Author: Anonymous
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London UK September 4, 2004 — Hot on the heels of Wayne Rooney settling into his new football club and Everton F.C. counting their ยฃ27 million ($48.5 million) windfall, Multimedia, dvd,, dvd, publisher Serious announced today, dvd, that the teenage footie star will join the roster of “Red Devils” featured in their upcoming Manchester United DVD Trading Cardz. This ground-breaking collection is set for, dvd, retail release in the mid-autumn, with the, dvd, Rooney card being one of five subsequent booster cardz to follow during the 2004-2005 season.

โ€œDescribed by Club Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson as one of the, dvd, hottest football, dvd, talents, dvd, in the last thirty years, it is only fitting that a Rooney DVD card is produced,โ€ said, dvd, David Brown, President and CEO of Serious, headquartered in New York. โ€œWith Man U’s existing global fan base at over 70 million, the Rooneyโ€”mania that swept the world during UEFA EURO 2004 this summer will only grow those statistics further. Serious are therefore delighted to deliver the first ever Rooney DVD Trading, dvd, Card, sealing the fate of our Man U collection as one of the most anticipated pieces of Premiership merchandise to debut this season.โ€

The Manchester United DVD Cardz will play in standard DVD players as well as PS2 and XBOX. Each card features a star, dvd, player from the first team, including strikers โ€” Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy, and goalie Tim Howard. The cardz are jam packed with outstanding interactive player video that in turn triggers, dvd, extra highlights, as well as “behind the scenes” info, photos, bios, stats, trivia and strategy games. The cardz will retail at $4.99/ยฃ2.99 each.

With offices in London, New York and Singapore, Serious is a worldwide, dvd, publisher of interactive CD and DVD Cardzโ„ข. Shaped like traditional paper trading cards, CD Cardz hold up to 80 megabytes of content and are both Windows and Mac compatible, requiring no additional software or installation. DVD Cardz hold 0.5 gigabytes and can be played in any standard DVD player, including PlayStation2 and Xbox. Serious Cardz are sold at over 40,000 retail outlets worldwide and online at www.serious.com. In addition to their current partners at the NFL, NBA, UEFA EURO 2004โ„ข and Manchester United, Serious has produced CD Cardz for New-Line Cinema (The Lord of the Rings), Sony Pictures (Spider-man), Columbia Pictures (Men in Black 2), Warner Brothers, (The Matrix โ€” Reloaded), Miramax (Spy Kids, dvd, 2 & 3), Universal Pictures (Jurassic Park 3) and C20th Fox (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Read the debate intro and Sports Geek’s opinion.

For the first time in history, a United States Men’s Soccer team reached the final game of a major international event. That was not by accident.

Last week, the U.S. Men’s team defeated #1 ranked Spain by a score of 2-0 in the FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-Final match. A Spanish team, by the way, which was coming off of a 2008 UEFA Euro Cup Championship, and came into the semis riding both a 35-game undefeated streak and a win streak of their past 15 international games. Once again, it was no accident that the United States won.

In no way is the U.S. Men’s team considered a top-tier program. In fact, they came into the FIFA Confederation Cup as the 14^th ranked club in the world. What Loyal Homer is asking, though, is whether or not their performance at the FIFA Confederation Cup was enough to build momentum for men’s soccer. I think the very clear answer to that question is – YES!

Soccer has never been mistaken as America’s national pastime. That does not, though, mean it is destined to an eternity of obscurity. You see, American sports fans are a relatively easy-to-please group, especially when it comes to international competition. All we ask for is drama and an opportunity to tell the rest of the world that we have maybe found something else we are better than you at. You may call it arrogance, I call it national pride.

Loyal Homer noted the fact that 2.1 million viewers watched the FIFA Championship. I am happy to say that I was a part of that group, sitting on my living room floor with about 20 other people, all cheering for the Red, White, and Blue!

What the U.S. Men’s team proved by reaching the FIFA Championship was that the nation they proudly represent DOES care about them, and WAS proud of what they accomplished. Moreso, the nation whose colors they wear was eager to cheer them on to even greater heights. They proved that American sports fans only need a reason to watch.

Does that mean that the troubles of poor viewership and support for US soccer are gone? No. The U.S. team will still be considered an underdog in many of their matches, but they have proven they deserve to compete on the same field as the international best.

Consider their recent results internationally:

• They reach the 2009 FIFA Confederation Championship by defeating #1 Spain 2-0, and playing a VERY close Final against a Brazilian team which, on paper, was far superior.
• They are two-time defending CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions.
• In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they defeated Japan and played the Netherlands (ranked #2 in the world) to a draw, before losing to the eventual silver medalist Nigerian team 2-1.

That’s not the resume of an overrated team.

The critics, like Sports Geek, will argue that the CONCACAF is a second-rate league, lacking of any serious competition. I wonder if Sports Geek would also argue that the Memphis Tigers college basketball team is overrated because they play out of Mid-Major Conference USA, or the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who plays out of the West-Coast Conference? Just because you play in a weak division/league does not mean you are a weak team. The CONCACAF is an international league, and the United States dominates it… that is a fact.

The nay-sayers, like Sports Geek, will argue that luck, not talent, brought the U.S. team to the FIFA Championships, and that they are overrated because of American hype. I wonder, though, if Sports Geek would argue that the 2008 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants got lucky in their game against the then undefeated New England Patriots, since they were only a wild card team, and that they, too, were overrated. Or the Orlando Magic, a lowly three-seed, who SCHOOLED the #1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals… are they overrated, too?

The evidence shows that the United States is demonstrating a legitimate ability to successfully compete on an international stage against the best competition the world has to offer. American sports fans are responding in kind, showing that they are ready to get behind a U.S. team, and cheer them on as they try to slay the international goliaths of the game.

Meu domingão foi marcante. Assisti a dois jogos “colados” no controle remoto. O primeiro jogo que comecei assistir foi Alemanha e Espanha. O outro, que começou 15 minutos depois, foi Sport e Flamengo. Duas boas partidas, por sinal. Vi uma Espanha quebrar seus próprios medos e sagrar-se a grande campeã da Euro 2008. Para o país, um marco, afinal de contas a fúria espanhola vivia uma “sina” de não ganhar títulos.

Enquanto os grandes da Europa tinham sempre um grande jogador, a Espanha venceu por ter um grupo mais forte. Venceu a força do grupo. A começar pelo seu goleiro, Cassillas, o “volantão” brasileiro naturalizado espanhol, Marcos Sena, o zagueiro Pujol, o excelente meia-atacante Cesc Fábregas, que não foi sempre titular, os regulares meias Xavi e Iniesta, além dos excelentes atacante Fernando Torres e David Villa, que não jogou a final, mas é um jogador referência na equipe. O atual futebol é isso, um time que tem muitas peças têm grandes chances de conquistar seu espaço. Engraçado é que o técnico espanhol, Luis Aragonés, bancou a não convocação do queridinho Raul, do Real Madrid, e se deu muito bem. Enquanto o país pedia a convocação do medalhão, Aragonés segurou as críticas e fez a equipe vencer, conquistar grandes vitórias, principalmente contra a Rússia, Itália e a Alemanha.

A Alemanha, por sua vez, teve uma boa participação na Euro. Gostei muito do técnico alemão, apesar de achar que ele mexeu demais no sistema ofensivo do time. Mesmo assim, fica o exemplo, a Alemanha jogou para frente, sempre buscando os gols. Fica o exemplo para o nosso “pseudo-técnico” Dunga, que só quer saber de defender.

Os lances de Espanha 1 X 0 Alemanha

Já no brasileirão, o Flamengo provou mais uma vez que é capaz de brigar pelo título nacional. Assim como a Espanha, o Flamengo não tem aquele craque, mas é forte por ter boas peças. Exemplo, contra o Sport o atacante Souza estava suspenso, seu substituto Obina, o Anjo Negro da Gávea, que mais uma vez mostrou sua estrela de goleador e o Fla venceu por 2 a 1, com dois gols do iluminado Obina. Detalhe, a partida foi fora de casa e o Flamengo conquistou mais uma vitória seguida fora dos seus domínios.

Para os que não acreditavam, está aí. O trabalho, que iniciou com o Joel Santana, não foi jogado fora após o pesadelo contra o América do México, na Libertadores. O técnico Caio Júnior chegou, manteve o trabalho, não fez nada mirabolante e o time continua dando bons resultados. O grupo Rubro-Negro é muito bom, o time busca o jogo o tempo todo, tem atitude, e mesmo assim alguns, que não devem assistir nem uma partida do Flamengo, ainda insistem em dizer que o time é limitado. Hoje, no futebol nacional, não é absurdo nenhum dizer que o Flamengo é credenciado ao título. E a liderança do time continua. E vamos que vamos!

Outros resultados:

Vasco 4 X 2 Ipatinga
Santos 0 X 0 Portuguesa
Vitória 3 X 0 Goiás

Cruzeiro 1 X 1 São Paulo
Figueirense 1 X 1 Atlético-MG
Palmeiras 2 X 0 Náutico
Botafogo 0 X 0 Fluminense
Grêmio 1 X 1 Internacional
Coritiba 1X1 Atlético-PR

Assista a todos os gols da rodada.

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Leo en Nice Fucking Graphics (desde su nueva direccion, felicidades!!) que Nike, esa pequeña compañia deportiva , le encargo al despacho Neoyorquino Letters & Numbers el diseno de una playera por pais para la Euro Copa 2008, y el resultado fue genial, me encanto en su totalidad, las quiero todas!!!! jeje (cofcofpara mi cumpleañoscofcof)

more details… vote vote vote

So, EURO 2008 aka the UEFA European Football (Soccer) Championship is going on right now.  The games have been pretty good and it’s a very high-quality tournament.  EURO is the only soccer tournament that can be put on the same level as the World Cup.  Here is my guide to the supposedly major international soccer tournaments and why they rule or suck in order from best to worst.

FIFA WORLD CUP
Pros: Teams from all over the world that complete long, grueling qualification tournaments.  Only held every 4 years to keep it special.  1st rate soccer.
Cons: Teams from all over the world dilutes quality (Germany 9-2 Saudi Arabia). 

UEFA EURO
Pros: 1st-rate soccer.  Held every 4 years.  The qualification tournament is just as difficult as that for the World Cup.
Cons: None?

OLYMPICS
Pros: Teams from all over the world but fewer teams overall, making qualification more selective.  Held every 4 years.  Players looking to prove themselves.  Non-European and non-South American teams can even win the Gold (Nigeria, Cameroon).
Cons: FIFA doesn’t want this tournament to compete with the World Cup for importance so it doesn’t involve the real men’s national teams – rather it involves Under-23-year-old players plus 5 “overage players”.  (However, winners of this tournament act like they’ve won the World Cup).

COPA AMERICA (South America)
Pros: Half of the teams are 1st class.  Now held every 4 years.
Cons: Held every 2 years until recently.  Many of the top players are uninterested in the tournament.  There is NO qualification tournament – all 10 South American teams get in automatically.  Additionally, the World Cup qualifying for South American teams is really a true championship – all 10 teams play each other twice in a comprehensive league setup.

CAF African Cup of Nations
Pros: Lots and lots of nations in Africa makes for variety.  The qualification tournament is long and difficult.
Cons: Held every 2 years making it less special.  The soccer is mostly 2nd class.

AFC Asian Cup
Pros: Many countries involved.  Held every 4 years.  A huge event like World Cup and EURO.
Cons: Asian soccer is 3rd rate (sorry, Asia).

CONCACAF Gold Cup (North America)
Pros: USA and Mexico are 2 of the better 2nd-rate teams in the world.
Cons: 2nd rate soccer overall.  Held every 2 years.  Canada, USA, Mexico get automatic entry (unfair).  Dominated by USA and Mexico. 

FIFA Condederations Cup
Pros: Involves each of the continental champions.  Held every 4 years. 
Cons: Not taken very seriously by European and South American teams.  Held in the World Cup host nation 1 year before World Cup – in other words, it’s a dress rehearsal.

OFC Nations Cup (Oceania)
Pros: None.
Cons: Why does this region have its own confederation?  The total population is 13 million.  The soccer is 3rd or 4th rate. 

My eagerly anticipated recommendations:
Africa – Needs to hold the tournament every 4 years.
North America, South America – Need to merge their tournaments into 1, hold it every 4 years, have real qualifying.
Oceania – Needs to fold into the Asian Confederation.

  kicknz

Vom 7. bis 29. Juni 2008 findet in Österreich und der Schweiz Fußball-Europameisterschaft der Männer statt. Ein Grund zur Freue? Nein, da man die negativen Seiten dieser Veranstalltung vergisst!