A Profile of Carles Puyol

As a defender Carles Puyol remains somewhat in the shadow of players such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o or Lionel Messi, but with his energy, stamina and focus, he remains a favourite in the Nou Camp and is an essential member of the current line-up. Considered to be one of the best defenders in the world, Carles Puyol is also the first Catalan captain to have held the Champions League Cup aloft after the team defeated Arsenal in May 2006, the competition in which he was awarded Defender of the Year.

As team captain since the 2003-2004 season after Phillip Cocu left Barcelona for PSV Eindhoven, Puyol's stocky build with legs built like tree trunks and a trademark head of curly locks all belie his speed and agility on the pitch and once he removes his shirt he reveals a ripped torso that is the product of many hours of hard training, impressively fee of any sign of body fat.

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In fact Puyol's dedication is such that he objects to being left out of a single match selection, even if it is for a rest period when the team is playing a number of matches is a short space of time and he has been noted to attend training sessions where he was specifically given a rest day.

Born in La Pobla de Segur, which is located in the interior of Catalonia, on April 13 1978, as a boy Carles Puyol played for the local side. He was signed for the FC Barcelona B team in 1996 at the age of 17 and made is first team debut in 1999 under Louis Van Gaal, when visiting Barcelona beat Valladolid 2-0.

Currently playing in the centre-back position, Puyol first played for Barcelona in the right back position when he was promoted from the B team. His original position as a boy was in goal, but when shoulder injuries prevented him from continuing he began to play as a striker, perhaps contributing to his attacking mentality today - you can only imagine what he would have been like as a goalkeeper given his absolute determination to stop the ball as a defender, but what is sure is that he would have played hard, perhaps contributing to his injuries.

Although he plays in the Spanish selection, which he has also captained on occasion, Carles Puyol is a Barcelona diehard through and through and it is difficult to imagine him playing for any other club when his contract expires in 2010, whatever offer was on the table. While Messi has been brought up at Barcelona - and there is no doubt about his current dedication to the club - it remains to be seen whether he could be lured away, but players such as Ronaldinho and Eto'o, whatever their brilliance, can only ever be considered hired hands.

A Profile of Carles Puyol

Soccer Practice Games - Discover Game Progression

Soccer practice games are immensely important especially in comparison to drills and it's not hard for someone like me to understand this. It's important that the kids first pay attention to acquiring the skills and polishing them so as to improve the movement along with the ball. However, as they progress with their soccer training, there are a few things that you must observe.

What works best is that kids are randomly grouped so that they get to develop their individual styles along with having fun just like we talked about before. First and foremost, the kids must get the freedom to decide on various issues concerning them and this is possible only when the size of the group is small.

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Such an arrangement also ensures that the kids have more space to move about in the field, get more touches on the ball and become more accountable for their choices since there are very few players in the group.

On the other hand, make sure you initiate changes as soon as the players get comfortable playing in small groups and are improving. In soccer practice games, it's the time to initiate progressions. What this means is you tend to make the rules of the game a little more stringent, play games in larger fields, and increase the size of the group. It's time when team's overall objectives should also be catered to together with player's individual development by bringing in a more elaborate strategy.

There is something here that needs special mention. Almost all coaches take the wrong path of teaching everything in a very short time span in the hope of having trained players ahead of time. Understand that there are no shortcuts. Similar to soccer drills, there is no scope of mechanizing the process here. It must be a natural growth with time.

The designs may not work well if you expose students to competition, teach them new things early in their training, and lay a lot of emphasis on rules. This obstructs their process of learning and growth.

As the players make a move from small batches to large ones, they should understand the purpose behind devising the games. It is important to understand how to put the team's interests first than yours and using your skills to make the team win.

In this phase along with games, it is also crucial to hold important meetings and discussions. Keep in mind that the players now understand the game and its techniques. So it would be a capital mistake to undermine their assessment skills in soccer exercises. When you give them an opportunity to take decisions and respect them, they feel happy and more responsible. The games should now challenge their thoughts about how to win matches. When the players think themselves as a team and not as individual players, you have succeeded in your job as a coach.

Now make good use of this learning in your plan. Soccer practice games are the best tools to make the kids learn soccer and so you must choose them creatively. Become a part of our youth soccer coaching community to learn more about various games and strategies that go with it.

Soccer Practice Games - Discover Game Progression

EPL Team Profile - Chelsea

The formal name of the club is Chelsea Football Club. The squad are popularly referred to as the Blues, or the Pensioners.

Founded in 1905, Chelsea host their home matches at Stamford Bridge, in London, which can seat over 41,000 spectators.

Chelsea Football Club

The owner of the club is Roman Abramovich, the chairman, Bruce Buck, and the manager, Carlo Ancelotti.

The squad won the Premiership last season, and they are favourites to retain their title.

After enjoying eminent success in top tier English football in the sixties and seventies, Chelsea went into decline in the eighties and nineties, only winning their next major championship, the FA Cup, in 1997.

They have won the Premiership three times in all, first winning it in 2004-05, and retaining it in the following season.

In two matches played in the ongoing season, the Blues have recorded identical wins of 6-0, over West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic.

Pre-season review:

Before Carlo Ancelotti took the rein at Stamford Bridge, Avram Grant and Phil Scolari were handed it, in turn, only to have it taken away.

If Ancelotti has survived where redoubtable managers like Grant and Scolari failed, the reason lies in Chelsea's winning of the Premiership, on Ancelotti's watch, in his very first season.

Can Ancelotti, in only his second season, do it a second time running? In his first, Ancelotti kept Manchester United at bay, demonstrating, in the process, why he had been rated so highly at AC Milan.

That said, the Chelsea squad aren't getting any younger; Didier Drogba, for instance is in his thirty third year.

Michael Essien is emerging from two years clouded by injury, and his presence in midfield could give Chelsea a winning edge, this season.

Ashley Cole has stayed with Chelsea, despite rumours of migration to Real Madrid, and is arguably the world's best left back.

But his publicized comments about the English haven't gone down well with local football fans and Cole could come under heavy strafing, especially in away games. Much depends on whether or not he keeps his head.

The following players make up the Stamford Bridge squad:

Cech, Terry, Paulo Ferreira, Cole, Alex, Essien, Mikel, Malouda, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Ivanovic, Hilario, Zhirkov, Benayoun, Sturridge, Kalou, and Van Aanholt.

Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun is a major summer signing while Joe Cole's departure is an offset.

Deco and Michael Ballack, their best footballing years behind them, have gone home.

There's no doubting Chelsea's quality. But as the season wears on, the ages of their star players is likely to come increasingly into focus.

Whether it is Scholes, or John Terry, or Lampard or Drogba, their fitness is bound to be called into question, sooner or later. Can Ancelotti then turn to his younger lot to bail the squad out?

EPL Team Profile - Chelsea

Getting Used to Monovision

Monovision is the contact lens technique for presbyopia that involves fitting a corrective lens for distance on a patient's dominant eye* and a near-vision one on the other. As with bifocal or multifocal lenses, it is an option that allows the same pair of contacts to be used whether one is driving or reading a book.

On the surface, this method may seem odd and one questions how clear vision can be achieved with the eyes working at different powers.

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So, how does monovision work?

As we look into the distance, our dominant eye commands the brain's attention as vision information is transferred. The non-dominant eye still works, of course, but the dominant eye is in the 'driver's seat'. Even though the non-dominant eye is corrected for near vision, it does not interfere with the 'communication' going on between the brain and the distance eye. In successful applications, the brain learns to adapt to the two extremes, minimizing any overwhelming dizzying sensation following an adjustment period. Monovision also works if the dominant eye sees distance clearly with no aid, leaving the non-dominant one to be corrected for close sight. The technique is more successful with contacts than with eyeglasses since glasses sit away from the eyes. By their design, contacts are more attuned to natural eye function.

Monovision provides effective correction for presbyopes in nearly 75% of cases; but because the method is a compromise, there are some issues that have to be dealt with. Diminished depth perception is a result of the technique, as well as possible mild headaches until one becomes used to the differing lens powers. There is also the possibility of having less distinct sharpness when viewing distance. In successful instances, the period of adaptation is approximately one to three weeks.

Contact lens [http://www.contactlensking.com/index.aspx] applied monovision does not permanently alter eyesight, unlike refractive surgery that incorporates the technique. Contacts can be removed if a trial is not successful and vision will return to what it was before the therapy.

If you are presbyopic and want to depend less on reading glasses, then ask your eye care provider about monovision to determine if you would be a good candidate.

*Much like being right or left-handed, eyes are similarly coordinated. The dominant eye focuses for distance while the non-dominant eye handles near vision. A simple test to determine which eye is dominant involves keeping both eyes open as you raise your right arm to point at an object in the distance (approximately 20 feet away or more). Focus on the object as you continue to point and cover first your left eye and then the right. In one of these instances, your pointing finger will seem to shift to one side. Your dominant eye is the one that does not cause the shift. Your eye doctor can confirm which eye is dominant.

Getting Used to Monovision

Heroes of FC Barcelona - Johan Cruyff

Fans of FC Barcelona remember Johan Cruyff fondly for both his time as a player for the club in the 1970s and then as the longest serving and most successful manager in the club's history.

Cruyff's footballing career began with Dutch club Ajax, who he had joined on his tenth birthday, debuting for the first team aged 17 in 1964 and the following season his 25 goals helped Ajax to win the league.

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The 1966-67 season was even better for Johan Cruyff; not only did Ajax win the league again, but Cruyff ending the season as the leading goal scorer in the Dutch league. With a total of 33 goals to his credit he was named Dutch footballer of the year, an award he received for the two following seasons.

Cruyff's move to Barcelona came in 1973 and he quickly won favour with the Catalan supporters by saying that Real Madrid had never been an due to its association with Franco. His second season at FC Barcelona saw them win the league for first time since 1960 and humiliating Real Madrid in a 5-0 win at Santiago Bernabeu. While at Barcelona he was awarded the prestigious European Player of the Year twice in a row.

In 1979, aged 32, Johan Cruyff moved to America, where he first played for the Los Angeles Aztecs for just one season followed by Washington Diplomats. At the beginning of the 1981 season he returned to Spain, where he played for Levante, quickly followed by a move back to Ajax. However in 1983 Ajax failed to renew his contract and signing for Feyenoord, Ajax's arch-rival, he helped win the Dutch league.

Johan Cruyff also had a successful international career, appearing for Holland 48 times and scoring 33 goals, refusing to participate in the 1986 World Cup in Argentina because of the alleged used of torture and murder practised by the Junta then in power.

Retiring as a player, he Cruyff's career as a manager started with Ajax, but it was at Barcelona, which he rejoined in 1988, that was the highlight of his management career.

With 11 titles won between1988 and 1997, his time as manager is considered to be one of the golden eras for the club and the side he assembled, commonly referred to as "The Dream Team", won the Spanish league title for four successive years between 1991 and 1994.

Heroes of FC Barcelona - Johan Cruyff

The Rise of Professional Soccer Player Salaries

Soccer has come a long way in the last twenty years. There was a time when players reminded us of the fact that professional soccer was a short career lasting only around 10 to 15 years and less than that for some players. Clubs would sometimes help out their old players by granting a testimonial match with attendance revenue being given to the player in question.

In those days, it was hard not to feel some sympathy for players who had fallen on hard times for a variety of reasons. But today professional soccer player salaries are astronomical and continue to rise. Many players are now earning more in a week than the fans who pay to watch them earn in a year. This sometimes leads to an uneasy relationship between the players and the fans that are ultimately funding these salaries. If the fans think a particular player is not trying hard enough, they will voice their opinions vociferously.
 
The top earners have now broken the six figure barrier pocketing over £100,000 per week which is an extraordinary amount of money for anyone to earn in a 7 day period. This has led to calls for the introduction of a salary cap to try slowing down the spiralling cost of player wages which critics claim is out of control.
 
The argument against introducing a salary cap is that it may prove to be illegal under the current European law. Another way to curb spending would be limiting the number of foreign players each club is able to field at any one time although there is a case both for and against this kind of measure.
 
The problem with a constant increase in salaries is that a climate of competition is created with players on the lower end of the scale wanting their contract to be brought more into line with their team mates. Money talks and this can also dictate transfer activity with players often choosing one club over another for financial reasons rather than football ones.
 
For more football related articles please visit English Football Blog for the latest news and comment on the premiership soccer scene.

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The Rise of Professional Soccer Player Salaries

France Has the 2016 Euro Cup, Beating Italy and Turkey

The 2016 Euro Cup will be held in France. They beat out Italy and Turkey after voting among UEFA members. Italy was knocked out of the running after the first round of voting. France then beat Turkey by one vote to host this event.

The French bid sited 12 stadiums and 11 new cities that would participate. Four of the stadiums will be brand new. France will be renovating seven stadiums for the football games. For those that may be confused, in Europe, football is what is known as soccer in the US.

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These games are highly competitive and emotional for fans and players alike. Just going to the Euro Cup is quite an honor. Getting to host one is a top honor. For European sports fans these football games mean as much to them as the Super Bowl means to United States sports fans.

In order for a team to qualify for the Euro Cup, they have to win a play-off game or qualifying spot. Which precedes them to the finals in the hosting country. The hosting country automatically plays in the Cup competition. This phase begins after the FIFA World Cup games.

The qualifying phase consists of groups. The groups are determined through a draw of teams from pre-seeded bowl games. Pre-seeded teams consist of reigning champions and other teams that performed well in the FIFA World Cup qualifying along with the previous European Football Championship qualifiers.

These groups then play according to the league format of playing each other both at home and away. From this format teams will either proceed to the final tournament games, or other playoff games, depending where they are in the group. In the event of a tie, then the UEFA uses criteria like, number of goals scored per team and fair play to determine which team is on which side.

These teams put all their strength and heart into each game they play. Watching the games can be heartbreaking and exhilarating. They are filled with non-stop action, much like American football. Watching these teams fight for position, a viewer can almost feel what the teams are going through.

In the past, 16 teams proceeded to the finals. In 2016 for the first time ever, there will be 24 teams. If a person loves to watch European football, the 2016 Euro Cup games should be quite exciting.

France Has the 2016 Euro Cup, Beating Italy and Turkey