Yo amo el futbol!

It is widely considered the most popular game on earth. Played by millions of people from nearly every walk of life, and in nearly every nation, soccer – football or futbol as it is commonly known beyond the borders of the United States – is a sport that can be played by nearly anyone. Aside from the skills needed to maneuver the ball using your body, but not your hands – except for the goal keeper – soccer owes much of its international appeal to the fact that all you need to play is an open space and a single ball.

The mountains of equipment needed to play other sports – like tennis, golf, baseball, American football, and so many others – are an anathema to the soccer player. It is the ball, and only the ball, that one needs to play the game. But the soccer ball is not a generic item; there are many kinds of soccer balls on the market, and each has its own characteristics that differentiate it from the other balls.

At first glance it is hard to tell one soccer ball from another. Usually constructed in the same distinctive style, the trademark pentagonal and hexagonal panels make a soccer ball instantly recognizable. However, when you are trying to tell the difference between one ball and another, the first place to start is the cover.

In the past, full grain leather was used to make a top quality soccer ball, but real leather tends to absorb water easily, and a wet ball is a heavy ball that plays much differently than it was intended to play. Today, the first quality soccer balls are constructed from synthetic leather. Although there are many variations of synthetic leather, they are generally all a derivative of polyurethane or poly vinyl chloride. The best balls – those used in competition and by professionals – are almost always made of the polyurethane construction, while inexpensive practice balls are more likely to be poly vinyl chloride.

The way the panels of the soccer ball are stitched together is another indication of the quality of the ball. A high quality ball is going to be hand stitched with polyester cord or Kevlar reinforced polyester. Hand stitching allows the panels to be sewn tighter, which makes for a stronger and longer lasting soccer ball. Second-tier soccer balls are usually stitched as well, but the stitching is done by machine so it lacks the uncompromising quality that a hand stitched ball will possess. Inexpensive balls are usually not stitched at all, and instead are held together by gluing the panels onto the lining of the ball.

Soccer balls come in different sizes as well: Size 3, Size 4, and Size 5. Size 3 balls are the smallest balls and are typically used by players under the age of eight. Size 4 balls are the next size up, and players between the ages of eight and twelve use this size of ball. Size 5 balls are the standard size for adult play and are the standard size balls for all international play.

When shopping for a soccer ball it is important to have an eye for its size and construction. If you are unsure that the ball you are considering is of good quality, look to see if the ball is approved by either FIFA or NFHS. FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, and NFHS, the National Federation of State High School Association, both approve balls that meet the strict specifications that are outlined by each organization. If you purchase a ball that is approved by either governing body then you are almost assured of a ball that is of high quality in both construction and performance.

That Futbol Club Barcelona is one of the top soccer teams in the world is beyond any doubt and so any serious sports fan should pay at least one visit in their life to see them play in their home stadium, the Nou Camp.

FC Barcelona is often known simply as Barça, used to emphasise the hissing Catalan pronunciation rather than the lisp of Castilian Spanish’s “Barthelona”. While many people visiting Barcelona refer to the town as Barça, you’ll find that none of the locals do – it is only reserved for the sports club.

And if you do attend one of FC Barcelona’s matches you’ll find many of those visitors at the stadium too. The rise in popularity of Barcelona as a short stay destination has resulted from super-cheap flights from EasyJet and Ryanair amongst others, and the rise in fortunes of the club over the last few years since Joan Laporta became president and Ronaldinho came on board has ensured that the number of Barcelona FC tickets sold to tourists has rocketed.

However the team does not start and end with Ronaldinho; Samuel Eto’o is another star of Barça while Lionel Messi is currently tipped as the next Maradona, with his own “goal of the century” to prove it. And let us not forget the goalkeeper Victor Valdes who is widely regarded as one of the best goalies in Spain, team captain Carles Puyol, or the likes of Xavi, Deco or Ludovic Giuly.

1. Passion

If you attend one of the more popular matches at the Nou Camp you’ll experience the passion of the local crowd and if it’s Real Madrid that Barça are playing then that passion will be on the point of overboiling.

Almost one hundred thousand spectators can be seated at the Nou Camp and when the stadium is full the roar of the crowd can deafen. You’ll find people of all ages and backgrounds and if the match coincides with a public holiday in particular then many children will be treated to a match, accompanies by parents or grandparents.

2. Skill

Whether Barça win, lose or draw is always important, but if Ronaldinho is playing on form the final result can sometimes become secondary. With displays of ball control that many footballers practise but rarely put to use in a match situation, Ronaldinho can stun with his football, enjoying himself completely and delighting the crowd.

3. Experience

The Nou Camp is one of the biggest soccer stadiums in the world and going there is an experience all in itself. While football fans should aim to see Barça in action, the stadium is also hugely popular as a tourist destination. In fact the Barça museum is the most visited museum in Catalonia, ahead of Barcelona’s Picasso Museum and the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres.

With displays of trophies, documents and photos you can also participate in the stadium tour, which includes visits to the changing rooms, the tunnel and the directors area.

With all that in store how can you call yourself a sports fan and not pay homage to one of the greatest teams on Earth on their home turf?

You can visit the fantastic city of Barcelona, if you want to have wonderful football vacation in Europe. The fabulous capital of Catalonia certainly is one of the top venues to enjoy football in Europe. Located on the mouths of Llobregat & Besòs Rivers on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona surely is a perfect destination for football.

Football is the first passion for the Catalan People. Probably that was the reason that FIFA chose Barcelona as venue for several matches of the 1982 Football World Cup. The magnificent city is widely known for FC Barcelona or Futbol Club Barcelona, which is one of the major sports clubs of Europe.

The Club is best known for its Football team, but the club also has teams for rugby, wheelchair basketball, ice hockey, athletics, baseball, cycling, field hockey, figure skating, and volleyball. Some of the Club’s other known teams include FC Barcelona B (Football), FC Barcelona Women’s Football, FCB Rugby, FC Barcelona-Institut Guttman, AXA FC Barcelona (Basketball), FC Barcelona Handball, FC Barcelona Futsal, and FC Barcelona Sorli Discau (Rink Hockey).

Founded by Joan Gamper with the support of a group of Swiss, English, and Catalan men in 1899, the Club is popularly known as Barca. The club has progressed brilliantly to virtually become the major sports institution of Catalonia. The Club’s motto is “Més que un club,” that literally means ‘More than a club’.

In 1928, the Club teamed up with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao to set up La Liga, and it became the first La Liga champion. The club has shown brilliant progress in Football, and has a great contribution to the Spanish and the European Football. The club has 18 La Liga, 24 Copa del Rey, 7 Supercopa de España, 32 Joan Gamper Trophy, 2 UEFA Champions League, 4 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and 2 European Super Cup titles under its name to date.

The Club’s football squad has one of the world’s finest football players. Its football squad in 2007 included Víctor Valdés (vice-captain), Gabriel Milito, Rafael Márquez, Carles Puyol (captain), Xavi Hernández (vice-captain), Eiður Guðjohnsen, Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho (vice-captain), Gianluca Zambrotta, Thierry Henry, Edmílson, Sylvinho, Giovani dos Santos, Santiago Ezquerro, Lionel Messi, Deco, Lilian Thuram, Éric Abidal, Oleguer Presas, Yaya Touré, Albert Jorquera, Marc Crosas, Bojan Krki, and Oier Olazábal.

The Club’s home ground is Camp Nou Stadium, which is officially known as Estadi del FC Barcelona. The stadium has the capacity of 98,772, which makes it one of the biggest stadiums in the Europe. The club has marvelous fan following. It has fans all over the world. Its fans are called culers or culés “oder boixis nois”.

Having sponsorship deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, TV3, Audi, Telefonica, Estrella Damm, La Caixa, bwin, and MediaPro, FC Barcelona is one of the leading sports clubs in the world. It became the 2nd wealthiest sports club in the world during the 2006-07 season, having estimated revenue of €290.1 million.

It is said that thousands of years ago, South American Indians already kicked an elasticized ball for fun. They used things such as heads, skulls, stitched up cloth and pig or cow bladders. The Chinese played “tsu chu” where animal skin balls were dribbled through gaps in a net stretched between two poles. The actual soccer ball only came after a few thousand years. Ancient Egyptian rites are said to have similarities with soccer, and both the ancient Greeks and Romans also played a game that entailed carrying and kicking a ball.

The more irregular the bladders used as balls were, the more unpredictable was its behavior. After Charles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber, he designed the first rubber soccer ball (football). It was only in the twentieth century that rubber bladders were began to be used in most balls. In 1862 Lindon developed one of the first rubber bladders for balls, probably inspired because of the ill effects of blowing animal bladders, after his wife died of lung disease.

The soccer ball is an air filled sphere with a circumference of 68-70 cm, weight 210-250 g, covered in leather or other suitable material. Most of the modern balls are stitched with 32 panels of water proof leather or plastic and the colors are usually black and white. Over the years balls have become lighter. Older Balls were usually stitched with 18 oblong leather panels. The problem is that these balls were very heavy. Though in the last world cup in 2006 the ball is stitched with 14 panels and the color isn’t the usual black and white. By reducing the amount of panels used the more accurate a shot with that ball will be, because with the fewer the amount of panels the more perfect the circumference becomes.

The black and white colors on the soccer ball were defined so that it could be seen better on monochrome televisions, but in cases like playing in the snow the soccer balls have different colors such as yellow or orange. The soccer ball used in the World Cup 2006 final is golden with white and black details. Some soccer ball brands are developing new technologies such as using foam as part of the composition of the ball or even having rings so that goalkeepers can determine the spin of the ball.

Nowadays there are many brands that make soccer balls, amongst which are the famous ones such as Adidas, Nike, Mitre, etc. About 80% of the association soccer balls are made in Pakistan, and 75% of these are made in the city of Sialkot.

As soccer is the most popular sport in the world you can find a soccer ball almost in every place on the planet. It doesn’t matter if it’s called football, soccer, fussball, futebol or fútbol, one will always find some soccer ball being kicked around, even in countries were the sport isn’t as popular as in Brazil, Argentina, England, or Germany. Soccer balls are even used in peace campaigns, with special games as on with team with players from Palestine and Israel, playing side by side in a same team united by the same soccer ball.

Association Football — Not!

Association Football (soccer) is not among our favorite sports. It pits enormously talented, superbly trained, embarrassingly rich super-athletes against one another for a full 90-minutes, in an acrobatic struggle of titans — which routinely ends in a tie/draw. (That makes us weak in the knees just to think about it.) And when you throw in the extra added detraction of football hooliganism, well, we can get downright negative about the game of Association Football at the drop of a hat.

But if you come to Turkey you’ll find that we’re in a distinct minority — especially in a World Cup Football year. Because all of the male population (and an unusually large portion of the female population) is wildly enthusiastic about the game.

While every town of more than 10,000 fans has its own team of local football (futbol in Turkish) heroes, it doesn’t stop there. Not by a long chip shot.

Because no matter which team a Turk supports locally, he/she must also pick and be fanatically loyal to one of three Istanbul Teams.

The one with the largest following is probably Fenerbahçe (also known as Sarı Kenarya, Yellow Canary) — and not surprisingly it’s among the top 15 richest football clubs in the world.

Next comes Galatasaray (aka Cim Bom Bom… don’t ask, we have no idea) — which is usually the country’s sentimental favorite team. If we had to choose, we’d root for Galatasaray. The reason has something to do with their fans…who seem a kinder, gentler group of football crazies than the other ones.

Bringing up the rear among the Istanbul teams is Beşiktaş (aka Kara Kartal, Black Eagles). Their fans are some of the most loyal you’ll find anywhere. Our friend Taşkın is in his 40′s but he regularly drives to İstanbul from the mid-Aegean region (an 8-10 hour drive) just to see his team play.

Trabzonspor, a perennial Black Sea football powerhouse, is also very popular — though not to the same degree as the aforementioned three teams. Trabzonspor is also known as Bordo Mavi because that’s what their team-uniform colors are — Claret-Red and Blue…

So be prepared to hear and see a lot about Association Football (soccer) in Turkey when you come. And once you’ve got the lay of the Turkish football land, you’ll want to choose your own Istanbul (or Black Sea) football-team favorite — and (at least) watch football games on TV with your new Turkish friends. Or risk being treated to a sort of kindly neglect — whenever it’s Game On on Game Day!

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In Mexico, soccer started developing in different regions of the country, with the first form of an organized championship being the Primera Fuerza, which was a local league consisting of various teams around the Federal District area. Players were semi-professional during this time, in a time where Europe had already promoted soccer professionalism.

With FIFA gaining strength as an international soccer governing organization, Mexico decided to organize a national soccer organization of their own in 1927, called the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion (FMFA), who became a member of FIFA in 1929, just in time to participate to the first World Cup with the newly formed Mexican National Soccer Team.

Although participating in the first World Cup, the Mexico soccer team wasn’t considered a soccer power at that time, which was confirmed by their lack of results in World Cup qualifications until 1950. Although the team was now a constant presence at the World Cup, they had difficult times competing against the more powerful European and South American nations and only won 1 match in 5 tournaments, against Czechoslovakia in 1962.

But in 1970, in an effort to promote soccer nationwide and seeing the economical importance of hosting a World Cup, Mexico managed to get hold of the rights to organize their first World Cup in history. The Mexico soccer team managed to reach the quarter-finals on this occasion, which is still their biggest international performance to date.

However, they would equal this performance 16 years and 4 World Cups later, again on home ground, as they would organize the 1986 World Cup, considered by many as the most entertaining in the history of soccer.

Nowadays, reaching the quarter finals of a World Cup is considered harder than it was in the 70s or 80s and although Mexican soccer progressed substantially, they’re still suffering in major competitions when facing soccer giants from Europe or South America. However, the future is looking a lot brighter for Mexican soccer in general and for the Mexico national soccer team.

Club soccer in the country is now deemed as one of the richest in the Americas and some powerful clubs take part in the Copa Libertadores, a competition that was normally allowed only for South American clubs.

Several top quality players have moved from the Mexican league towards more powerful ones, the clearest examples being Rafael Marquez and Giovani Dos Santos, who were bought by Spanish side FC Barcelona and are both important members of the squad.

With these two players in the team, as well as several other emerging talents playing in the national league, the Mexico national soccer squad looks tougher than ever and ready to beat their quarter-final best finish in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, 2010.

There had to be a rock, bone or stick throwing contest near a cave that sparked the foray into Sports and sports rules for Ancient Man. And men have been working on how they can be Alpha Males in some physical, mental or combined discipline ever since.

Sports and games usually have one goal — to declare a winner and to let participants defend their title. Regardless of whether it involves individual or team competition, a winner must be eventually declared. Even in the world’s most popular ball sport, where ties are quite common, soccer/futbol ultimately crowns a winner — even if it requires such a barbaric showdown called the ‘shootout’.

So, what sports are Manly and which ones are way in the opposite direction? When considering the entire spectrum of the sports world, Tiddlywinks and Pigeon Racing have to rank high on the Wimpy Scale. For some reason, the thought of Team Gatorade high five-ing over successfully defending their World Pigeon Racing Championship just doesn’t get my heart rate up. However, watching a Real Dude doing something super-physical like sky surfing, moto-cross racing or wingsuit flying gets the blood pumping of most Manly Men in (literally) a heart beat.

So as part of the extensive scientific research for this Manly Musing, I decided to ask my 13 year-old son which sports he thought were Manly and which ones weren’t. We agreed on Rugby, Football and Boxing pretty much right away. Then the Man-Boy asked, “How about cheer leading dad?” At this point, I took the opportunity to remind him of some of the basic Manly principles — Real Men are attracted to women and Real Men usually like doing stuff that gets them sweaty which can result in staying in shape. And then I let him answer his own question. You guessed it, he concluded that guys cheer leading qualified as Manly — and on many dimensions.

This precious moment of Mentoring in the Man Cave almost brought a tear to my eye, but I quickly shook off that UnManly emotional response. Instead, I complimented him on his wise reasoning and gave him a high five.

By all accounts, helping my son hone his Manly instincts and determine the Manliness of cheerleading on his own was a modern result of real reasoning by a Real Man. And it was certainly better than calling him a Neanderthal and smacking him upside the head with a rock, bone or stick.

Hey — I think I have another ManSport idea…

The Honduras soccer team or the Honduras National Football Team that goes by the moniker Los Catrachos is the nation’s official soccer team. The team is under the management of Federacion Nacional Autonoma de Futbol de Honduras. They were emerging with power in the CONCACAF since there third place wrap up in the Copa Americana in 2001. Their participation in the said cup can be considered an untimely one because they just only replaced Argentina when the latter backed out of the league a day before the kick off.

Honduras was able to qualify only once for the World Cup, that was in 1982. The team had managed to get a draw against two opponents, the host Spain and another with Northern Ireland, a record not bad for the first timer in the most prestigious cup. They were able to put themselves into the second place for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991, their best record so far in the said league. It seems that the Honduran boys had mastered the ins and outs of the UNCAF Nations Cup for they won in that competition twice, first in 1993 and the next was in 1995.

Thirteen years before finally qualifying for the World Cup in 1982, the Honduran national team has had a qualifying match that started the Football War against El Salvador. That instance provoked all out riots between fans of both teams. The Salvadoran army instigated an offensive attack against Honduras that only ended six days after a cease fire was put into action.

The Honduras soccer team participation in the 2001 Copa Americana can be considered a sort of luck because of an opening left by Argentina when they decided to drop out of the competition one day before the start of the league. After accepting the invitation, they managed to arrive a little late for the opening and just hardly a few hours more before their first match is due. Regardless of these inequities, the Honduran boys still managed to progress up to the quarter-final round defeating Brazil during that match, much to the Brazilians demise.

While tickets are made available to the general public just 2 weeks before a match, the way that Futbol Club Barcelona distributes them means that the seats left by this stage are among the worst in the stadium.

There are 98,000 seats in the stadium and 140,000+ members of the club, which means that club members have usually cherry picked the best seats long before they are made available for general sale.

If you’re travelling to Barcelona for a weekend when they play at home – and who wouldn’t want to ensure that? – you can make sure of getting tickets by reserving in advance from an official ticket agent for FC Barcelona. Although they are expensive they are guaranteed tickets for every match and this is likely to be your only option for matches such as Barcelona v Real Madrid.

If you wait until arriving in Barcelona you do have the option of the ticket touts. They congregate around the entrance to the ticket offices a few days before matches and there prices also tend to be high, but if you wait until match night you may find people with extra tickets wanting to sell them for face value.

If you really don’t mind what tickets you receive then you have a few options. The first is to simply go to the FC ticket office, either during the day or an hour before the match. Queues tend to be long, so do make sure you have enough time. You can also buy tickets for the club from the tourist offices locate on the Ramblas.

Your final option is to buy tickets from the cash machines of La Caixa. Not all their machines sell tickets, but if you look for the ones marked ServiCaixa you can select tickets and they’ll be printed out for you instantly. There is a small booking fee and you don’t have a good choice, but at least this option is easy.

The best advice for good seats is to book in advance. Although you pay over the odds, it is worth it for the convenience it brings.

Futsal is an indoor version of regular football. Its name is derived from the Spanish or Portuguese word Futbol or Futebol, and the French or Spanish word Salon or Sala, which can be translated as indoor football.

It is played between two teams of five players, one of whom is the goalkeeper, also with a smaller and heavier ball than regular football, so the emphasis is more on improvisation, creativity and technique.

Some professional players , especially Brazilian players such as Ronaldinho, Robinho, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Pato and many more, started out playing Futsal to build their fundamental skills. The legendary Pele, Zico, Socrates, Bebeto and other Brazilian superstars developed their skill playing Futsal.

The skill and technique developed in this game is visible in the Brazilians display outdoors on the regular football field. In Brazil, the majority of children start out with futsal rather than traditional football because it requires less space and many schools in Brazil do not have a field to play traditional football.

The first Futsal World Championship was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1982, with Brazil finishing in first place. They retained the trophy at the second World Championship in 1985 in Spain, but lost on the third World Championship in 1988 in Australia to Paraguay.

Then FIFA took over direct sponsorship of the event in 1989 in Holland and 1992 in Hong Kong, which Brazil won both times.

The Third FIFA World Championship was held in 1996 in Spain and for the first time FIFA names it the FIFA Futsal World Championship The fourth FIFA Futsal World Championship was held in 2000 at Guatemala, and the fifth Futsal World Championship was held in Taipei in 2004.

Futsal fever is currently exploding around the world but it owes a great deal of success. It has always been big in South America and has swept across Europe in recent years. Now it has been Futsal everywhere in the streets and playgrounds of South America where the game was first created.