DC has entered its monsoon season with the shifting atmospheric pressure and that means I'll conjure up an old cliché to sell the impact this last week in soccer. Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC proved how strong the English Premier League is on the world stage. Both teams came into their second-leg UEFA Champions League semi-final matches facing deficits against two strong teams. Spanish La Liga club Barcelona were the giants of the remaining four teams. With a soccer legend like Lionel Messi and a quality squad behind him, it was tough foreseeing Liverpool making a comeback. Yet, they did it in Liverpool's home fortress of Anfield. Just a ways away over in the Netherlands, a wounded and short-handed Tottenham Hotspur were facing off against Ajax, the giant killers of the Champions League. Who did they slay on their quest for Champions League glory? Real Madrid, who are heated rivals with Barcelona and Juventus, who conquered Italy and had their sights set on the rest of Europe. But Ajax found a way to beat them all. Surely, a beleaguered Tottenham was going to a piece of cake. Yet, even Ajax wasn't ready for the fight that exists within a downed--but not out--English club.
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While Game of Thrones is the king of TV binge watching, the kings of Europe are facing off in a battle to claim glory. The best of the best in European soccer have whittled down to four. Now Liverpool face Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur face Ajax. Who will lift the trophy this year? Will the giants of Spain pave a path of destruction? Will the wounded Liverpool find redemption? Has Ajax got the mettle to go beyond what their youthful squad is capable of? Will Tottenham shake a disastrous domestic campaign and go full steam ahead? We are now on the precipice of greatness.
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Do you know what's soccer's super bowl? It's not the World Cup, although one would think that has to be the big kahuna of all of soccer. While that's mostly correct, the World Cup is the big kahuna of national team soccer. For club teams around the world, they face off in an international competition called the Champions League. This is where you would see the top clubs like Barcelona FC and Manchester United compete against each other to establish dominance. While various nations in specific regions compete, the one that I'm focusing on is called the UEFA Champions League, which is specific to Europe. This week I'll tell you all about what this competition is and what the heck UEFA stands for. So read on and learn more about...
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The life of a keeper is not an easy one. It's like being the Jon Snow of soccer by willfully banishing one's self to the Night Watch. You will be thought of very little in the good times and your name will be cursed when everything goes wrong. But that is their calling and they wouldn't have it any other way. Their service is in loyalty to the team and the supporters. Their role is commander and bastion. This week I want to write about the keepers and pay tribute to their steadfast watch. So read on, and learn about...
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This week I'm letting you in on a little secret; there are a ton of soccer terms. From rules to colloquialisms, there are probably thousands of words related to the game. As I write this little blog, I want to be able to refer readers to a glossary of terms to help them understand some of the words I'll be using. This is a double whammy, because I'll be able to append a link to this one post going forward, and you'll finally understand a lot of the slang that I like to use. So read on, and...
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March Madness is the second best time to be a sports fan while the top spot belongs to the World Cup. I will gladly admit bias in making this sweeping, authoritative statement; however, I do have some solid reasoning for my ranking. While the top college hoops tournament is a grand event, it's still an intrinsically American product. Soccer, on the other hand, is a world-wide sport. While America as a whole is fickle about its interest in the World Cup, the immigrants and international visitors will still pack our bars and go wild for their home countries. The nature of one's support for their country is level with one's support for their alma mater. For this small school South Dakota boy, I don't exhibit such a fervor during this time as I do when the US Men's and Women's National Teams compete for gold. But I do recognize and appreciate the similarities. Anyway this blog post has nothing to do with any of those topics. Or does it? Like college grads who preserve artifacts and mementos from their years of studying and extracurriculars of official and unofficial merit, soccer fans do likewise. They sport the colors of their favorite team. They memorize the songs and chants that have been passed down through generations. And, a most curious fact, they collect an uncomfortable amount of scarves even if they live in tropical climates or in my case, a swamp which has yet to be drained and actually has become far worse for wear in recent times. But before I lose myself deeper into an unrelated tangent, let's discuss...
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For visual learners, soccer is a really easy sport to understand once the shapes and lines of the field are drawn out. When those 22 players trot onto the field, they come in with a clear game plan. When there are 11 bodies on each side, those players need a strong sense of how they will line up against the opposition. And that's what this week's article will help you understand. Do you know the classic song "ABC" by the Jackson Five where it's easy as 1-2-3? Well, If you can understand how numbers work, then this article will make sense. So join me as we...
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