2014 World Cup

Today, I want to talk about the 2014 World Cup. I know we have 2 years more to enjoy it. However, I just think like if we know about somethig before, we can more enjoy it. So I want to share some information.
 The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.This will be the second time the country has hosted the competition, the first being the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Brazil will become the fifth country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany. It will be the first World Cup to be held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged outside Europe and the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged in the Southern Hemisphere (the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa).

Here's some photo of stadiums.

City: Rio de Janeiro, capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Capacity: 76,000 attendants.
Maracana will continue to be the undisputed biggest stadium in Brazil. Three stadiums claim to be the second biggest: Castelao, Mineirao and Morumbi, all with capacity around 67,000 attendants.
If Maracana reaches full capacity during the Cup, it will be just fraction of the official record, of nearly 200,000 people, set on the finalmatch of the World Cup 1950

City: Sao Paulo, capital of the State of Sao Paulo.

Capacity: 48,000 attendants.
This stadium was chosen as stage of the opening match of the World Cup; FIFA required a minimum capacity of 65,000 attendants. The owner of the stadium, Corinthians, will install removable structures to increase capacity during the World Cup.

City: Salvador, capital of the State of Bahia.

Capacity: 55,000 attendants.
Salvador has two teams, Bahia and Vitoria, with two of the most passionate fans in Brazil; in matches between these two teams, or between one of them and other major Brazilian team, the attendance reaches full capacity.

City: Manaus, capital of the State of Amazonas.

Capacity: 44,000 attendants.
Manaus has no tradition at all in football; the local teams can’t attract more than a few thousand attendants per match; the stadium is certain to be under used after the World Cup is finished.

City: Cuiaba, capital of the State of Mato Grosso.

Capacity: 43,600 attendants.

History of the World Cup

Today, I will talk about the history of the World Cup. The World Cup is the biggest soccer event in the world. So I want to share about it.
  No other sporting event captures the world's imagination like the FIFA World Cup™. Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA's flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.

A group of visionary French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the innovative Jules Rimet, are credited with the original idea of bringing the world's strongest national football teams together to compete for the title of World Champions. The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet's name and was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.

When it resumed, the FIFA World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world. Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee's decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.

Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different winners. However, the FIFA World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history - the United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea's defeat of Italy in 1966, Cameroon's emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990....

Today, the FIFA World Cup holds the entire global public under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 billion people watched the France 98 tournament, including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone, while over 2.7 million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadia.

After all these years and so many changes, however, the main focus of the FIFA World Cup remains the same - the glistening golden trophy, which is the embodiment of every footballer's ambition.

info-http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/worldcup/index.html

History of Soccer Balls

Today, I will talk about soccer balls. There are many kinds of balls in the world. Every different soccer event uses a different ball. Then what is the biggest event in soccer??
The answer is the World Cup. The World Cup has been using Adidas ball. So, I am going to introduce them.

Telstar : Mexico, 1970

Adidas started to make soccer balls in 1963 but made the first official FIFA World Cup ball in 1970. The first ball used in the World Cup to use the Buckminster type of design.The first ball with 32 black and white panels. The TELSTAR was more visible on black and white televisions (1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico™ was the first to be broadcast live on television).

Telstar Durlast R : West Germany, 1974  

The TELSTAR was again used. Another version was the Chile Durlast ball which did not have the black panels.

Tango Durlast: Argentina, 1978

The ball design represented elegance, dynamism and passion.  

Tango Espana: Spain, 1982

Adidas introduced a new ball which had rubber inlaid over the seams to prevent water from seeping through. The first ball with water-resistant qualities. General wear from kicking however meant the rubber began to wear after a short time and needed to be replaced during the game. The last genuine leather world cup ball.

Azteca : México, 1986

The FIFA World Cup Mexico, saw the introduction of the first polyurethane coated ball which was rain-resistant. The first synthetic match ball, with good qualities on hard and wet surfaces.

Etrvsco:  Italy, 1990  

The first ball with an internal layer of black polyurethane foam.

Questra: USA, 1994

FIFA World Cup USA, 1994, official ball which was enveloped in a layer of polystyrene foam.

This not only made it more waterproof but allowed the ball greater acceleration when kicked. The new game ball felt softer to the touch. Improved ball control and higher velocity during play.

Tricolore: France, 1998

By 1998, FIFA World Cup France was played with a ball which sported the French red-white-blue tri-color. A complete departure from the old traditional black and white pattern.  The first official World Cup colored soccer ball.  The TRICOLORE used underglass print technology with a thin layer of syntactic foam.

ICON Women's World Cup 1999 Match Ball

The first ball specially designed for the Women's World Cup  

Fevernova TM : Korea Japan, 2002

For FIFA World Cup Korea Japan, 2002, Adidas created a new ball made up of thicker inner layers to increase the accuracy of the ball in flight.

Fevernova design for USA Women's World Cup 2003

Teamgeist Germany, Berlin and Final Balls 2006  
All new Adidas "2006 World Cup Germany" Match Ball

For FIFA World Cup Germany, 2006

Adidas unveils Match Ball for 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup™

Jabulani - the Official Match Ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

Jo'bulani - the Gold Final Official Match Ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

2011 Women's World Cup Official Match Ball - SpeedCell

 

info- http://www.soccerballworld.com/Durlast1974.htm

Beautiful Girls of Euro 2010

I talked about Euro 2012 last time and I’m going to talk about Euro 2012 again but totally different thing. This time, I will talk about beautiful girls of Euro 2012. I think you guys like this topic, especially men. Every event becomes big issues now even results of games and goals. However, not only games and players are big issues, but also girls who support their teams are hot issues. Their fashion style, performance, and everything becomes an issue. Sometimes, players’ wives are coming to matches and it becomes hot issues. Now, this big soccer event is going to the end. European champions Spain defends its title, heavy favorites Germany survive its "Group of Death," co-hosts Poland and Ukraine meet its expectations, or fans enjoying the beautiful game with the best sights and sounds remain to be seen. One thing is for sure, there will be the most beautiful, lovely, and alluring faces of women all around the venues till the final whistle on July 1.

If we can have a tournament on which Euro 2012 countries that has the most beautiful female fans of all, which country will you pick to win it all?

I will share some photos of the beautiful girls.

UEFA EURO 2012

The UEFA European Championship is one of the world's biggest sporting events. UEFA EURO 2012 is the 14th European Championship for national soccer team. The final tournament is being hosted by Poland and Ukraine between June 8 and July 1 2012. It is the first time  that either nation has hosted the tournament.

Here is background of The UEFA European Championship from www.uefa.com.

"Championships for national associations had already begun in other continents by the time the idea of a European competition for national teams began to reach fruition in the 1950s. At the time that UEFA was born, in 1954, the impetus for a European championship was coming from the distinguished French sports newspaper L'Equipe, which proposed a competition with home-and-away matches to be played in midweek in the evening.

Adding to the French drive for such a tournament was Henri Delaunay, first UEFA General Secretary and former French national association general secretary. In 1927, Delaunay had already submitted a proposal to FIFA, in conjunction with the great Austrian official Hugo Meisl, for the creation of a European cup, to run concurrently with the World Cup, which would involve a qualifying competition every two years.

Delaunay wrote after UEFA's inaugural Basel assembly in 1954 that the idea was for a competition open to all of the European associations. A three-member committee, he said, had been entrusted with examining this difficult problem. Delaunay insisted that this competition should not lead to an infinite number of matches. Nor should it harm the World Cup, and participants should not always be forced to meet the same opponents in the same group.

Following Delaunay's death in 1955, his son Pierre joined the French journalists in the drive towards initiating the European Nations' Cup. Pierre Delaunay was subsequently appointed secretary of the European Nations' Cup Organising Committee, and was therefore able to observe at close quarters the blossoming of the competition that his father had wanted. After agreement had been reached that the championship would be founded, the new competition was named the Henri Delaunay Cup in recognition of his outstanding services in the cause of European football.

The inaugural tournament was entered by around half of UEFA's member associations, 17 in total, and one more than the minimum required. The Republic of Ireland were eliminated by Czechoslovakia in a qualifying play-off (the two teams met after the drawing of lots). The first championship match proper was held on 28 September 1958 in Moscow's Central Stadium – the USSR beating Hungary 3-1, with the home side's Anatoli Ilyin scoring the first goal after four minutes – and the inaugural competition took place over 22 months between 1958 and 1960. From small acorns do great oaks rise".

This is informatiom about the games.

Let's enjoy this big soccer event~!!

Who Is The Best Soccer Player?

Who is the best player? 

This kind of question is always issue in any kinds of sports. When people get this question, they will come up with two players. In my opinion, the two players may be Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is the world’s most expensive player, Real having signed him for $131 in the summer of 2009. Prior to that he had been signed by Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon as an 18-year-old. Messi has a release clause of $400 million and his rise to the top could not contrast more starkly to that of Ronaldo. The Argentinean left Newell’s Old Boys for Barcelona at the age of 13, with the club paying for treatment on a growth hormone deficiency that threatened to stunt his progress. In 2012 he became the club's record goalscorer at the age of just 24.
Ronaldo says it is like comparing a "Ferrari with a Porsche", but who is the best?(http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/players/a/Lionel-Messi-Vs-Cristiano-Ronaldo.htm)

 

(from http://visual.ly/messi-vs-ronaldo)

This one shows comparing their skills or records.  I found it on internet website and I just wanted to share this one because this is pretty good and easy to understand. 

So, here is my question.

Who do you want to choose?

Give me your opinions.

Soccer Shoes(Nike)

Last time, I posted Adidas soccer shoes, but I will show you Nike soccer shoes this time. Because they are the biggest competitors each other in any sports industry. So, this is the picture of soccer shoes (from http://www.tosoccer.co.kr/board/board.html?code=tosoccer_board2&page=1&type=v&num1=999990&num2=00000&lock=N).

This one's name is Mercurial Vapor VI. This model is the most famous one. I think...
Anyway, Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba wear this model.
Here are some information about the Mercurial Vapor VI.
The Nike Mercurial Vapor IV is the ultimate lightweight performance soccer shoe built for speed. Here are some of the features of the new Mercurial Vapor in Sport Red:
The contoured speed last mirrors the natural foot shape while a soft, supple TEIJIN synthetic leather upper adjusts to your individual foot anatomy. A unique feature of the Mercurial Vapor 4 is the lace cover which increases ball contact area by covering nearly all of the laces.
The midsole includes a revolutionary internal chassis which creates instant acceleration. The contoured sock-liner with EVA inserts reduces pressure from the studs.
Direct injected heel studs in the outsole reduce weight. Vapor forefoot plate with multidirectional traction pattern continues to lead the industry in firm ground traction.

Honestly, I haven't used this so far, so I have not much information. However, I want to share it because this is the best model. So... if you like Nike, you should try this one.

And... this is a commercial for the Mercurial Vapor IV. Enjoy it!!

Info from http://www.soccerpro.com/Nike-Mercurial-Vapor-IV-Red-with-Gold-p6738/

Soccer Shoes(Adidas)

Today, I just want to talk about soccer shoes. I have had several soccer shoes so far.
I usually bought it from Nike or Adidas, but most time from Adidas. The reason why I have been using Adidas is I really liked David Beckham. I still like him, but I'm not a big fan of him now. So, I started to use Adidas because of him.
Okay. These are my soccer shoes.

The white one, I have been using for over Five years. Yes, I know. I have been using it so long time. The red one is same design with the white one. Oh, the name of the soccer shoes model is Predator. David Beckham advertised this model and actually he used it. Anyway, The red one is for indoor soccer. It doesn't have stud.
Now, I'm a big fan of Messi. So, I want to change my shoes to F50 Adizero.
This is the shoes.
(from http://www.ioffer.com/i/%C4%81didas-f50-gen4-men-s-football-shoes-size-39-45-512697242)

This is the world's lightest shoes. If I see nice colour of this one, I will buy it.

This is a TV commercial for F50 Adizero.

Ji-Sung Park

Today, I  want to talk about one of the greatest palyers. His name is Ji-Sung Park and he's in Manchester United team and back number is 13. He was the captain of South Korea national team but he retired from national team. I didn't know him until 2002 World Cup. He was a member of team at that time and he was awesome. After the World Cup, Guus Hiddink who was a national team head coach tried to scout Ji Sung and he followed Hiddink, so he moved to PSV team. He is in Manchester United team and it's his 2nd experience in Europe League. Ji Sung is able to play anywhere across the midfield and is noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement. So, he has a nicname like this 'Oxygen Tank.' He's running everywhere and never stop it.

This song is for Ji Sung Park. PSV fans sang this song during games for Ji Sung Park.

Intro.

This blog is all about soccer. It could be news of big games, my story about soccer, equipments, and great players. First, I would like to write about my soccer story. When I was a child like age of 8 or 9, I started to play soccer at first time. I just love to spend time with my friends at that time and my friends liked sports, especially soccer, so we always played soccer after school and between launch break. When I was 10, I bought my first soccer shoes. I was very happy but I lost it. From middle school, we started to divide each one’s position and buy our uniforms. I usually played as a striker but I sometimes played as a goalkeeper. Also, we had a lot of soccer match with other classes. In high school, we were like more professional and got more knowledge and other things were similar to middle school. My best memory is in my University. We had a big tournament game for all programs every year. This is the biggest event in my University. In 2005, my team participated in this competition and we won the tournament. We were champion!! We were like got crazy after final game. Some members were hugging each other and some were crying. Now, I’m in Canada. I don’t play soccer a lot but it is nice time to play soccer with other people who came from different countries. I haven’t had like this opportunity, so this is the time to have new story.