world soccer magazine - talent spotting

i was clearing my very messy bookshelves and found a whole stack of world soccer magazines that i used to read religiously, though it was an expensive hobby for a teenager back then. but i would like to highlight their october 1998 edition, sometime after the hype of the france 98 world cup died down. it had a feature article called, talent spotting - 20 stars for the next world up, and it was an amusing read. here are the supposed future stars, pseudostars if you will, of the article in random order.....

1. felipe (brazil, vasco da gama) - touted to be roberto carlos's understudy. as far as i remember, roberto carlos played in korea japan 2002. poor felipe.
2. daisuke ichikawa (japan, shimizu s-pulse) - who?
3. edgar (portugal, real madrid) - no idea who he is. to quote the article, ...benfica did not seem fully to appreciate his potential and allowed his contract to run out this summer. real madrid stole to sign him on a free, and promptly increased his salary ten fold. the wages will surely prove to be money well spent.". oh dear me.
4. dennis serban (romania, steaua bucharest) - apparently succesor to hagi. seems like romania will forever be remembered as dracula nation rather than a footballing nation, no thanks to poor predictions by world soccer magazine.
5. vladimir but (russia, dortmund) - erm....
6. juan riquelme (argentina, boca juniors) - finally a familiar name. he didn't really star in korea japan 2002 but he's happily banging in the goals with manchester united favourite, forlan. no one could have predicted that.
7. andres oliviera (uruguay, defensor) - top scorer for uruguay at the u-20 world cup held in malaysia. i googled his name and perth glory was all over the search result page. oh dear. the new a-league has a star, what a boost for the marketing bastards.
8. mustafa dogan (germany, fenerbache) - according to the article, he made history by being the first turkish born to represent germany. wow, that's all fine and dandy but i've never heard of him.
9. peter ofori-quaye (ghana, olympiakos) - was top scorer for ghana in the u-20 world cup held in malaysia. the malaysian jinx strikes again, though he's better off than poor andres oliviera, he's currently playing in the mls. not much better though, small consolation.
10. pablo contreras (chile, colo colo) - he does ring a bell. but obviously didn't make it to korea japan 2002. wrong again.
11. robbie keane (ireland, wolves) - pop the champagne and call your mummy! a correct prediction by world soccer magazine at last.
12. laurent sanda (cameroon, udinese) - his little snippet on the feature article makes depressing reading. something about not seeing any action whatsoever for a whole year because udinese at that time had more than enough non-eu players, he didn't even get reserve team action. poor bugger. some talent he is then, even adrian loo can make it at udinese's reserve team.
13. michael owen (england, liverpool) - you didn't think this list would be complete without him did you? did you? did you? did you?
14. ivan de la pena (spain, lazio) - the little buddha has only recently been drafted into the spanish first team. "come 2002, de la pena seems sure to be challenging for a key world cup role". erm, yeah.
15. ole tobiasen (denmark, ajax) - zzzzzzzzzzz
16. nicolas anelka (france, arsenal) - his talent is undeniable, but who would've thought he would be such a cry baby. would probably have featured in korea japan 2002 if he behaved himself, or if his mother continued to breast feed him.
17. adil ramzy (morocco, willem 2) - suffered the same fate as the unfortunate laurent sanda by not getting any first team action whatsoever in udinese. however, he was loaned out to willem 2. could potentially have played alongside adrian loo at the udinese reserve team had he not been loaned out, and if adrian loo had bothered to go for trials at udinese reserves.
18. kenneth zeigbo (nigeria, venezia) - who the fuck are these people!? i've never heard of him either. said to be wooing the crowds at legia warsaw before joining seria a.
19. igor tudor (croatia, juventus) - did i tell you guys that the word "igor" is forbidden? i refuse to comment on this player.
20. francesco totti (italy, roma) - pure class. as uneducated as wayne rooney, but these people let their feet do the talking.

and that's that, the pseudostars to watch out for in 1998, that's a long time ago. in 1998, the fake ronaldo has probably only begun to discover the joys of masturbating to geriatric porn and finding out what underwears are. he has only just discovered the joys of wearing them. slow learner, but what can you do.

further input to those abovementioned players are appreciated. perhaps you've heard of most of them, feel free to drop a comment or two and enlighten me.

flat back four - andy gray

bought this book for a mere $3 at a second hand bookshop and i finished it within 3.5 hours. absorbing reading. but this post is not about my amazing speed reading ability and super intelligence, instead it's about the book, the insights of andy gray and about the tactical game of football, a book review if you will. for starters, it's an extremely easy read without any fancy technical mumbo-jumbo and for the alphabetically challenged, there are loads of diagrams too, which i reckon an uneducated schoolkid like wayne rooney would appreciate. it's refreshing to read about football teams from a tactical viewpoint rather than their heroes, losers and whiny managers. perhaps a little peek into the book chapters might give you an idea what it's all about...

1) the beginning: early tactics and systems
2) hungary 1953
3) four at the back
4) england 1966
5) 4-4-2 and 4-2-4
6) celtic 1967
7) defensive tactics
8) attacking tactics
9) brazil 1970
10) five at the back
11) tactics for europe
12) liverpool 1977
13) underdog tactics
14) wimbledon 1988
15) set pieces
16) england 1997
17) psychological tactics
18) manchester united 1997/98
19) the way fourwards

he explains tactics by describing the teams that use them. brilliant. the book was published in 1999, the time of manchester united's supremacy and the rising of an arsenal side with overmars and petit (who?). i don't blame him for not including the liverpool side of that time, with the likes of eric meijer and vegard heggem, it's hardly orgasmic stuff. he does however, dedicate a whole chapter to the 1977 european cup winning liverpool team which i read with great interest because i've never seen them play. he even dared to suggest that the current liverpool side of that time was similiar to bob paisley's team. my god. but enough of that, i'm quite embarassed at the mere suggestion of it.

then he dedicates a whole chapter to wimbledon's triumph over the mighty liverpool in the 1988 fa cup final - with long ball tactics. and, did you know....that wimbledon players always spit at the "this is anfield" plaque whenever they play at anfield? bastards. the footballing gods punished them nicely and look where they are now - oblivion.

ideally, you'd want to have video footage to complement the book so you can actually see it in application. but not everyday is a sunday and i doubt anyone would have the whole footage of celtic's triumph over inter in the 1967 european cup final to go with chapter 6 because it would be a complete waste of shelf space. perhaps bellamy and john hartson can find a little creative spark between them on tuesday and wednesday nights to produce it, it's not like they have champions league football to attend to. and i'm sure manchester united fans can somehow rummage through their stack of animal porn and pick up some videos or cds on the 1997/98 mu team to complement chapter 18, but unfortunately, andy gray is full of praise for the beckham neville partnership on the right side and that itself is football blasphemy, which makes it redundant. avoid chapter 18 at all costs.

i do however, have complete vhs footage of the 1970 final between brazil and italy and i watched it again after reading the book and i felt very enlightened. brazil employs a 424 formation on paper, but when they play, it becomes 244 - 2 defenders, 4 midfielders and 4 attackers. suicidal, something eric the king would employ. but pele's philosophy applies, which says, "if they score one, we score two. if they score 2 we score 4.". nothing can go wrong once the great man speaks, pele that is, not eric the king. interesting chapter to read, with video.

when i saw chapter 13 (underdog tactics), i skipped it. i think adrian and i have lots of experience in this regard with our psv, greece, turkey, olympiakos, celtic, lyon, wales etc. exploits against much better teams. i think we know more than anyone else what it takes for an underdog to win, and if we're lucky, we can rape the opposition too. i think a better read would a chapter called, coping with underdog wins against you, which anthony and king might find useful.

so other than chapters 13 and 18 and the bit about wimbledon, everything else is a worthy read to broaden your footballing horizons. gerrard rates the book 4 stars out of 5.

After all the dramas and seriousness in the world of Football of late,it is abolutely vital to remind ourselves that Forever Football is also a family-oriented site. And what better way than a family picture to represent the epitomy of a family potrait representing a loving environment. 3 brothers who are absolutely obsessed with Football, from Left, Cristiano (Dribbling Genius) LIM, Rooney (Future European Footballer of the World) LIM and LIM Chin Bai (a complete embarrassment to Mrs.Lim)  

The Loneliest Job in Football

Anders Frisk, one of the most respectable and iconic (Jon Bon Jovi) referees has been forced into retirement recently..

What has happened to force a man who has devoted and sacrificed immense time and effort for the Love of the Game to abandon a job he commited himself to ?
The supposed 'beautiful' game is changing.. While we do understand and emphatise that the stakes in the modern game are increasing (League Championships, Cup matches as well as the GREAT UEFA Champions League), a referree being threatened (both physically and emotionally) by the supposed 'fans' of the modern game, crucified and slaughtered by the press and utterly humiliated by the tabloids is just shameful and disgusting.
As the Guardian aptly puts it "the beautiful game is getting uglier, bordering on anarchy"
While I admit that even myself would curse a referree and his decisions during BIG matches and I don't know alot of people who don't, threatening a referee after a match and his respective family is not just disgraceful but criminalistic and unjust.
Being vilified by Jose M. after the 1st Leg round of 16, being hit by a coin in the Roma match and even being unfairly cursed by the 'iconic and likeble' Claudio Ranieri "the way he refereed the Valencia Vs Werder Bremen match, no wonder he got hit by a coin" is just taking emotional punishment a step too far.
Anders Frisk has refereed since 1978, due to his immense Love for Football and how has he been treated recently, shows the amount of 'gratitude' and lack of respect fans, supporters, managers and owners (Roman A.) alike have for this respectable man. The worst part? Mr. Frisk is a boyhood Chelsea supporter and the vilification he has received from Jose M. and the Chelsea fans is one of the saddest incidence in his life.

Urs Meier, after his controversial disallowed Sol Campbell 'goal' has had his details published in a tabloid newspaper with supposed 'fans' email-ing and calling him threatening his life and of his loved ones. He had to be protected in the same light as a witness protection programme.
Is it truly fair to subject these people who devoted a part of their lives to such cruel and disgraceful behaviour?

What can be done?
Firstly, managers should 'try' to not only just severely criticise a referree but by not deliberately increasing the pre-match tension by claiming 'Conspriracy Theories' (think Jose M. aka the Special One at the post-match Barca V Chelsea) and by humiliating referees who have been in this line before some of us even understood the meaning of the offside-rule, by asking for a 'referee with a greater personality" (think Jose M. again by shaming Mr. Frisk and asking for Mr. Collina)

Fans of the Beautiful Game should act more like supporters and not only should be banned from the GREAT Stadiums of the world (and Anfield and Highbury) if they directly or indirectly threaten referees and their families but be subjected to a criminal sentence and severe and in-depth anal punishment in prison.

Due to the competitive nature and the stakes involved, we all tend to forget and take for granted what the referees have done to make this wonderful game, even more amazing. It truly is a ridiculously difficult job to perform at the highest levels and the men in black have performed to their best abilities which is all we as fans can ask for.

We would like to thank Mr.Anders Frisk for his time and devotion that have made watching Football even more enjoyable. Your immense contributions to the Beautiful Game will NEVER be forgotten ..

definition

in·con·sis·tent - Displaying or marked by a lack of consistency

that's from a dictionary.

in.con.sis.tent - liverpool fc

that's from me.

case in point.....8 points behind everton in the epl and going further than mu in the champions league.

i'll savour the moment. for now.

cry baby from down under

harry kewell's antics has begun. pop the champagne and tell your mummy. harry suddenly got himself a medical degree and ruled himself out of tonight's game from a self-diagnosis of a "groin strain". and he has the audacity to refuse rafa's pleas for him to defy the pain barrier and make a champions league appearance. what i would give for that opportunity. my right testicle, my right hand or my stamp collection? hmm. beggers cannot be choosers and this australian has officially bought a first class ticket into my little big black book of footballers i hate. he can now be all cuddly and sing camp-fire songs with the likes of igor biscan, djimi traore, josemi, nunez, the fake ronaldo, emile heskey and the neville brothers. welcome harry.

one known liverpool fan and 4 other closet liverpool worshippers.

football blasphemy

imagine.....alan stubbs defending and rubbing shoulders with kaka.

imagine.....leon osman attempting to dribble past cafu.

imagine.....duncan ferguson winning headers against nesta.

imagine.....champions league anthem blaring in goodison park.

i don't want to imagine anymore.

chang beer. ptui. that's something to feed the dogs, and a certain number 7 in mfu.