at the club had been the very antithesis of Liverpool’s past decade or two. Bountiful where the nineties and noughties had been barren, magical where the club had since been miserable - fans who had long forgotten how dominance felt craved a return to his tenure. Kenny Dalglish’s was a name synonymous with success in Liverpool. Roy Hodgson’s had become a buzz word for failure.

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As El Clásico divides and negativity gets redundant, new heroes arise

bearderic — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:09:31 +0000

By Eric Beard

Doesn’t vehement hatred get kind of boring after a while? I mean, sure, if you want to let a little schadenfreude and anger out a couple of times a year, that’s fine. Everyone’s entitled to their fair share of irrational fandom. Maybe I’m not as creative as the Spanish press and [insert name of your Superclub]’s fans, but hatred gets kind of circular after a while. Millions and millions of fans watched the superb match at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, where violence and drama were plentiful. They saw Messi assist and Ronaldo score. They saw a comeback that arguably could have overshadowed Liverpool’s triumph in Istanbul. The match, in itself, was fantastic, but the shoving, pushing, accusing, and general unabashed conduct that has become the status quo took over as the final whistle approached.

Unprofessionalism can be as equally entertaining as it is surprising, don’t get me wrong. But only if it’s unexpected (and relatively non-violent). I remember seeing an MLS playoff game in 2007 between the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. Michael Parkhurst of New England had been presented two awards before the match: the MLS Defender of the Year award and the Fair Play award. Within 20 minutes of kickoff, Parkhurst gave away a freekick, which prompted an inordinately audible Cee-Lo Green-esque “eff you!” for everyone in the stands to feast their ears upon. It was appalling, yet also hilarious given Parkhurst might as well have been the league’s Dalai Lama. When is the last time you heard say, “that Pepe, he’s amusing isn’t he?” When expected, unprofessionalism is quite simply as boring as it is disgusting.

With Spaniards consuming a half dozen Clásicos every year, stories elsewhere are welcome, yet difficult to be granted attention by the Spanish media. Two unexpected figures have been uniting Spanish fans, one though genius and one through sheer spirit. The first is Marcelo Bielsa, the manager of Athletic Bilbao, who has done remarkably well in his first season with the Basque club. Bielsa has earned the full support of Athletic fans, managing to get results through an enjoyable style of play. The second is a Spanish club based in Spain’s Segunda División B, Group 2 named CD Mirandés, who have managed to somehow transcend the boundaries of what is imaginable for a club that can only seat 6,000 in its stadium. Indeed, Mirandés did the ineffable by progressing into the Copa del Rey semifinals courtesy of an injury-time winner from Pablo Infante, Mirandés’ midfielder-turned-Spanish hero.

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Messi and Tevez beating Maradona in Soccer Tennis It doesn’t...

bearderic — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:50:14 +0000

Messi and Tevez beating Maradona in Soccer Tennis

It doesn’t exactly solve the “Who’s better?” debate, but it’s certainly a nice Friday Flashback. There’s nothing like seeing El Diego put the old boots on and duel with the best. With Enzo as his partner, Maradona took on Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez. Not an easy task. Unsurprisingly, Leo and Carlos swept their competition aside, but not without witnessing a few classic flicks (and complaints) from Maradona.

Next week’s TIME Magizine: Global cover vs the U.S. cover I am...

afootballreport — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:54:33 +0000

Next week’s TIME Magizine: Global cover vs the U.S. cover

I am not amused, America.

Vintage Comic: Casillas wants to battle! With the Spanish press...

bearderic — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:33:55 +0000

Vintage Comic: Casillas wants to battle!

With the Spanish press doing their best to verbally abuse José Mourinho and a generally overwhelming vibe ahead of tonight’s Clásico at Camp Nou, we thought we would lighten the mood with one of Jon Horner’s vintage comics that dates back to the World Cup. This slide is from Jon and Oliver Sparrow’s World Cup comic entitled “Inspector Rooney and the Jabulani Japery”. You can look at all of Jon Horner’s work for AFR by clicking here.

Real Madrid fans, you better pray a wild pretty girl doesn’t appear alongside the pitch tonight.

Poland’s 58,000 seat chocolate national stadium. That’s...

bearderic — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:41:17 +0000

Poland’s 58,000 seat chocolate national stadium. That’s right.

If you’re hungry, look away. Poland’s new national stadium in Warsaw will host the opening match of EURO 2012 (only 134 days away!), along with two other group stage matches, a quarterfinal, and a semifinal. The stadium itself (third picture) is almost finished, but with all the typical hype surrounding a prestigious international tournament we found this delicious creation.

The chocolate model of the National Stadium was made on a 1:130 scale and weighs 400 kilograms. The designer, so to speak, is renowned confectioner Janusz Profus. Since we’ve already committed to a food post, we’ll let you know that it’s made of milk, white, and bitter chocolate. Oh, and the construction of the model started in December, only finishing less than two weeks ago. That, my friends, is being committed to food.

The Top 100 Goals of 2011 2012 is flourishing, but it’s not too...

bearderic — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:38:18 +0000

The Top 100 Goals of 2011

2012 is flourishing, but it’s not too late to look back on the best goals from last year. Messi is on the list. Ronaldo too. But you already knew that. Some brilliant golazos you might not have seen are on here too.

Highly recommended hidden gems: Hernán Barcos’ exquisite dribbling for Liga de Quito (#94), Nikica Jelavic’s bicycle kick for Rangers (#91), Julio Gómez with another bicycle in the U-17 World Cup (#87), Pa Modou Kah coming out of nowhere with a thunderbolt of a strike (#62), Gualberto Mojica’s one-two to back of the net strike (#55), Lisandro López’s textbook bicycle kick for Arsenal de Sarandi (#21), and Cleiton Xavier’s surreal touch for Metalist Kharkiv (#10).

What was the best goal of 2011 in your opinion?

Eye-tracking Technology at Stamford Bridge? The final product...

bearderic — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:10:59 +0000

Eye-tracking Technology at Stamford Bridge?

The final product will be much, much smoother, but technology company Technicolor released what they called a “Personalized Content Renderer”. It was on show at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and this clip of a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge displays what Technicolor have in store.

Let PSFK explain how it works:

“The tech device is able to enhance the viewer’s experience of watching a wide-angle sporting match such as football, baseball or soccer. Incorporating six different camera angles at a stadium, the device tracks the movement of your eyes to allow you to control and see what you want to view. It can even zoom into a scene to give you better details and focus.

The Personalized Content Rendering technology is expected to become commercially available in the next couple of years. At this stage, there are still lots of improvements to be made, such as smoother camera transitions or what happens when more than one person is watching the game.”

Right now the product looks rather headache-inducing, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye out for. ~~Sorry, that was a terrible pun, but it’s a Monday so let me get away with it.~~

That Boy Clint Dempsey vs. The World?

bearderic — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:26:36 +0000

By Saf Hossain, writing hours after returning from Craven Cottage

Attending a live match is, obviously, an entirely different experience to watching on TV. When you are free of the director’s control, you might choose to follow an individual on the field for long periods of the game. This happened as I was sitting in the Putney End of Craven Cottage as Fulham took on Juventus in the Europa League. Seventy-one minutes had elapsed, and the sign went up to signal that Clint Dempsey was coming on. I tracked everything Dempsey did after entering the game for ten minutes. Ten minutes later he floated the winning goal over the ‘keeper’s head, slaying a giant of the European game. Since then, I’ve been singing Deuce’s praises to any football fan who will listen.

Only now are the British football audience truly waking up to Dempsey’s quality. It isn’t a surprise that they are finally doing so, since the Texan today completed a brace of hat-tricks in January. Moreover, Dempsey has become the all-time American top-scorer in the Premier League and Fulham’s record scorer in the top flight of English football. Impressive titles, and the notion that a larger, richer, possibly Champions League-playing suitor will come in for the attacker seems an eventuality. How do (all due respect) smaller clubs’ fans rationalise one of their superstars moving on? Even as the most casual of Fulham followers (I support Liverpool, go figure) I’ve romanticised that Dempsey would stay loyal to the little club on the banks of the Thames. However, from what I know of soccer in the US, it certainly sounds like Dempsey has earned his place in the limelight.

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