How to Choose Your Best Pair of Football Shoes

If you are on this page, chances are that you are looking for a good pair of football shoes. While you are playing the sport, it is essential to put on the right pair of boots. Primarily, the footwear should be designed for the type of surface you are going to play on. In this article, we are going to share with you a couple of simple tips that will help you go for the best pair to meet your needs.

First of all, you may want to consider the type of surface. This is one of the main factors to consider before you make this purchase. Given below is a description of different types of surfaces and the type of boots that will be suitable. Read down to find out more.

1. Dry Surfaces

Dry surfaces are quite common these days. If you are going to play on a dry surface, you may want to go for shoes that feature firm ground studs. Typically, these types of surfaces have natural grass on them. So, for a better grip, your boots must have traditional blades or studs. Without a proper grip on the ground, you cannot play well. After all, if you can’t perform your best, there is no point in playing.

2. Soft Surfaces

Unlike dry surfaces, soft services are wet and muddy. Therefore, it’s better that you go for a soft ground sole. Ideally, these shoes should allow you to adjust the height for better support. Apart from this, these shoes will help you have a stronger grip on the ground. Therefore, you will be less likely to slip and fall.

3. Hard Surfaces

Hard surfaces may include consolidated services or indoor synthetic grass. For these types of playgrounds, we suggest that you invest in a hard ground sole. These sports shoes should have tiny rubber studs so you can enjoy stronger support. And the good thing is that you won’t be locked in your feet.

4. Smooth Surfaces

Types of smooth surfaces include smooth cement, PVC and parquet, just to name a few. For this purpose, experts suggest that you go for a smooth sole that offers a stronger grip so you can control yourself while changing direction and speed. What you need to do is go for a sole that offers better cushioning. This is quite important if you don’t want to get tired after a few minutes of playing.

5. Outdoor Synthetic Surfaces

If you are going to play on an outdoor synthetic turf, you may want to buy an artificial grass hole. These boots have a lot of studs so that they can absorb shock in a better way.

Long story short, these are just some of the recommendations if you are going to buy football shoes based on the types of surfaces you are going to play on. So, if you are going to buy your first pair of football shoes, we suggest that you follow these steps to make the best choice.

Camisetas Real Sociedad Todas las ultimas noticias sobre el Real Madrid de fútbol, crónicas de los partidos e información sobre los jugadores y el entrenador.

Former New York Jet Takes a Shot at the PGA Tour

South Floridian, former New York Jet goes from the Gridiron to the Greens

It is hard to find two sports that are polar opposites more than golf and football, Stevie Anderson is making the case that there are some similarities between the two sports. Anderson, who spent five-years completing acrobatic catches in the National Football League (NFL), is connecting the dots between the sports by making serious inroads in his hot pursuit of a PGA tour career.

Anderson is one of three brothers from Jonesboro, Louisiana – a small bucolic town – who remarkably all played in the NFL. Now he finds himself, in of all places, on the links, where he is traveling throughout the country playing PGA qualifying tournaments.

While it is obvious by the power of his swing that Anderson has the physical goods to play on the tour, it is still a gargantuan challenge that he has ahead of him. Anderson has spent his whole life-time overcoming obstacles. He defied all odds when he was drafted in the NFL’s eighth round by the Arizona Cardinals in 1993, after playing at Grambling State, an obscure university with an enrollment just shy of 5,000 students.

Anderson was a very special player at Grambling State, a historic, black university where he had the luxury to play for legendary football coach Eddie Robinson, the second winningest coach in division one college football history. However, playing for Robinson had its drawbacks.

Robinson maintained a strict rule, where every senior on the team – whether you were a superstar or bench-warmer – was given an opportunity to play. In Anderson’s case, this resulted in half a game playing time. Robinson applied this measure to give seniors the opportunity to be seen by scouts.

While this unconventional coaching philosophy was noble of Robinson, it severely handicapped Anderson’s ability to put up the lofty numbers as a wide receiver often required from players on teams that are not on the NFL scouts’ radar.

Anderson’s senior year was by far his most successful. He made the most out of everyone of his 36 receptions by converting them into a staggering 12 touchdowns. For math geeks, this translates into one touchdown for every three receptions.

These numbers were good enough for Anderson to be invited to play in the Hawaiian Hula Bowl – college football’s all-star game – a rarity for players from small programs like Grambling State, despite their heritage to produce NFL alumni, which list includes Doug Williams, the first African American quarterback to win a Super Bowl in league history.

Anderson, the 6-6, 215 pound wide receiver – gifted with blazing speed, size, and length – was rewarded appreciably for his stellar collegiate career when he was drafted in the 8th round by the Arizona Cardinals in 1993. Anderson went on to play five-years in the NFL with both the Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets.

In his fifth NFL season while competing against the Seattle Seahawks, he suffered a career ending injury after running a routine pass pattern. Anderson’s defender tripped him and subsequently landed awkwardly on his knee – tearing his Posterior Crucial Ligament (PCL). After his football career ended, Anderson successfully transitioned into a modeling career and his life appeared to be on track.

Now the sport of golf is his avocation. If history repeats itself for Anderson – the comeback kid – you will see him competing on the same green grass as Tiger Woods one day in the not so distant future after an illustrious career on the gridiron.

Camisetas Valencia Consulta todas las noticias e información sobre fútbol español e internacional: LaLiga Santander, LaLiga SmartBank, Champions League, Europa League

Football Scholarships in the UK

Having football as a career option is the decision that a lot of students make in the UK. There is a rich tradition and good future possibilities associated with the sport. An important aspect of playing the sport properly is to get the correct environment and assistance. Getting access to the right team can be a step towards playing the game professionally. This access can be gained by getting one of the football scholarships in the UK.

If you are searching how to get a football scholarship in the UK, then continue reading. I have listed 3 options available to you. These awards are listed in no particular order. I have given a brief description of the eligibility criteria for each.

Football Scholarships in The UK

University of Sterling:

Winners of the scholarship represent the school in the British Universities’ competitions and Scottish Sun Lowland League. The applicant must be an undergraduate/postgraduate student or applying for an undergrad/postgrad position at the university.

The applicant must also have junior/senior international honours. Or, had played professionally at Academy/senior club level. The amount provided can be up to £4,000 pounds/annum. These are some of the requirements you need to fulfil. More details of the football scholarship are available at stir.ac.uk/sport/scholarships/football-men/.

Football Scholarships in the UK for Playing in the US

This is another opportunity that UK football players may be interested in. The option of playing «soccer» in the USA. Given below is a program that helps those looking to play for a US university.

Soccer Innovation Scholarship Program:

This is a multi-step program. Here are brief details of some stages of this process. In the first stage, your academic record will converted to US GPA system. An assessment will be made whether you can realistically get a US soccer scholarship.

If you are accepted by the program, they will start looking for universities and make recommendations. They will also arrange video footage of you in action. In the third stage, you will find out your options and get instructions about how you can continue from there. More details including the application form is available at soccerinnovation.co.uk/index.html.

Both of the above-mentioned options provide footballers the chance to take their game to the next level. One answers the question of how to get football scholarships in the UK. The other is about on how you can go to the US on scholarship.

Camisetas Nigeria Entérate de las últimas noticias del fútbol español y europeo. Con las principales novedades de la Liga y la Champions League.

The Best Oakland Raiders Quarterback Ever

One of the most popular football teams in the history of the National Football League is the Oakland Raiders. While it is true that the Raiders have suffered through some tough times of late, they continue to have tons of fans from all corners of the country. When it comes to popularity and the sport of football, few players are more popular than the quarterback. So, who then is the best quarterback the Oakland Raiders have ever had?

When analyzing who is the best in any category, there is a great deal of subjectiveness that comes into play. Is the best quarterback the one who has led the team to the most championships? Is the best quarterback the one who has thrown for more touchdowns than anyone else in team history? Or, is the best quarterback the one who has kept the starting position for the most years?

Jim Plunkett was not drafted by the Raiders and failed somewhat as a starter for the New England Patriots and then the San Francisco 49ers before coming to Oakland in the late 1970s and leading the team to two Super Bowl victories.

Rich Gannon only played for the Raiders for six seasons, but in that time he threw for the second most yards in team history with a total of 17,585. That is an average of over 2,900 yards a season. Gannon actually only started at quarterback for the Raiders for four full seasons and in those years he threw for 15,787 yards which is an average of just under 4,000 yards per year. In addition to this, he also averaged almost twenty touchdowns a season and made the pro bowl four times, as well as was named the 2002 NFL MVP.

Only one player has thrown for more touchdowns in an Oakland Raiders uniform than Daryle Lamonica. Lamonica was the first big name quarterback that the Raiders had and he is still held in high regard. As a starting quarterback, Lamonica’s record was 62-16-6. He twice led the AFL in touchdown passes and once led the league in passing yardage. Daryle Lamonica would go on to be named the UPI Player of the Year twice, first in 1967 and then again two years later in 1969.

The best quarterback in Oakland Raiders history though is also one of the most popular players in team history. Ken Stabler has thrown for more yards and touchdowns than any other Oakland Raiders player in history. Nicknamed «The Snake» for his ability to scramble and avoid getting sacked, Stabler would play for the Raiders for ten seasons, seven of them as the primary starting quarterback. He would lead the league in touchdown passes on two occasions, be named the 1974 NFL MVP, play in four Pro Bowls, and lead the Raiders to a Super Bowl victory following the 1976 NFL season.

The Oakland Raiders have long been known as a team that loves to throw the ball. They have fielded some great quarterbacks over the years, and even some of the ones who only had a brief stay with the team like Jeff George, Kerry Collins, Jay Schroeder, Jeff Hostetler, and Steve Beuerlein still managed to put up great passing numbers. The best quarterback of them all though was Kenny «The Snake» Stabler who helped make the Raiders one of the best teams in the National Football Language during the whole decade of the 1970s.

Camisetas SUIZA Toda la información y última hora sobre Futbol gallego. Noticias, eventos, reportajes y artículos de opinión

Is it Safe to Buy Manchester United Football Tickets Online?

Football is a sport that unites the world in competitive rivalry and causes men and woman around the world to have something outside of themselves and their families to invest their time and energy in. The sport of football is not just a game, it is a passion that some will spend thousands of dollars a year to follow.

However, there is some concern when it comes to purchasing tickets through a quick and efficient online vendor. No matter how much of a fan someone is they do not wish to pay money or give out their credit card information to a website they can’t trust.

With this particular issue in mind here are three tips to insure that you will not be scammed, defrauded, or simply robbed by a website that claims to be legitimate.

Tip One

When looking for a site online to purchase Manchester United tickets from the first tip is to actively attempt to determine if they are a fraudulent website that will not deliver the goods. Take the website’s name and enter it into a search engine, such as Google. After the site name or address type in the words «Scam» and «Fraud». Perform this as two separate searches.

If this leads to a few sites where people had issues with the potential ticket vendor read through the complaints carefully to determine whether it was the site’s fault or something the buyer did wrong. If the buyer is only complaining because of something they did incorrectly while purchasing then this does not count as fraudulent activity.

However, if they mention being robbed or getting the wrong tickets when they ordered properly then this is a site you should avoid.

Tip Two

Putting in credit or debit card information can cause even the most diehard fan to stop and reflect on the possibilities of willingly allowing themselves to be robbed. One way to drastically lessen the impact of credit or debit theft is to open a debit, or credit, account that does not have overdraft fees.

There are many of these online, as well as in walk-in institutions. These cards will decline anything attempted charge over what the balance of the card is and will not charge a fee for doing so, usually.

The reason this is a good way to avoid being scammed is simplicity itself. With a card that cannot be overcharged all the prospective purchaser needs to do is keep a minimum balance on it for purchasing tickets. This will be their «ticket» card only.

This will keep the cards they use for business or other personal finances free of the online scams they may run across. If one of the online scam artists try to take their information and steal from them then they will know immediately and can shut down that activity.

Tip Three

Don’t be fooled by tags on a page that read «certified» or «protected by» with a company logo next to it. Secured transactions are incredibly important but unless a website actually encrypts the monetary transfer they are worthless to you.

Seek out websites that take you to a page with «Https:» as the terminal protocol. If the «s» does not appear at the end of the terminal protocol, there are two other main types such as ftps that are also secure, then the site is probably insecure despite claiming otherwise.

The «Certified» and «protected by» tags are useful for the most part since they will grant the prospective buyer knowledge that the site has been looked over and encrypted by a third party encryption specialist. However, unscrupulous individuals can steal these image tags and copy them onto their sites.

Always check to see if the page shows as encrypted. While this is not a one hundred percent guarantee of the quality of the site in question, it does lend itself better to purchasing from them.

In the end you will need to trust your instincts and check your tickets upon receipt of them. Follow this up by watching your debit or credit account like a hawk for a while after entering the information. A proactive Manchester United fan is a happy Manchester United fan.

Camisetas Barcelona Últimas noticias de Fútbol. Últimas noticias, fotos, videos e información sobre Fútbol.

University of Southern California (USC) Trojans Heisman Trophy Winners – 7 Total Recipients

There have been seven football players from the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans who have won the Heisman Trophy. The seven football players that have won the seven Heisman awards are as follows:

  • Mike Garrett, a halfback, won in 1965
  • O.J. Simpson, a tailback, received the award in 1968
  • Charles White, a running back, accepted the honor in 1979
  • Marcus Allen in 1981 became the fourth running back from USC to win the award
  • Carson Palmer was the first quarterback for the Trojans to win the award when he accepted it in 2002
  • Matt Leinart played quarterback for the University of Southern California and received the Heisman award in 2004
  • Reggie Bush in 2005 was named the fifth USC running back to take home the award

With a total of seven Heisman Trophies produced by Southern Cal the institution of higher learning based in Los Angeles, California is tied for the most received by any school. Both the University of Notre Dame and Ohio State University each match the impressive number of seven trophies by a single school. Because Ohio State has the distinction of producing the only two time winner in Archie Griffin Notre Dame and the University of Southern California actually stand together as the only two colleges to produce seven different winners.

The Heisman Trophy is named after football pioneer John Heisman and was first bestowed upon Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago in 1935. Over the decades the award has become widely accepted as the most highly touted and prestigious individual accolade in the sport of college football. Despite the association of the Heisman being given to the most outstanding college football player, winning the honor has proved to be no guarantee of professional success.

In terms of the seven Trojans players who have had the honor of winning the Heisman Trophy two of those men transitioned from college football to the National Football League (NFL) as the number one overall picks of the NFL Draft in their respective years. The two players chosen with the first pick of the first round in NFL Drafts are Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson who was taken by the Buffalo Bills in 1969 and Carson Palmer who was selected with the first pick of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Despite slipping to the number 10 overall pick by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1982 Marcus Allen joined O.J. Simpson in 2003 as the only two former USC players to win Heisman Trophies and be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Camisetas ALEMANIA Fútbol. Sigue todas las noticias del deporte rey: partidos, imágenes, vídeos, goles y toda la última hora de las mejores Ligas y competiciones

Airsoft Vs Paintball – Which Extreme Sport is More Dangerous?

Many people think that airsoft and paintball are dangerous, but the truth is neither one of these extreme sports produces more injuries than a common club sport (ie. basketball, football, baseball, etc). If you are thinking about joining either of these sports, all the power to you. However, while both sports are safe, airsoft is considerably more intimidating than paintball. The fire rate for airsoft guns is usually around 300-450 fps. Paintball guns rarely reach 300 fps, in fact, most paintball fields have restrictions that disallow players to have a fire rate above 300 fps.

Airsoft bb’s can pierce objects, including human skin. Paintballs are designed to inflict as small amount of pain as possible. Which is why a paintball is wider, and more blunt. Because of a paintballs large surface area, the force of a paintballs impact is distributed over a larger target area. Which causes there to be less pain in one specific area.

So while you will never receive an injury from a paintball making contact with a skin protected body part, airsoft bb’s can, and do, occasionally injure skin protected body parts. The reason for this, is because a paintball will never reach past the skin, but a bb can hit the bone. Airsoft bb’s rarely cause bone injuries, but there is documented evidence that these injuries do occur. Which does not apply to the friendly game of paintball. The most typical injuries from both sports are ankle and eye related. And for both sports, these injuries occur in the same way.

Ankle injuries cannot be avoided in any sport. If a player accidentally twists or rolls in an unnatural direction, an injury may occur. Ankle injuries happen in paintball and airsoft, but they also happen in just about every sport. Nothing we can do about these. For eye injuries, if a paintball or bb pellet contacts an unprotected eye, serious damage can be inflicted. The difference between eye injuries for airsoft and paintball is that paintball will usually leave temporary damage, but an airsoft bb in the eye will almost always cause permanent damage.

An experienced player from both sports knows that eye protection is an absolute must. And when the proper precautions are taken, both sports are very safe. That being said, airsoft will be too painful and scary for many prospective players. If the absence of danger and pain are your main criteria for airsoft vs paintball, then paintball is your best option.

Camisetas Bayern Munich Todas las Noticias y Vídeos sobre Fútbol y mucho más, Sigue las Últimas Noticias en Directo.

Football Goal Scorers and Football Team Statistics Live on Your Laptop

As a football fan it is very difficult to accept the fact that you have all the details that is the date and the time of your favorite football championship or foot ball league that is going to be telecast on the satellite channel on your Television. The waiting ends and you eagerly go in front of the television to watch live football or live soccer game. As soon as you reach there you find your family watching their favorite soap and are not ready to budge from their seats at any cost. They do not understand the excitement of watching live your favorite team and the players during the game.

There is no need to argue with your family members or feel deprived. Just go to your bedroom and pick up your laptop. Connect it to the internet and open the sites that provide the facility to watch the football games free from their sites. May be you may not get the chance to do that also due to some work or emergency. Then too there is no need to feel rejected as soon as you get the time connect your laptop to the internet and you will find sites which have updated the football goal scores and the football team statistics to present it live for people like you.

Just feed in the name of your favorite team and within no time you will get all the live details on your screen. You can update yourself about which players were the highest goal scorers in the team and what was the timing between scoring each goal? Not only that you can also get all the latest feedback about the team statistics, along with the football scores and football results.

Camisetas POLONIA Consulta las últimas noticias sobre fútbol nacional e internacional. Todas las competiciones, fichajes y análisis de los mejores partidos

Pennsylvania Football – An American High School Tradition Featuring the Ridley Raiders

First and foremost, my hat goes off to each coach, mentor, administrator and stakeholder that has contributed to the student athlete in the past as well as those who continue to partake in the lives of student athletes and communities in America. The time and effort that is put into coaching is tremendous in terms of X’s and O’s, and most importantly, the student athlete’s personal life, involving people, places, and situations. Coaches are truly role models and have an impact on the lives of the players. LONG LIVE THE COACH!

Pennsylvania football is known as one of America’s greatest traditions. Such players as Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Joe Montana and dozens of other renowned players have established themselves, the state, and others as the «cradle» and backbone of American high school football. In addition, Pennsylvania Coaches like Curry (Berwick), Bernat (Owen J. Roberts), Waller (Ridley), Pettine (CBWest) etc… represented what leadership of student athletes should be on as well as off of the field. I have personally encountered Coach Hank Bernat, more ways than one, and believe me he is a COACH! These motivational, inspiring, dedicated, and strong wielded mentors sought to make sure that the student athlete endured successfully in education and in the community. The coaches of Penn’s Woods (Pennsylvania) ensured that each player understood the realities of life and that it was imperative to become a productive citizen in America. The greatest all round coach from Pennsylvania that people have told me about and I have witnessed in terms of leadership, and emphasizing the try and care mentality was the one and only Jerry Sandusky. Need I say more?

In many unsuccessful as well as accomplished football programs in 21st century high school communities, educators and coaches are pressured to make positive results of winning whether by way of undermining or acquiring the true support, preparation and education within the schooling realm. The question remains, what is the intent of the coach? Is he using the student athlete as a pawn for his future success, or does he care about the student first? This has a profound impact on the integrity of his or her mission and most importantly the student athlete! This environment can create an unsound culture as well as a production of poor values internally within a schooling society and is infiltrated into the community and American society. This negative domino effect is the end result of not just losing in the game of life, but instills a stale atmosphere within the schooling institution in terms of sport and other social aspects.

THE RIDLEY RAIDERS

A reminder, not an introduction, the Ridley Raiders continue to be Pennsylvania’s team and one of America’s traditional football teams. Established in 1934, the Ridley football program reached the 500 win mark «30» years faster than any other program in the state! Furthermore, as a testament to their tradition and success, the Ridley Raiders have the best winning percentage in Pennsylvania as well as establishing the greatest winning percentage in the nation at 25 percent! A schooling society of tradition backed and supported by all stakeholders including the students, educators, administrators, and an outstanding «blue collar» community. The fans consisting of traditional family and others who are new to the community, buy into the «blue collar » work ethic and the town and are dedicated to the students, community, coaches and the team. This action is somewhat not heard of in many schooling societies in various educational high school realms. This is what makes the Ridley congregation a winner within a geographical area (Philadelphia) that is not just a tradition for football, but is the foundation of America’s history and birth place (Declaration of Independence).

Stakeholders across American high schools and post secondary education should emphasize the successes of the student athlete first and the money, fame, as well as aspirations to be successful may fall in line if it was meant to be! Take care of the student athlete! Just ask such higher educational coaches and motivators as Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, Jackie Sherrill, Steve Spurrier, Bobby Bowden, R.C. Slocum, Don Nehlen, Bo Schinbeckler, Tom Osborne, Paul Bryant and many others who continue or have motivated and taught the student athlete to be strong productive citizens on and off of the field. HAIL TO THE RIDLEY RAIDERS!

Camisetas ITALIA Entra y descubre las novedades sobre jugadores, clubes, fichajes y todo tipo de noticias relacionadas con las competiciones de LaLiga. ¡Vamos!

4 Reasons Individual Awards (UEFA «Ballon D’Or» and FIFA «The Best») in Football Should Be Scrapped

The Ballon d’Or is an award awarded by UEFA and France Football magazine while «The Best» is awarded by FIFA, the ethically-challenged arbiter of the world’s most popular sport. Although prestigious as it is degenerate, both awards are nothing more than tangible compliments paid by the writers and experts (confederations administrators, coaches, football team captains, fans etc.) whose opinions and votes were canvassed. Presently, both awards have become an egotistical first past the post as nobody embodies the toxic and political nature of both awards than the recipients of the past decade. The comparisons of football players across and within football leagues (for these awards) is a time-honed guilty pleasure for fans. Like most sports awards, fans will always root for their favorites – but unlike many others, it’s hard to make a statistical case that one player is more valuable than another. The point is, teams are like machines. One part, no matter how important, cannot function properly without the other. That makes the award merely a measure of prolific goal-scoring but as any manager will tell you, that is probably not enough to carry a successful football team. Comparisons among football players are essentially what makes trading cards, sticker albums and fantasy soccer so popular but there should be no place for it in an official capacity. And how can we improve on what we have at present? The basic truth is we can’t, unless the awards are discontinued due to the following reasons:

Football is a Team Sport: Debate on individual footballers among football fans is fun but in a team sport with so many leagues, such individuality is impossible to measure precisely. Football (as we all know) is a team sport where eleven men from two separate squad of players compete against each other for a trophy or in modern times, to get a paycheck at the end of it all. Every football team requires world-class (supremely talented) goal-keepers, defenders, midfielders and attackers to excel and win domestic [EPL, Serie A etc.], continental [CAF, UEFA Champions League] and inter-continental [FIFA Club World Cup] trophies. No player or position is dispensable or greater than the other as they must all work in unison to achieve a common goal. Most great attackers of today (and yesteryears) would probably make terrible defenders and goalkeepers and most great defenders and goalies might be terrible attackers and midfielders in the game. It feels wrong to constantly elevate a particular set of football players over their teammates because of their position on the field of play. Football games are worn ‘Firstly’, by goals scored by a team’s strikers, midfielders, defenders and ‘Secondly’, by (potential) opposition goals stopped by that same team’s defenders and goal-keeper. No player truly wins a game single handedly except he plays all positions simultaneously – being at his penalty box defending and punching away the opposition’s shots on goal and at the same time running of to score all kinds of goals in the opposition penalty area. Most FIFA and UEFA individual awardees perform brilliantly when their team’s passing and playing style suit them thus giving them freedom like no other side would. Most managers strive to fit 11 players into the best team rather than having to fit the best 11 players into a team. There is a reason why reputable managers around the world like Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have categorically despised and blasted such individual awards in a team based sport.

Biased towards Attackers: Winners of FIFA and UEFA awards (presently and in the past) are (nearly) always players who play close to the opposition goal – such as strikers and attacking midfielders – enabling them to score hatful of goals while putting faith in their teammates (defenders and goalkeeper) to prevent the opposing team from scoring and winning the game. In football, it is widely known and accepted that attack win games but defense win titles and trophies. Very few defenders and goalkeepers are recognized for their output on the field of play and the dirty work they do (so that their attacking teammates in the opposition goal can get the ball to score.) It is quite disheartening that attackers are paid way better than defenders and goalkeepers. Goalkeepers are usually the least paid in a football team, even with the alarming level of scrutiny aimed at them, which begs the question why anyone would choose to be a goalkeeper. No one has really found a way to compare the value of goal keepers to outfield players – much to the detriment of goalies. Should a goal stopped by a goalkeeper be treated as equally to a goal scored by a striker? How much should quality defenders influence our judgement of a keeper – and how much should quality midfielders influence our judgement of a forward? There can be no denying the fact that some players do improve the overall quality and effectiveness of certain teams, but even in that case, such extraordinary players wouldn’t be able to win anything for their respective teams if, for example, the goal keeper spills every shot fired at him by the opposition. The beauty of modern football is such that every player (bar the goalkeeper) is minimally required to score goals anytime, anyhow and whenever it pleases him or (to some extent) his coach, which makes the fact that individual awards given only to offensive players does a lot of disservice to their teammates and the sport.

No specific Criteria in given out the Awards: There are no specific criteria in given out individual awards to players by UEFA and FIFA in football competitions played. Most fans, and administrators do not know which competitions – the national league (EPL, La Liga, Serie A) the continental leagues (UEFA Champions League – since all FIFA individual awardees are based in Europe) or international tournament (The FIFA World Cup) – players’ performances in are given top priority when nominees for the FIFA and UEFA individual awards are compiled. Although most nominees and awardees of such awards play for football teams that are either champions in their domestic leagues or champions in the UEFA Champions League or champions in the World Cup (in a world cup year) with their countries, some winners of such awards play for club-sides and countries that were not champions in domestic, continental and international tournaments. Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or in 2010/2011 (because he scored 91 goals in a year) without winning Spain’s La Liga or Champions League with Barcelona or the World Cup with Argentina beating other deserving players who won at least one of the aforementioned competitions.

Breeds Individualistic and Selfish Footballers: In pursuit of individual awards from FIFA, some players forego team work and effort, preferring to go solo on the field of play – to show off (as fans would say) – to the detriment of the squad. Such players do not care if the team is winning or losing a game as long as they are scoring goals, boosting their goal tallies and being in contention for awards by shooting for goal instead of passing the ball to a better positioned teammate, taking every set-piece – free kicks, penalties, corner kicks – awarded in a game even when they have poor records taking such set-piece. This creates instances where a player wins The Ballon d’Or or The Best Player of the Year Awards because he has the highest number of goals in the football season in addition to 5 or 6 man-of-the-match performances and a few awesome highlight reels of the season while his team ends that season trophy-less and second-best in competition finals.

In conclusion, if there must be individual awards (for whatever bizarre reason) then they should be based on objective criteria such as number of goals scored (best striker), number of saves (best goal-keeper) or number of tackles made (best defender) etc. Even that wouldn’t make much sense because, again, scoring a goal is about team effort. No one player can score a goal without the help of his teammates. And Yes, even the solo goals require team efforts. Therefore, it becomes unfathomable as to why football’s governing body, FIFA would hand out these awards which are destructive to the very nature of the sport it is supposed to regulate. FIFA should not be lending its name to a beauty pageant.

Camisetas COSTA RICA Encuentra aquí todos los fichajes de fútbol, altas, bajas y rumores: Mercado de fichajes ✓ Noticias fichajes ✓ Fichajes La Liga