Futbol: Últimas noticias de Hoy

«Los Galacticos» means the stars. When we talk about it, automatically we talk about one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Real Madrid FC. The term referred to that club about 4 or 5 years ago because it consisted of a lot of stars or great players. Those stars were in the shapes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo. Madridistas or Real Madrid supporters used to name them «Los Galacticos I» but nowadays there are «Los Galacticos II» with different stars. Although both of them consists of a lot of great players but I think it’s quite difficult for them to match the achievement of «Los Galacticos I». Here are my reasons why I say so.

First of all, The stars in Real Madrid now are relatively new in Spanish football so they still have to make some adjustments. For example, Ricardo Kaka, we know that he is a great playmaker when he played for AC Milan in Italy. He played as a central figure in Milan’s midfield. However, Spanish football and Italian football are two different leagues and they have different styles of football. I think so far, Kaka and also many other new stars haven’t shown their best forms in Real Madrid.

Next, so far they haven’t been able to play well as a unit or as a team. They do score a lot of goals but I think many of the goals come from the stars’ individual skills. Take a look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals. Many of his goals come from free kicks or long-range shots, his special skill.

All in all, Even though Real Madrid stars are now named «Los Galacticos II», these stars are still unable to match with the stars of Real Madrid 4 or 5 years ago in terms of achievement and the way of play. They still have to work hard to prove that they deserve to be called as «Los Galacticos II».

One of the ironies of Samuel Eto’o playing for FC Barcelona is that he originally joined arch-rivals Real Madrid, who immediately put him out on loan; first to second division CD Leganes; then to first division Espanyol after playing just one league match for Madrid; and finally to Mallorca. He did so well at the latter club that they signed him for a club record and became the highest scorer in the history of the club with a total of 54 goals between 2000 and 2004.

The Cameroon striker signed to FC Barcelona after a series of negotiations between Barcelona, Mallorca and Real Madrid who had retained an option on him. On one hand Madrid didn’t require him in the team as they already had two strikers in the form of Ronaldo and Raul; on the other hand they didn’t want him to play for Barcelona, a club that was looking for a quality striker to cement the attack after they were unable to come to an agreement with midfielder Edgar Davids, who had spent the second half of the 2003-2004 season on loan to the Catalan club.

With Eto’o in place as striker and Ronaldinho as attacking mid-fielder, Samuel Eto’o quickly proved to be good value for money and scored a total of 24 league goals in the 2004-2005 season. Although he helped FC Barcelona to take the league title, he narrowly missed the title of top goal scorer in La Liga.

However, at the celebrations that followed at the Nou Camp he gave speech in which he openly criticised Real Madrid, apparently venting the bitterness he felt for being passed over by the club in favour of being put on loan. He later had to retract his statement and issue an apology.

The following year Samuel Eto’o was able to improve of his league score and with a total of 26 goals he narrowly took the «Pichichi» crown, just one goal ahead of David Villa from Valencia. His strong performance on the pitch saw him also score six Champions League goals, helping to propel Barcelona all the way to the final against Arsenal. He was strongly implicated in the result as first the Arsenal goalkeeper was sent off for a foul against Eto’o in the first 20 minutes; failing to capitalise on the one man advantage, Eto’o equalised in the 76th minute from a pass from Larsson and Belletti scored the winning goal a few minutes after.

On the basis of a strong season Samuel Eto’o was awarded the title of UEFA Champion’s League Best Forward as well as Best African Player for the third year running.

Ronaldinho AC Milan Career has been a disaster to start with. His repeated failures with FC Barcelona resulted in him being dropped off the plans of new coach, Guardiola. Meanwhile AC Milan came as a rescuer for Ronaldinho and saving Ronaldinho Magic from going to English Premier League. For the record Ronaldinho started his career with Grêmio in Brazil. He then moved to Paris Saint-German in 2001. On the back of a great World Cup 2002 Campaign he finally moved to FC Barcelona in 2003.

It was at Barcelona where Ronaldinho Magic reached its height. He quickly became one of the legends of the sport. His performance against the top clubs in Europe earned him two World Player of the Year and a Balon d’Or awards. Ronaldinho perfomance against AC Milan in 2005-06 season was sensational. He may have become first Barcelona player to receive a standing ovation at Bernebeu. His consistent performance cemented Ronaldinho Position in Hall of Fame of Football players. Ronaldinho Position as the one of the best Barcelona player of all time cannot be questioned, but his last two season were nothing special by his standard. So it was inevitable he concede the theatre of Camp Nou to Lionel Messi and part with FC Barcelona.

Ronaldinho AC Milan career started in a very bright fashion. He scored the only goal against Inter in the Derby and some more goals followed. BUt Ronaldinho magic soon dried up and Ronaldinho’s position in team also came under question. Ronaldinho positioned behind Pato was considered by some for him drop of form. With Kaka transfer, Ronaldinho position got shift into the left back and soon he had all the freedom to weave his Ronaldinho magic. Now with the magic back Ronaldinho AC Milan career is taking off. His performance against Manchester United was out of this world.

I’m not saying that one is better than the other, just that there is an important difference.

What is the difference between the two?

Well, it’s in the words. A fan likes something, a supporter actively supports it. A regular fan wouldn’t drive 5 hours to support the FC Bayern Amateure in the cold March rain.

What do Supporters do differently?

Passion. Dedication. Loyalty.

Take a club like Bayern Munich for example. We have by far the most fans in Germany, but only a small group of true Supporters. The fans buy lots of merchandise and visit the home matches, and usually refer to the team, not the club. The fan idolizes players, but often knows little about the club’s history. When a club doesn’t do well, more and more seats will be empty, whereas the section of the Supporters is as full as ever.

The Mindest

A Supporter loves the club, not the team and its players. Those are mercenaries who do not identify with the club and will transfer as soon as more money is offered.

To a Supporter, it’s all about the club, not the team.

A fan sees this as a hobby or casual entertainment. But Supporters take it seriously. No matter where or when the club plays, or how important the match is, the Supporter is there. A lot of times this means sacrificing other aspects of his life – work, school, family, friends. That’s because words like loyalty and honor still have meaning. A Supporter will defend the club’s name if necessary, without getting it into trouble.
To the Supporter the club is a lifestyle.

The Supporter supports the team throughout the entire match, regardless of the score or the performance. Because the team needs the support the most when things are not going well. That is not to say that displeasure can’t be voiced. But the support of the team always comes first.

Simply singing or shouting is not enough. Every word uttered and every song sung has to be filled with all of the Supporter’s energy and passion. Even if the players on the field don’t care, it is done for the club’s honor and for all of the Supporter’s honor.

Sing until your lungs burn and you are ready to puke.

Supporters looks at everything the club does objectively and is not afraid to be critical. It is up them to protect the club’s values and integrity and to carry them on with their actions.

Should a decision of the club clashes with the Supporter’s believes, but benefits the club in the long run, the Supporter has to put his own interest aside.

Everything the Supporter does has to be in the club’s best interest.

All of these traits are vital. I have known people who went to every FC Bayern match, but didn’t support. There were those who sang passionately, but only cherry-picked a few matches a year. Not to mention the ones that were too drunk to even make it into the stadium, or those who only want to fight.

Unfortunately there seems to be a war going on against the Supporters/Ultras across Germany. The clubs want to replace us with customers who will shell out money without asking questions or criticizing. The clubs’ identities are slowly taken away. But this is for another article.

There’s nothing like a little bit of trivia to test your knowledge of the sport of soccer. You may say that soccer is your favorite sport, but how much do you really know? Following are some facts and tidbits that you may or may not know about soccer.

· Soccer originated generally in its present form in Britain.

· The world’s oldest club formed in 1857 is Sheffield FC

· Soccer is the most played and most watched sport on Earth

· Soccer is called football in practically every country except America, who call ‘Grid Iron’ football and football soccer.

· Famous soccer rivalries include the Old Firm (Scotland), Manchester derby, London derbies, Milan derby, Real vs Barcelona, and many more.

· Some famous soccer players: Pele, Maradonna, Charlton, Eusebio, Cruyff, Dalglish, Ronaldo, Beckham, Mattheus.

Those are some basic bits of soccer trivia and facts. How much did you know? Well, here are so more soccer facts to test your knowledge:

· The sport of Association Football (often referred to as soccer or simply football) is the most popular team sport in the world, in both number of spectators and number of active participants.

· The largest attendance for a soccer match ever was 199,854 people – Brazil v. Uruguay in the World Cup at the Maracana Municipal Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, July 1950.

· In the largest soccer tournament ever, no less than 5,098 teams competed in 1999 for the second Bangkok League Seven-a-Side Competition. Over 35,000 players involved!

· The most goals scored by one player in a single soccer match was 16

– Stephan Stanis (France) playing for Racing Club de Lens in December 1942.

· Based on video evidence, one of the fastest ever scored was in 2.8 seconds by Ricardo Olivera (Uruguay) in December 1998.

· The international governing body of soccer is the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), based in Zurich, Switzerland.

· Diego Maradona was only 16 when he made his soccer debut for Argentina.

· Soccer goalies didn’t have to wear different coloured shirts from their teammates until 1913.

· Eusebio scored 46 goals in the European Cup for Benfica.

· Chris Woods once went 1196 minutes without conceding a goal while at Rangers, from between November 26 1986 and January 31 1987.

· Ryan Giggs’ dad was a professional Rugby League player.

· In 1973, the entire Galilee team spent the night in jail for kicking their opponents during an Israeli League game.

Have you had enough soccer trivia and facts? These are only a few of the interesting soccer facts that are floating around out there.