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.”
Source: afootballreport
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.
Source: afootballreport
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…
Source: afootballreport
Our Reaction to Transfer Deadline Day
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.
Source: afootballreport
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.
Source: afootballreport
