Pele The Legend - Videos

Edison "Edson" Arantes do Nascimento KBE (born 21 or 23 October 1940, best known by his nickname Pelé (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [peˈlɛ], usual English pronunciation: /ˈpɛleɪ/) is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded among football experts and former players as one of the greatest football players of all time. 

In 1999, he was voted as the Football Player of the Century by the IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pelé came in first position. In his career he scored 760 official goals, 541 in league championships, making him the top scorer of all time. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games. 

In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football.[19] He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil).[20] During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei).

READ FULL ARTICLE ON WIKIEPEDIA

 

World Cup Football - Italy 1990

The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated continents entered the competition, with its qualification process beginning in April 1988. Twenty-two teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy and defending champion Argentina, for the finals tournament. The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico.


The tournament was won by West Germany, who claimed their third World Cup title by defeating reigning champions Argentina 1–0 in the final, a rematch of the previous final four years earlier. Hosts Italy beat England 2–1 to finish third after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts.  The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups ever. It generated a record low goals-per-game average of just 2.21 and a then-record 16 red cards were handed out, including the first ever dismissal in a final.

Despite the low goalscoring, the 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament.[5] At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, but has subsequently been bettered by the 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cups.[6]  Following this World Cup, the back-pass rule was introduced in 1992 to discourage time-wasting and overly defensive play, and wins were awarded three points in the group stage of the 1994 World Cup to encourage more aggressive offensive tactics and discourage the strategy of playing for a draw.


Host Selection


FIFA World Cup hosts  The vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 29 May 1985 in Zürich, Switzerland. Here, the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the only rival bid, the USSR, by 11 votes to 5. This awarding made Italy only the second nation to host two World Cup tournaments, after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging. Italy had previously had the event in 1934, where they had won their first championship.  Austria, England, France, Greece, West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for the 31 July 1983 deadline. A month later, only England and Greece remained in the hunt with Italy and the Soviet Union after the other contenders all withdrew. All four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983, with the final decision overrunning into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved. In early 1984, England and Greece also withdrew, leading to a two-horse race in the final vote. The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games announced on the eve of the World Cup decision was speculated to have been a major factor behind Italy winning the vote so decisively, although this was dismissed by FIFA President João Havelange.

Qualification


116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup, with 114 being required to qualify (due to rejected entries and withdrawals, 103 teams eventually participated in the qualifying stages). Italy as host nation and Argentina as reigning World Cup champions were granted automatic qualification, with the remaining 22 finals places divided among the continental confederations.  Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), three by CONMEBOL teams (South America), two by CAF teams (Africa), two by AFC teams (Asia), and two by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining place was decided by a play-off between CONMEBOL and OFC (Oceania).  Both Mexico and Chile were disqualified during the qualification process; the former for fielding an overage player in a prior youth tournament, the latter after goalkeeper Roberto Rojas faked injury from a firework thrown from the stands, which caused the match to be abandoned. Chile were also banned from the 1994 qualifiers for this offence.  Three teams qualified for the first time: Costa Rica, the Republic of Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.  Returning after long absences were Egypt, who qualified for the first time since 1934; the United States, who competed for the first time since 1950, Colombia who appeared for the first time since 1962; and Romania, who last appeared at the Finals in 1970.  Among the teams who failed to qualify were Hungary, France, Poland, and Portugal.

The Final


The final between West Germany and Argentina has been cited as the most cynical and lowest quality of all World Cup Finals. In the 65th minute, Argentina's Pedro Monzon was sent off for a foul on Jürgen Klinsmann, the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup Final.  Argentina, weakened by suspension and injury, offered little attacking threat throughout a contest dominated by the West Germans, who struggled to create many clear goalscoring opportunities. The only goal of the contest arrived in the 85th minute when Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal awarded a penalty to West Germany, after a foul on Rudi Völler by Roberto Sensini. Andreas Brehme, who later said there was no foul, converted the spot kick to settle the contest. In the closing moments, Argentina were reduced to nine after Gustavo Dezotti received the second red card of the game when he hauled Jürgen Kohler to the ground during a stoppage in play. The 1–0 scoreline provided another first: Argentina were the first team to fail to score in a World Cup Final.  With its third title (and three second place finishes) West Germany – in its final tournament before national reunification – became the most successful World Cup nation, until Brazil won their fourth title in 1994. West German manager Franz Beckenbauer became the only man to both captain (in 1974) and manage a World Cup winning team, and only the second man (after Mário Zagallo of Brazil) to win the World Cup as a player and as team manager. It was also the first time a team from UEFA won the final against a non-European team.


Results

 

 

 

Sexy Football - Female Fans

I remember the time when football / soccer was a male dominated industry enjoyed with male friends and even complete strangers. Season after season men / boys left their females at home whilst they went off for a spot of male bonding byway of the great game. Then around ten years ago the men from the telly decided they needed to bring football to a wider audience. So media networks mounted a campaign whereby famous footballers were given makeovers and center stage in magazines, newspapers, TV news etc. Women became increasingly more attracted to the game and footballers... Today football just wouldn't be the same without women... So thank you ladies...

Football Poems - 101

Soccer, the beautiful game, the players love to run,

it's all about the playing, and that's what makes it fun.

Soccer is a game of opportunity with equal chance for all,
give everybody a chance to pass, and shoot that precious ball.

If you think she's Mia Hamm, most likely that she's not,
so don't deprive her teammates a chance for a shot.

Each player brings to the game, the desire, and the chance,
more than anything it's the confidence, that you must enhance.

Don't look to your great Aunt Sally, she may be your biggest fan,
but she won't supply the answers, your soccer players can.

Your team is tenacious, flexible and soccer they know about,
give them a chance and they'll show you, there's no need to doubt.

Not one, not two not three alone, can put the ball on net,
it's the 7, the 9 and 11 together, their success you sure can bet.

On the field, it can be a battle and sometimes she'll lose the fight,
don't worry; she's confident, for that second chance to make it right.

So if she loses the ball to an opponent, no that can't be fun,
but turnovers come in many forms, so don't focus on the one.

Each player has a purpose and that you must know well,
put each player where she's best suited, somewhere she'll excel.

Be patient, don't keep looking at your watch because in time they'll show you their stuff,
because as a coach deep down you know, that seven minutes just isn't enough
 

 

The Football Shirt (in Brief)

Football Shirts

The classic football shirt is usually short sleeved in the spring and summer months, and in the fall and winter players prefer a long sleeve football shirt. These shirts were originally made from cotton and quite heavy, but today football shirts are made from polyester and nylon as both fabrics are lighter in weight. Previously the shirts even had buttoned collars, but nowadays the shirts are button-less and sometimes even collarless. In Europe football shirts are worn for soccer matches and a soccer shirt is known as a football shirt!

A Number on the Back

On August 28th 1938 numbers on the back of football shirts also known to some as "football kits" became fashionable. Arsenal and Chelsea both used numbered shirts in their league games. In 1939 the Football League Management Committee introduced numbering on player's shirts. Since it is difficult to associate a number with a position in the game, only the goalkeeper wears number 1. In 1965 substitutes for the outfield started to wear the numbers 12 and 14, and the reserve goalkeeper always wears the number 13.

Replica Kits

In 1954 the FIFA World Cup required teams to wear a squad numbering system, so the players on a nation's squad all used the same shirt numbers for all the tournaments. Sales of these replica kits grew although now that there was squad numbering on the back of the player's shirts, the numbers were not as meaningful as before.

 Players Names on the Shirts

On April18th 1993, The League Cup saw the names of each player now being printed on the back of their shirts, and from 1993-1994 Premiership squad numbers and names were also printed on the shirts. The names of the players and the numbers of the players on the football shirts were first introduced at the U.S.A. World Cup Final Tournament in 1994.

By FootballSEO

World Cup Facts - Upsets

USA 1-0 England (1950 group stage) England had missed out on the first three World Cups, largely on the English FA's assumption that they were too good for the competition, but there was to be a rude awakening in their inaugural tournament. After winning their first match 2-0 against Chile, England suffered abject humiliation in the second when a part-time USA side beat them with a solitary goal from Haitian-born Joe 'Larry' Gaetjens in the 38th minute. The English public was incredulous, and a common story is that many believed the newspaper headlines were a misprint and that England had won the match 10-1, but England were beaten and failed to emerge from the group. Gaetjens, meanwhile, received little attention in America and eventually returned to Haiti, where he disappeared after protesting against dictator Francois

Brazil 1-2 Uruguay (1950 final) The Brazilians, playing on home soil, were in blistering form as they edged towards their first World Cup final. They had won four of their five games, opening with a 4-0 victory over Mexico and winning their two fixtures going into the final 7-1 and 6-1 against Sweden and Spain. As they took to the field at Rio's Estadio do Maracana, the general feeling was that Uruguay would be lambs to the slaughter. Coach Juan Lopez apparently took that view and told the players to defend for their lives. A Uruguay official reportedly told the players that if they lost by fewer than four goals, the team's honour would be preserved. The Uruguay captain, Obdulio Varela, disagreed and, in the dressing room ahead of the match, said they must attack. "If we play defensively against Brazil, our fate will be no different from Spain or Sweden," he said. "Boys, outsiders don't play. Let the show begin." After going a goal down, Uruguay stunned the 174,000-strong crowd by coming back to win 2-1. The game is still known as the Maracanazo - or 'Maracana Blow' - in Brazil and Varela later said that only three people had silenced the Maracana: "The Pope, Frank Sinatra and me."

West Germany 3-2 Hungary (1954 final) The Hungarian 'Golden Team', led by Ferenc Puskas, are widely considered one of the greatest of all time. They had won every game en route to the '54 final, including an 8-3 victory over the Germans in the first group stage. Little wonder, then, that West Germany's triumph became known as the 'Miracle of Berne'. Puskas had returned from injury to feature in the game but it was not enough, with his disallowed late equaliser one of a series of refereeing decisions to go against Hungary.

North Korea 1-0 Italy (1966 group stage) North Korea return to the World Cup this summer after a 44-year absence, and they have plenty to live up to if they are to match the class of '66. Starting the tournament as 1,000-1 outsiders, they bounced back from a 3-0 defeat to Soviet Union in their opening game to draw with Chile and then stun two-time champions Italy to progress to the knockout rounds. Inspired, as they are today, by a 'Great Leader', the country almost went a step further as they led Portugal 3-0 in the second round, but Eusebio scored four goals as Portugal came back to win 5-3.

 
East Germany 1-0 West Germany (1974 group stage) During the team's 38-year existence, East Germany qualified for just one World Cup: the 1974 tournament in West Germany. As it turned out, the draw for the first group stage of the tournament actually pitted them against West Germany, too, setting up the only significant meeting between the sides in history. After a solid first two games, both teams had already qualified for the second group stage, but this meeting in Hamburg was about much more than sporting success. The West Germans, winners of the 1972 European Championship, were said to have dismissed the East's chances ahead of the match, but they proved tough to break down and, in a match low on quality with a slew of missed chances, Jurgen Sparwasser's 77th-minute strike made the difference. The goal was used for political purposes for years afterwards, but Sparwasser denied suggestions he had been financially rewarded for his efforts and, feeling the strain of continued state exploitation, fled to West Germany shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. "For us, it was just a game," he said in a 2006 interview. "Nothing political."

 
Algeria 2-1 West Germany (1982 group stage) Algeria shocked the world with victory over the European champions in their first ever World Cup match, with Lakhdar Belloumi scoring the winner just seconds after Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's second-half equaliser. "It is the most beautiful memory in Algerian football," Belloumi later said. However, Algeria's joy turned to indignation when they were edged out of a place in the second round on goal difference as, in the final match of the group, West Germany and Austria seemingly agreed to play out the 1-0 German win in that would see both teams through. After Horst Hrubesch's goal in the tenth minute, the sides knocked the ball around aimlessly, prompting anger even among Germans and Austrians. FIFA later changed the rules to ensure the final games of each group would be played simultaneously to avoid a repeat, but Algeria's dream was over.

 
Spain 0-1 Northern Ireland (1982 group stage) While hosts Spain had already confirmed their passage into the second group stage, there had been little expectation of an upset when they faced Northern Ireland. However, Gerry Armstrong scored the only goal of the game following a goalkeeping error just after the break to see his team top the group. 'That night in Valencia' remains a key moment in Northern Irish history and Armstrong later told the BBC: "It's always mentioned when there's a World Cup here, I think to give inspiration to a lot of the smaller countries trying to emulate what Northern Ireland achieved in '82."

 
Cameroon 1-0 Argentina (1990 group stage) The defending champions, still featuring the great Diego Maradona, were fully expected to cruise to victory over Cameroon in their opening match at Italia '90. Cameroon, though, were made of sterner stuff than anyone had predicted. Down to ten men on the hour, the Indomitable Lions nonetheless won out as a goalkeeping error saw Francois Omam-Biyik direct a header into the net on 67 minutes. They were even down to nine men in the dying moments but held on to record one of the great upsets.

Republic of Ireland 1-0 Italy (1994 group stage) It was in New Jersey's Giants Stadium that David slayed Goliath in Group E's opening match thanks to a shock long-range effort from Glasgow-born Ray Houghton. Manager Jack Charlton took Ireland through to the second round of the tournament with a host of converted Brits and, together, they gained revenge for their quarter-final exit to the Italians four years earlier. Liverpool-born John Aldridge said later that he felt the Italians were "complacent" in the match, which proved to be Italy's last defeat before losing the final on penalties to Brazil.

Senegal 1-0 France (2002 group stage) World Cup and European Championship holders France endured a stunning first-round exit in 2002 as they failed to score a single goal in the tournament. It would be naive to downplay the quality of Senegal, who were finalists in that year's African Nations Cup and boasted the African Player of the Year in El-Hadji Diouf, but the absence of Zinedine Zidane through injury was widely credited for the loss. "We needed Zizou to keep the ball," defender Frank Leboeuf said. "The Senegalese have had only one chance and they have scored. On top of that, it was a silly goal."

 
South Korea 2-1 Italy (2002 second round) and South Korea 0-0 (5-3 pens) Spain (2002 quarter-finals) Both matches were certainly aided by favourable refereeing decisions but, nonetheless, South Korea pulled off two stunning upsets on home soil to go further than any other Asian side to date. The country's president, Kim Dae-Jung, said reaching the semi-finals marked the "happiest day since Dangun" founded the country in 2333 BC, while coach Guus Hiddink was, more conservatively, just "happy for the boys".
 

The Meaning of Color

Where does color exist you may ask? Some might say that color exists in the surface of objects or the texture of things. Well whatever you may think, let me tell you what the real answer is. Color exists in the eye of the beholder. Color is generated behind your eye and in the brain of each individual. Perhaps it is one millionth of a bit different in each person, but generally the color that we see, is dependant upon our eyes.

Color has a couple important aspects or features to it. There is the physical aspect of color as well as the psychological effect. We could also include the emotional or historical affect of color on us but for now we will just focus on the first two.

The physical aspect of color regards the perception and physics, while the psychological aspect regards the way in which we think about color and the role it plays on our minds. Color is defined as a component of light. This is an interesting fact when we think about it. Color is defined according to light. In a way this makes a lot of sense.

If there is no light, there is no color, but only blackness. For those that are saying, well black is a color is it not? No, black is not a color. Black is the absence of color and is a shade. Depending on how much light is taken into our eyes and the amount of tone, shading, or tint, we will see a variety of color. This variety of color has millions of different shades.

There are three primary colors of light. These colors are red, green, and blue. These three colors are the basis upon which every single other color is formed. This is accomplished by mixing the red, green, and blue together. Other colors that we know well such as yellow, violet, and orange can be accomplished by mixing these primaries.

To demonstrate how we see color it is important to understand that some surfaces refract or absorb certain colors better than other surfaces do. If you are wearing a red shirt, the reason we see your shirt as a red color is because that is the only color the shirt does not absorb. The red shirt is absorbing all the green and blue wavelengths. This is why the shirt is a red one. Does this make sense to you? Black reflects no light and this is why we see black. The same goes for nighttime. If there is no sunlight, there is no color.