Soccer a World Wide Classic Sport

Information taking from FIFA records.

In the  early Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA’s congress. The choice of location gave rise to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between south America and Europe ,the two centres of strength in football . The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay , for example , led to only four European nations competing. The next two World Cups were both held in Europe . The decision to hold the second of these ,the 1938  FIFA World Cup , in France was controversial , as the American countries had been led understand that the world Cup would rotate between the two continents . Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted  the tournament .

Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup , to avoid future boycotts or controversy , FIFA began  a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe , which continued  until the 1998  FIFA World Cup . The 2002 FIFA World Cup , hosted jointly by South  Korea and Japan , was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts . Sotuh Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014  FIFA World Cup will hosted by Brazil , the first held in South America since 1978, and will be first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.

The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA Executive Committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system.  The national football association of country desiring to host the event receives a “Hosting Agreement ” from FIFA ,which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form ,the submission of which represents the official confirmation of candidacy . After this, a FIFA designed group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to hosts the event and report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However ,there have been occasions  where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time , as will be case for the 2018 and 2022  World Cups .

For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups , the final tournament is rotated between confederations ,allowing  only countries from the chosen confederation  (Africa 2010, South America in 2014 ) to bid to host the tournament . The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany’s victory over South Africa in the vote host the 2006 tournament . However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014 , so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding  tournaments , can apply as host for World Cups starting from 2018 . This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to bidding process for the 2014 tournament ,where Brazil was the only official bidder.

History from  FIFA World Cup Trophy >

From 1930 to 1970 , the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner .  It was originally simply known as the world Cup or Coupe du Monde , but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet  who set up the first tournament . In 1970 , Brazil’s third victory in the tournament entitled  them to keep the trophy permanently .  However , the trophy was stolen in 1983 , and has never been recovered , apparently  melted down by the thieves .

After 1970 , a new trophy ,known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy , was designed. The experts of  FIFA , coming from seven different countries , evaluated  the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer  Silvio Gazzaniga . The new trophy is 36 cm  ( 14.2 in ) high , made of solid 18 carat  (75%) gold and weighs  6.175 kg  (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious  malachite while  the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each  FIFA World Cup winner since 1974 . The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga  Was : The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world . From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently . World Cup winners  retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original .

FORMAT -  QUALIFICATION

Since the second World Cup in 1934 , qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament . They are held within the six FIFA continental  zones  (Africa, Asia,North and Central America and Caribbean , South America, Oceania and Europe),overseen  by their respective confederations . For each tournament , FIFA decides the number of places warded to each of the continental zones beforehand , generally based on the relative strength of  the confederations teams .

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period .The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations .  Usually , one or two places are warded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. for example , the winner of the Oceanian  zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup . From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations had received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn  from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil , winners in 2002 ,thus became the first defending champions to play in qualifying match.

FINAL TOURNAMENT

The current final tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation (s) . There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage .

In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each .Eight teams are seeded,including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings an/or performances in recent World Cups , and drawn to separate groups . The other teams are assigned to different  “pots” ,usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation .

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round  of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among  all four teams. The top two from each group advance to the knockout stage . points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994 ,three  points have been awarded for a  win, one for a draw and none for a loss  (before, winners, received two points ).

The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows :  a)  greatest number of points obtained in all group matches ;      b) goal difference in all group matches,                                                                                                                                                                                                  c) greatest number of goals scored  in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows :

d)  greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                      e) goal difference  resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                                      f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned ;                                                                                                  g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee  (i.e. at random ).

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in  one -off matches ,with extra time and penalty shootouts  used to decide the winner if necessary . It begins with the “round of 16 ” (or the second round ) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group . This is followed by the quarter-finals, the , the semi-finals, the third-place match  (contested by the losing semi-finalists ), and the final .

Statistics from FIFA.com

Since when is the expansion to 32 teams ? The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982 and then to 32 in 1998 , allowing more teams from Africa , Asia and North America to take part . In recent years , teams from these regions have enjoyed more success ,and those who have reached the quarter-finals include : Mexico , quarter finalists in 1986 ; Cameroon , quarter- finalists in 1990 ,Korea Republic , finishing in fourth place in 2002 ; and Senegal ,along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002 . European and South American teams have remained the stronger; for example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.

200 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds ; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup , while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup .

OTHER FIFA TOURNAMENTS

An equivalent tournament for women’s football , the FIFA Women’s World Cup , was first held in 1991 in the People’s Republic of China . The women’ s tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men’s ,but is growing ;the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120 ,more than double that of 1991.

Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932 . Unlike many other sports ,the men’s football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament , and since 1992 ,an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players . Women’s football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions .

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup . It is contested by the winner of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country .

FIFA also organises international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup , FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup ), club football (FIFA Club World Cup ) and football variants as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup ) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach soccer Cup ).

FIFA WORLD CUP , From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup , the Soccer World Cup , or simply the World Cup ) is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FIFA) the sport’s global governing body . The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 , except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of the Second World War.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation (s) over a period of about a month - this phase is often called the World Cup Finals . A qualification phase ,which currently takes place over the preceding three years ,is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 19 tournaments that have been held, eight national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the world Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament .Italy, the current champions ,have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles . The other former champions are Uruguay , winners of the inaugural tournament , and Argentina, with two titles each , and England , France and Spain , with one title each .

The World Cup is the World’s most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany . The Current World Cup is being held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will held in Brazil.

Information taking from Main article of FIFA World Cup records.

Out of 77 nations that have played in at least one World Cup ,only eight nationals teams have won the World Cup , and they have added stars to their crests in a total of nineteen World Cups . With five titles , Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup to date . Italy 1934 and 1938 and Brazil 1958 and 1962 , are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Brazil and Germany have both made the most appearances in the final, with seven, while Germany have made the most appearances in the top four, with eleven .

Six of seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland , the exception being Brazil,
who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950 . England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations . Uruguay (1930) , Italy (1934 ) and Argentina (1978) won their first title as host national but have gone on to win again , while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.

Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament . Sweden (runners-up in 1958) , Chile (third place in 1962) , Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) , and Japan (second round in 2002) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far ,all host nations have progressed beyond the first round .

BEST PERFORMANCES BY CONTINENTAL ZONES

To date , the final of the World Cup has only been contested by Europeans and South American teams . The two continents have won 10 Europe and nine South America . Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: USA (North ,Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and Korea Republic (Asia in 2002) .The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals : Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 . Only one Oceanian qualifier , Australia in 2006 , advanced to the second round.

Brazil victory in 1958 in Sweden is the only time a non-European team won a World Cup in Europe . A European team has never won the World Cup outside of Europe , as all World Cups hosted in either South America, North America ,or Asia have been won by South American teams. Only twice have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent . When Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively .

RECORDS , STATISTICS AND AWARDS ON INDIVIDUALS

Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups , Mexico Antonio Carbajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus both played in five tournaments. Matthaus has played the most World Cup matches overall , with 25 appearances . Brazil Pele is the only player to have won three World Cup winner’s medals, with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.

The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil’s Ronaldo , scorer of 15 goals in three tournaments . West Germany’s Gerard Muller is second , with 14 goals in two tournaments . The third placed goalscorer ,France’s Just Fontaine , holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup . All his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament .

Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach . Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as player and in 1970 as head coach . Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach . Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups.All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory .

As of the end of the 2006 tournament , Brazil and Germany have both played 92 matches , the most by any nation , with Brazil scoring the most goals, 201 .The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup , in the 2002 final .

Unfortunately in the World Wide FIFA’s Soccer Championship must be only one winner and 31 losers like FIFA.com says in one of their articles.
Spain is the winner this time and went home with the prize that all of the rest of teams wanted because the biggest
advantage is cohesion, they have been together for three years and they have established a footballing philosophy and all players play togetherness in that synchronous way .

But never before has there been a more physical final with the Netherlands intent on kicking out the good style of Spain and thankfully and for the benefit of every fan around the world and for the flowing soccer ,the most pure footballing side won out in the end. SO THE BIG WINNER WAS THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, once more the intentional and violent kick were refused, those physical players who practice that kind of game were the big losers. Players like Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong two unwearied bull-dogs should not play in a big world Wide Championship in the sports that is the entertainment of the population of the nations .Or good players like Arjen Robben but a master at diving and faking injuries ,twisting in pain and getting to the referees and as soon the offending player is scolded or issues a yellow or red card , Robben just gets up and limps away; when play resumes ,he runs like an antelope , he deserves a Golden Globe more than a Golden Boot

Many of the Spain players play together on the same team or in the same league, or played together off-and -on since the academy level . It is difficult ,it not impossible , to replicate on the field that chemistry and sometimes that makes the difference between a good team and a great team; therefore Spain’s case ,already had been a great team, the difference between champions and runners-up.

Spain has edge over other teams, given the number of quality players maybe el Nino Torres was not 100% who hampered Spain a little bet the chances of success.

But Spain deserves and gained his Championship in a very good lead, congratulations for the good football soccer they practice who entertained our eyes .

During the World Wide Soccer Championship South Africa 2010 everybody witnessed one or more bad arbitral decisions or observe throughout the television the games with many referee’s failures .

For example the referee Jorge Larrionda will be remembered by England after his failure to award a goal to Frank Lampard in the second round defeat by Germany . When we watch the replay in the television when Lampard effort hit the bar and very clearly bounced inside of the goalline , but referee Larrionda and his assistantas Pablo Fandino and Mauricio Espinosa failed to award a goal ,which would have leveled the scores at 2-2 and so Germany went on to win 4-1 .
When situations like these happens, how much is going to disturb the emotions of the players and how much is going to affect the rest of the game ? That is the worst part of the whole picture of the game .

How come errors like the one commited by the Mali referee Koman Coulibaly who denied a valid goal to United States
stripped of their victory against Slovenia June 18/2010 . The worst part of koman Coulibaly was that he did not have any idea what was the reason to avoid that play ; how the FIFA let a referee from a country that doesn’t participate in any soccer competitions ,that doesn’t play soccer at all ,be a referee in a World Wide Championship ? That is a FIFA’s terrible deficiency .

The goal off-side of Carlos Tevez against Mexico that the referee Roberto Rossetti did not see , or the hand of Thierry Henry which eliminated Ireland and classified France .

What about the last game of the sport of multitudes July 11 2010 between Spain and Netherlands , the violence impose or at least that was the Dutchmen ferocious proposition, like the kick against the chest of Xabi Alonso by Nigel de Jong enough for a red card but the referee Howard Webb only showed him a yellow card.

The president of the FIFA Sepp Blatter and the International Association Board will have the hands full ,seeking how to find a solution to the arbitration with a better technology .

The roughness , the ugly game and the pragmatism neither help Netherlands that for the third time plaid for a final of the Soccer World Cup.
In a game which could be characterized as the most dirty in 80 years of finals history, the numbers don’t lie : the Dutches received 8 yellow cards, one red, finishing with 10 players , in total 28 infractions in between the worst of all, the kick at karate style of Nigel de Jong that hit the chest of Xabi Alonso front of the referee which merited a red card for expelling from the field , but the referee only showed him a yellow card.

The move and intentions of the Dutches were to obstruct the delightful game of passes showed by Spain and they continue in that journey for 116 minutes until Andres Iniesta nailed the dagger inside the Dutch net.

The referee Howard Webb did not have the kind of game without complications, he admonished 13 players ,expelling
John Heitinga and he failed to warn Wesley Sneijder with a yellow card ,Webb only warn the player verbally several times .

Spain is the rightful winner of this World Wide FIFA Soccer Championship, South Africa 2010 ; the spaniards plaid better, more clean , and lot more delightful and harmonious team game. Congratulations to all of them.

Cristiano Roanldo added up one more to all those great deceptions of South Africa 2010 whereabout many others stars like Wayne Rooney, Franck Ribery, Samuel Eto’o y Didier Drogba who they had to retreat with their heads down during the world tournament .
I feel defeated, broke in pieces ,desolated, frustrated with an unimaginable sorrow said Ronaldo in Internet site “Gestifute.com ” of his representer Jorge Mendes , as a captain I always have assumed and will assume my responsabilities .

And to pile up more troubles , the portuguese desmised with a grossness face spiting front of the camera after the elimination against Spain 1-0 in the Green Point Stadium of Cape City .
Ronaldo of 25 years old shows the record of the most expensive trasnsference in the history of the football soccer, $132 millones of euros paid by Real Madrid to Manchester United , june 26 2009 for his services.

But in South Africa notwithstanding Cristiano Ronaldo plaid as a common player, scored one goal to North Corea .

Wayne Rooney was trapped in the middle of the English ruins during this Cup. With 24 years old came to South Africa with great expectations which he could not comply with , it was part of the humiliation suffered by the inventors of the football soccer which were displaced by United States of the first place , group C. Rooney had suffered a injury during the league of Champions against Bayern Munich and he did not recover completely .

Samuel Eto’o with Barcelona and Inter obtained the titles of League of Champions , but with the undamable lions looks like a small lamb . His countryman Roger Milla assured that Eto’o does not play the same way in the World Cup than in his teams . He only scored one goal in this world wide championship.

Drogba started with bad luck . June 4 the Chelsea striker was hurt in his right arm during the amicable game against Japan , he was operated the next day hopping he would be ready for South Africa. He scored the only goal against Brazil in the loss 3-1 of the elephants .

Ribery of splendid performance with Bayern of Munich ,he disappeared with his team France, who rises in rebellion finishing in a confusion .

Some good players will not be in South Africa for the FIFA’s World Cup 2010.
Who can guess the arguments on such respect ? which one is the barometer used by trainers of those soccer teams to choose their players ?

Any technical directive who knows what is doing or take a pride in what he knows about the performance of his players during the games , he knows how they play , how much each one is able to give . Furthermore some trainers it is enough when a player take control of the ball and handle it without lose it .

It is not possible that several selection men had left out of the World Cup truly soccer stars .

It is unknown the reasons and the arguments , if the player must be of the the pleasure of the coach or if the player must be young or old , play in a famous team or consistently in an small club.

If we make a couple of teams with all the players left out , any of these teams could win the World Cup. We will see some of the surprises we are talking about : the french Karim Benzema , his coach Raymund Domenech who also left out Patrick Vieira , insured that his decision was due to the last discrete season with the Real Madrid of Spain . But be a substitute in a team like The Real Madrid is a privilege besides he is counted by the Press between one of the three best strikers of the world . His price in dollars 44.4 millions talk by itself of the conditions of this player .

Vieira was left out because of his veteran age , the same that the Dutchs Ruud van Nistelrooy and Clarence Seedorf who in spite of of their age they boast a great physical shape.
Something similar happened to the Brazilians Ronaldinho and Adriano left out by Dunga by reasons that did not convict anybody an so in the same way not convict the exclusion of the young striker of Milan , Alexandre Pato , Diego and Neymar real revelations of the brazilian soccer. Neither Dunga called Marcelo who plays for Real Madrid.

The italians also were left out Francesco Totti and Luca Toni , both great players of the Azzurra.

But the cap to the flask was put by the unique Diego Armando Maradona , when he left out Javier Zanetti , Fernando Gago and Esteban Cambiasso , three figures of great trajectory through the argentine selection . Maradona firstly degraded Zanetti as captain of the team and then took him out of the World cup . Zanetti was a pillar with the Inter to win the Champions League and the Italian cup . Zanetti is the best argentine lateral and his compromise with his country is against proof of bullets. It is simply something insolite that this player is not inside of his team . Cambiasso also was sacrificed by Maradona besides of his good performance with the Inter.

The list continue but we will closed it by now at this point.

Informacion tomado en ingles de la FIFA.com

El Inter de Milan ha contado con una retaguardia que ha frustrado toda clase de ataques a lo largo de las varias campanas en Europa , el guardametas Julio Cesar , el defensa central Lucio y el defensa derecho Maicon ,determinaran una solidez dificil de escalar a los contricantes del Brasil quien se propondra conquistar su sexta corona mundial de la FIFA Sur Africa 2010.

De veras que este trio Nerazzurri son figuras claves en el equipo de Dunga quienes al dalrle solidez al equipo en la parte de atras le permitara mas libertad al conjunto de atacantes como Kaka, Robinho y Luis Fabiano al frente.

Por ende ha sido 12 meses asombrosos para el Inter de Milan por estos brasilenos a nivel internaicional conquistando con su equipo brasileno la Copa de Confederaciones 2009, finalizaron numero uno en las eliminatorias Sur Americanas
para el mundial de Sur Africa 2010 y a nivel de club , bajo la batuta del Entrenador Jose Mourinho , los tres fueron elementos claves en el desarrollo de la liga italiana y la doble victoria sobre el Bayern Munich en la liga de campeones de la UEFA en el partidop final del dia Sabado pasado.

Ha sido un ano espectacular es cierto, pero aun no se ha terminado todavia los desafios, comentaba Maicon despues del 2-0 en el Bernabeu por que aun nos falta la mas alta presea por ganar y vamos a ser todo lo posible por ganarla tambien .

El grado de confianza es dificilmente una sorpresa para la retaguardia del Inter ,cuando han manejado exitosamente los embates de Arjen Robben , Lionel Messi,Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho y Francesco Totti, en estas contiendas domesticas y europeas.

Hablando sobre el mismo significado y desde el punto de vista del entrenador Mourunho eventualmente detuvieron al Barcelona a solo un tanto por partido en cuatro encuentros, contando que el average del Barcelona es de dos goles por partido sobre sus oponentes .

Aunque la defensiva del equipo Inter no es solo de tres hombres sino con la contribucion del rumano Christian Chivu, los argentinos Walter Samuel, Esteban Cambiasso, y Javier Zanetti , todos los cuales hicieron sus propias contribuciones, pero la conexion brasilena no puede ser ignorada , ciertamente Julio Cesar, Maicon y Lucio fueron la designacion numero uno en la tropa de Dunga para finalizar la zona Suramericana de eliminatorias, concediendo solo once goles en 18 partidos y si a estos le podemos agregar al otro central Juan del Bayer Leverkusen ,la solidez sera aun mayor.

Unas de las grandes ventajas es que no requieren mucho para adaptarsen debido al juego de equipo que ya tiene tres de ellos en el mismo club, comenta Juan

Los jugadores brasilenos cuentan con una gran confianza en que ganaran la proxima corona Mundial de la FIFA sur Africa 2010.