The Beautiful Game (everything soccer)

[Nyanna al'Meara]

Or football, as I usually call it, but not to cause confusion, ooookkk :p

 

So, I had a *gasp* moment when I didn't find any soccer stuff on this page at least - and now find myself wondering if there's any footy fans on here? I've heard it's popular in the USA, not to speak of England of course

 

I'd like to discuss the game, what's going on in the soccer world, and of course hear your stories and experiences in the sport too!!

I myself am German, so soccer's been a nationality passion so to speak since I was little.... although I grew up in New Zealand for most of my childhood where 1) soccer is rare and rugby is king, and 2) we had no TV so despite my enormous interest in the sport I'm woefully uneducated concerning the game in countries other than the EU.
Not that it would have been shown on NZ TV

 

Anyhooooo, so Champions League and the German Bundesliga haven't started up yet, BUT what's epically begun recently is the Women's UEFA European Championships. WOOOHOOO

 

Btw, I moved to Germany a few months ago and ever since my life is A LOT of soccer pactice and watching soccer and babbling about soccer and on the days I don't have soccer practice bullying my brother into coming to kick ball with me or going to practice moves alone and DID I MENTION SOCCER? *bounce*

 

Yeah, I've wanted this so badly for most of my isolated mountain hermit childhood and really got into the passion of it on a couple of month long visit to Chile last year and now I'm here, among all the other soccer crazies, and I'm left wing forward/striker for the upcoming season in one of the ladies' teams in the football club round the corner from where I live and it's all spleeeendiiiid :D

 

I should stop hyperly chattering for now XD Just finished watching the group game against Iceland and am once again in love with 'my' team :p
Come talk to me about soccer!!

Before I go though, I support FC Bayern Munich (whoop!), but I've grown fond of the BVB Dortmund after their epic Champions League performance. My favourite non-German team is Seattle Reign (women's)... Smaller Club-wise, I don't really have a favourite per se yet but I'm looking ;) what we call the 1. FC Nuremberg or "Glubb" (simply "Club" in my dialect) kind of klutzing its way into my heart just a bit. Although part of my family have a blood feud agains the 1FCN because their team is its Derby enemy from the town adjoining Nuremberg :p

 

Oh, and Megan Rapinoe <3 is my idol. Lena Lotzen too. I'm pretty much watching every UEFA game atm XD

RAAAAAWWWWRRRR

 

 

[lolguy26]

well italy FTW (*cough* euro 2012 *cough*) 

 

true that they're form has been horrible compared to the old days, the 2010 world cup was embarrasing and the 2012 euro cup was sorta better and the 2013 confederation cup was awful, i mean almost losing against japan!! (lets just not mention the match against brazil)

 

i juventus, i mean pirlo <3 and roma are awesome too i guess, totti, de rossi, :D

 

i havent played a proper match in a while, im simply too busy (RL and DM dont leave time for matches these days)

 

cant wait for the 2014 world cup,hopefully we play a lot less crappy....

[MasterAblar]

Soccer may not be big in NZ but respect to the All Whites. Only team at the World Cup 2010 to not lose a single match. True they didn't win a single one either, but hey you have to start somewhere.

 

Soccer is growing in the US. At the youth level it's always been pretty big, but the MLS after struggling for a while has finally hit it's stride. Hard to say how big it will get, but it's future is definitely bright.

 

Just finished watching the U20 World Cup, but I've been following the Women's UEFA European Championships somewhat. Bit early for any predictions, but Germany and France are clearly favorites I think with Sweden, Norway, Spain, and England all having a fair chance.

 

I can commiserate with that feeling of isolation. I lived in Dallas for 4 years, so hard to come by soccer on tv there. Still played as much as I could though. The fence in the backyard can testify of that.

 

I've played pretty much all positions at one point or another since I started at 6. Even had the opportunity to play keeper a couple times. I've settled as a striker or winger now though. Either side of the field is fine to me.

 

Bayern hey? Good choice. They're just scary currently. Every position is solid, and they're actually reinforcing their team. Had to feel for Dortmund though. What a great run they had, really made Bayern work for it. My favorite team is FC Nantes. If you don't know this team, that's ok, it's normal. Although they are 8 times french champions. Unfortunately their glory days have past. They're returning to Ligue 1 this year though, so things might finally be looking up. Though with Paris and Monaco and their insane amount of money it'll probably be a while before a "normal" team wins the league. I'm also a HUGE fan of Arsenal. Not that that's going particularly well at the moment. At least we're still ahead of Spurs.

 

I'm french and born in the 90's. I doubt it's necessary for me to say who my idol is.

[MasterAblar]

well italy FTW (*cough* euro 2012 *cough*) 

 

true that they're form has been horrible compared to the old days, the 2010 world cup was embarrasing and the 2012 euro cup was sorta better and the 2013 confederation cup was awful, i mean almost losing against japan!! (lets just not mention the match against brazil)

 

i juventus, i mean pirlo <3 and roma are awesome too i guess, totti, de rossi, :D

 

i havent played a proper match in a while, im simply too busy (RL and DM dont leave time for matches these days)

 

cant wait for the 2014 world cup,hopefully we play a lot less crappy....

 

Hey, at least they did better than Spain...

 

2010 was pretty bad for Italy yeah. If it wasn't for that Quagliarella goal, they might as well not have come at all. But let's not talk about the 2010 World cup. Please.

 

Pirlo might be my favorite player at the moment. Though that Gundogan is scaaaaaary. I'm more of a Roma fan though. But with the french players who have gone through Juve I do have a bit of a soft spot for them.

 

Yeah, 2014 needs to be, like, tomorrow. I'm tired of waiting. Screw the qualifiers. Send everyone and have a mega tournament. That should be fun.

 

[lolguy26]

it is.....thierry henry?? :P

[lolguy26]

 

well italy FTW (*cough* euro 2012 *cough*) 

 

true that they're form has been horrible compared to the old days, the 2010 world cup was embarrasing and the 2012 euro cup was sorta better and the 2013 confederation cup was awful, i mean almost losing against japan!! (lets just not mention the match against brazil)

 

i juventus, i mean pirlo <3 and roma are awesome too i guess, totti, de rossi, :D

 

i havent played a proper match in a while, im simply too busy (RL and DM dont leave time for matches these days)

 

cant wait for the 2014 world cup,hopefully we play a lot less crappy....

 

Hey, at least they did better than Spain...

 

2010 was pretty bad for Italy yeah. If it wasn't for that Quagliarella goal, they might as well not have come at all. But let's not talk about the 2010 World cup. Please.

 

Pirlo might be my favorite player at the moment. Though that Gundogan is scaaaaaary. I'm more of a Roma fan though. But with the french players who have gone through Juve I do have a bit of a soft spot for them.

 

Yeah, 2014 needs to be, like, tomorrow. I'm tired of waiting. Screw the qualifiers. Send everyone and have a mega tournament. That should be fun.

 

 

 

thats an awesome idea, sadly FIFA is annoying and want to follow rules and stuff *shakehead*

[SinisterDeath]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2013/07/06/soccer-referee-decapitated-brazil-stabbing-maranhao/2495199/

 

Soccer is to crazy for me.

[lolguy26]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2013/07/06/soccer-referee-decapitated-brazil-stabbing-maranhao/2495199/

 

Soccer is to crazy for me.

 

this is coming from the person who's national game, includes men throwing each other on the ground as hard as they can (without looking like it)....

[SinisterDeath]

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2013/07/06/soccer-referee-decapitated-brazil-stabbing-maranhao/2495199/

 

Soccer is to crazy for me.

 

this is coming from the person who's national game, includes men throwing each other on the ground as hard as they can (without looking like it)....

 

Actually, our national game is baseball. Where we hit balls with giant sticks, and run around in circles.

(btw, did you read the article?)

[lolguy26]

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2013/07/06/soccer-referee-decapitated-brazil-stabbing-maranhao/2495199/

 

Soccer is to crazy for me.

 

this is coming from the person who's national game, includes men throwing each other on the ground as hard as they can (without looking like it)....

 

Actually, our national game is baseball. Where we hit balls with giant sticks, and run around in circles.

(btw, did you read the article?)

 

 

brazil is in a state of total chaos (sorta) and that doesnt make it any better, men....giant sticks.....

 

and i did.... 

[MasterAblar]

it is.....thierry henry?? :P

 

...well yeah there's him too, but no I was speaking of Zizou of course.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2013/07/06/soccer-referee-decapitated-brazil-stabbing-maranhao/2495199/

 

Soccer is to crazy for me.

 

Yeah I read about. Terrible. Luckily this is hardly a common thing. Brazilians are really on edge at the moment it seems.

[Nyanna al'Meara]

OMG. Yay!! Where were y'all hiding??

 

well italy FTW (*cough* euro 2012 *cough*) 

 

true that they're form has been horrible compared to the old days, the 2010 world cup was embarrasing and the 2012 euro cup was sorta better and the 2013 confederation cup was awful, i mean almost losing against japan!! (lets just not mention the match against brazil)

 

i juventus, i mean pirlo <3 and roma are awesome too i guess, totti, de rossi, :D

 

i havent played a proper match in a while, im simply too busy (RL and DM dont leave time for matches these days)

 

cant wait for the 2014 world cup,hopefully we play a lot less crappy....

O.o Chuckles I did not know you [used to] play! *enthusiastically claps on back* XD

 

Can't wait for 2014 either *dance* XD although enough awesomeness is happening in the world of football atm so I'm pretty happy :p
 

Soccer may not be big in NZ but respect to the All Whites. Only team at the World Cup 2010 to not lose a single match. True they didn't win a single one either, but hey you have to start somewhere.

 

Did I not mention the All Whites?? O.o ...definitely yes, respect. As I said, no TV and NZ not being a real fan of footy, I haven't seen much of their performances but I felt rather proud and slightly more like my kiwiness at the last WM :D

 

Mhmm, I think I heard it was pretty big in women's sport. Buuut I may also have been watching too many American soccer movies lately XD

 

Sweet! :) I've never played a proper game, in a team and in colours and stuff before (although our first one pre-season might be on Friday, not confirmed yet though :OOO )  but yeah.... whether it's games with friends or in practice matches, they just immediately put me in forward. I like it though, I tend to go for the ball and sprint forward...which makes me a terrible defender midfield is ok too. Maybe it's my ambitiousness and involvement hehe. Or they're acknowledging I'm fast >.> *ponder...feels complimented*

 

I haven't seen much Women's Championships before so had no idea who the favourites were before tonight... XD (but, of course, Germany will win). I have to say that. Muahaha.

 

Mm, I've always liked Bayern. Sometimes I felt it was a bit awkward being a Bayern fan (I'm from Frankonia, which is basically in Bavaria - think Nuremberg - and there is a lot of 1.FCN pride going on here. The "Club" as its called isn't bad, but I haven't seen as much of them as I have of Bayern. Oh and they're the absolute enemy of the (smaller) FC  in Fuerth, adjoining Nuremberg, where I was born and where my parents lived for a while.... strong anti-Club banter from my parents growing up Plus, they're not in the CL, so bah.

Bayern all the way <3

I'm sad Özil went though *pout*

Dortmund played very pretty footy. Better luck next time.... or not Lewandowski will be going to Bayern soon enough *cackle*

 

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2013/07/06/soccer-referee-decapitated-brazil-stabbing-maranhao/2495199/

 

Soccer is to crazy for me.

 

this is coming from the person who's national game, includes men throwing each other on the ground as hard as they can (without looking like it)....

 

Actually, our national game is baseball. Where we hit balls with giant sticks, and run around in circles.

(btw, did you read the article?)

 

XDD bahahaha

 

 

*reads article* ............DA HECK O.o

Those 'embellishments', really?? ...I don't know what to believe anymore these days..

[lolguy26]

i played keeper for a while (i was good, if i say so myself) till my i sorta broke my wrist and took on defending for a while, now  mostly play midfield or defence, i tried playing striker, didnt work out so well lol (alot of embarrassing yet hilarious stories)....

 

So what you guys think of spain, the world's no.1 team, they've been losing form, i think its their defence, they have a rock solid midfield/forward, an excellent keeper (while buffon is teh best, Casillas isnt far behind), their defence lets them down, pique, ramos, arbeloa, alba, seem to play horribly compared to the rest of them team. (i think the lack of puyol is affecting them bad)

[lolguy26]

 

it is.....thierry henry?? :P

 

...well yeah there's him too, but no I was speaking of Zizou of course.

 

i was too young to remember much of his playing days, but the one moment i'll never forget is the 2006 world cup final match zizou headbutting materazzi, i was like 8 or 9 then and i was soo confused....

[MasterAblar]

 

Mhmm, I think I heard it was pretty big in women's sport. Buuut I may also have been watching too many American soccer movies lately XD

 

 

Soccer is definitely big in women's sports in the US. The US team is probably the best in the world at the moment, though not by far. They're trying to set up a new professional women's league in the US, the NWSL. Hopefully this one will work.

 

 

Sweet! :) I've never played a proper game, in a team and in colours and stuff before (although our first one pre-season might be on Friday, not confirmed yet though :OOO )  but yeah.... whether it's games with friends or in practice matches, they just immediately put me in forward.   I like it though, I tend to go for the ball and sprint forward...which makes me a terrible defender   midfield is ok too. Maybe it's my ambitiousness and involvement hehe. Or they're acknowledging I'm fast >.> *ponder...feels complimented*

 

Pre-season.... Yeah, I'm supposed to be getting back in shape for the coming season. I should probably get started that. I'm playing with the senior squad next season, and having been to their practices, I can tell it's quite bit more intense.

 

It's always best to play in the position in which you want to play. I've made the mistake of playing in a position I didn't enjoy. Not a good idea. Of course sometimes you got to do what you got to do for the team, but ideally you play more or less where you want to play. Luckily my coach noticed I wasn't helping the team as a right back. He moved me up to right mid, and I scored within 5 minutes. Stayed there the rest of the season. The next year another coach moved me up to forward. Scored 20+ goals. That was a good season. Of course the teams we played kind of sucked but hey it counts. I like playing striker when it's a more open less tactical game. When it isn't I prefer being on the wing. Nothing I love more than running at defenders and leaving them in the dust, particularly since I know how it feels to be in their position.

 

Best of luck for your game, if it happens. Don't hesitate to post here about it. I'd love to hear about it.

 

 

I haven't seen much Women's Championships before so had no idea who the favourites were before tonight... XD (but, of course, Germany will win). I have to say that. Muahaha.

 

Well, Germany's won it 5 times in a row, but competition is a lot fiercer this time around. I believe Germany tied Netherlands in their first match.

[Nyanna al'Meara]

Kewl!! I'd try keeping if I wasn't too chicken about getting the ball in my face.... I'm freakishly klutzy in everything else (except soccer footwork, weirdly) and get the ball in the face enough as it is already >.<
I can do pretty krass skid-kicks though, comes from falling off horses so many times I'm not scared of getting a few bruises here and there :P

 

Hmmm... I actually haven't seen Spain since they won everything XD Their forward group is strooonnng though. Villa etc etc. Is Torres still playing for them? I looooove Torres, but he keeps injuring himself >.<

I agree on their keeper... he's one of the very best imo. Even though Neuer is better

 

The German men's national team is just getting better and better. They're a dream team as far as I'm concerned and just click on so many levels, so their games are beautiful to watch!

 

[lolguy26]

neuer is good, but honestly when you compare him to legends, he falls short, he still has alot to learn 

[MasterAblar]

i played keeper for a while (i was good, if i say so myself) till my i sorta broke my wrist and took on defending for a while, now  mostly play midfield or defence, i tried playing striker, didnt work out so well lol (alot of embarrassing yet hilarious stories)....

 

So what you guys think of spain, the world's no.1 team, they've been losing form, i think its their defence, they have a rock solid midfield/forward, an excellent keeper (while buffon is teh best, Casillas isnt far behind), their defence lets them down, pique, ramos, arbeloa, alba, seem to play horribly compared to the rest of them team. (i think the lack of puyol is affecting them bad)

 

They don't really seem to play with true forward though. During Euro 2012 they were basically playing with 6 midfielders.

 

Alba attacks too much. Don't get me wrong when he gets it right it's splendid, but he endangers Spain's entire left wing. Pique just isn't playing well at the moment. And teams are simply finally figuring out how to defend against them, the same as happened with Barcelona.

 

 

 

it is.....thierry henry?? :P

 

...well yeah there's him too, but no I was speaking of Zizou of course.

 

i was too young to remember much of his playing days, but the one moment i'll never forget is the 2006 world cup final match zizou headbutting materazzi, i was like 8 or 9 then and i was soo confused....

 

 

Yeah.... that. Honestly I've never been able to hold it against him. I definitely can't guarantee I wouldn't have reacted in the same way. And it's in large part thanks to him we go to the final anyway. His game against Brazil remains one of the best games I've ever seen from a single player. He was playing against some of the very best players in the world, and he just looked to be a class above. I don't know if there's any player who ever had such incredible vision of the game.

[MasterAblar]

I'll take Lloris any day over any of them.

 

It's not so much that Spain doesn't have good fowards, because they definitely do, although Torres is nowhere near as good now as he was with Liverpool, it's just that they don't seem to want to use them properly. They were using Fabregas ahead of Villa during Euro 2012. Fabregas is great but he's not a forward.

 

The German team is great to watch play, but they don't seem to have the same mental edge as their illustrious predecessors. Still think they're up there with Spain and now Brazil, but they still have to prove they can win when it truly counts. It would be a shame if they ended up the same as Cruyff's Netherlands.

[lolguy26]

Ive always felt spain's play dull, when they have the ball, the forward works so smoothly it seems boring (just me i guess)

 

Del Bosque is a genius, a mad man, he needs to work on his defence but other than that, he has a rock solid team, pique has been off form for a while actually (like the last 2 seasons), and spain's play is straight forward, get the ball, keep it, score and repeat (spain vs tahiti is an example) 

 

Its one of those moments that go down in history, and damn the 2006 world cup line up was all legends, italy has like the best players, the french, the brazilians, the brits all had their A teams 

[Nyanna al'Meara]

 

 

Sweet! :) I've never played a proper game, in a team and in colours and stuff before (although our first one pre-season might be on Friday, not confirmed yet though :OOO )  but yeah.... whether it's games with friends or in practice matches, they just immediately put me in forward.   I like it though, I tend to go for the ball and sprint forward...which makes me a terrible defender   midfield is ok too. Maybe it's my ambitiousness and involvement hehe. Or they're acknowledging I'm fast >.> *ponder...feels complimented*

 

Pre-season.... Yeah, I'm supposed to be getting back in shape for the coming season. I should probably get started that. I'm playing with the senior squad next season, and having been to their practices, I can tell it's quite bit more intense.

 

It's always best to play in the position in which you want to play. I've made the mistake of playing in a position I didn't enjoy. Not a good idea. Of course sometimes you got to do what you got to do for the team, but ideally you play more or less where you want to play. Luckily my coach noticed I wasn't helping the team as a right back. He moved me up to right mid, and I scored within 5 minutes. Stayed there the rest of the season. The next year another coach moved me up to forward. Scored 20+ goals. That was a good season. Of course the teams we played kind of sucked but hey it counts. I like playing striker when it's a more open less tactical game. When it isn't I prefer being on the wing. Nothing I love more than running at defenders and leaving them in the dust, particularly since I know how it feels to be in their position.

 

Best of luck for your game, if it happens. Don't hesitate to post here about it. I'd love to hear about it.

 

Yeah, proper pre-season training is starting this week, we've been doing pre- pre-season practice for the last month XDD the team I joined fell down a league last season :/ but they only had like 6 regular players, and now we have a team of 15, so we should be sweet! :)

 

Bwahahaha Sounds like you did well!!! I totally get that, I am extremely competitive and need to do stuff with my hyperness acting fast up front. I'm not too good at concentration or holding all the responsibility for the defence :P

 

Ooooo cool, I definitely will! Now that I have listeners... fellow footy appreciators.. XD And if it doesn't I will still report on the games we have when Season starts, which is end of August. :)

 

 

 

 

I haven't seen much Women's Championships before so had no idea who the favourites were before tonight... XD (but, of course, Germany will win). I have to say that. Muahaha.

 

Well, Germany's won it 5 times in a row, but competition is a lot fiercer this time around. I believe Germany tied Netherlands in their first match.

 

Yeah.... Norway are quite strong too, they were the most recent Champions too before Germany. Iceland were easy though....but you could reeeaaally see the tension go away when LeLo scored the first goal, everyone was pretty tense before that XD

 

 

 

Mhmm, I think I heard it was pretty big in women's sport. Buuut I may also have been watching too many American soccer movies lately XD

 

 

Soccer is definitely big in women's sports in the US. The US team is probably the best in the world at the moment, though not by far. They're trying to set up a new professional women's league in the US, the NWSL. Hopefully this one will work.

Sweet!! :D

[Barid Bel Medar]

Good, a topic about real sport.  

 

Like NZ, here in Aus Rugby is the dominant. We only really got on to football since the 2006 World Cup where we managed to qualify for again since forever. 

 

My family comes from England, so I follow the english leagues mostly. Scunthorpe - my dad's birth town- is crap in First Division, so I have to support Liverpool - who are having a horrendous time in the last few years. This year - and I know it's probably said every year, but we have a heap of new signings - looks promising. 

 

Premier League will be interesting whatever the case, the top 3 from last year all have new managers. 

 

To a lesser extent I follow St. Ettienne in Ligue 1, I love Bayern in Germany and I keep an eye on Spain, although I don't have any particular team. 

[lolguy26]

lol barid, liverpool you'll never walk alone :P

 

and the spanish league is pretty much focused around Real Madrid and Barcelona 

[Nyanna al'Meara]

I have no clue about the English league really... except a faint interest when Ballack played for Chelsea... XD must educate myself sometime!

 

Oh, I saw the 'Young Socceroos' playing in one of the U20 Championship games! :D

 

Football is totally the world's favourite sport though, it'll get there... hehe

 

Aaand it's 2am, I should really sleep now because I have practice tomorrow morning Awesome response to the topic peoples, so happy to chat about it now!! :D

 

*poof*

[lolguy26]

its also the finest sport in the world