Tag: David Beckham

Learning how to become a better soccer player is fun, but there is so much to know! However, the best thing to do is to continue to learn as you go, and remember that practice makes perfect. This article will help you with some great advice for taking your game up a notch.

Avoid assuming that you are no longer in play after passing the ball. Follow the teammate you passed to, and attempt to put yourself in a position to help. If your teammate is a good player, he will know when to pass the ball back to you if he gets into trouble.

To make the transition from receiving the ball to directing it more fluid, don’t trap or stop the ball completely. Instead, as the ball approaches, aim to make contact with the top or middle of the ball then tap it in the direction you want it to go and continue to maneuver down the field.

It is against the rules to use any part of your hands or arms, from shoulder to fingertips, to control a soccer ball that is in play. You can use your feet, knees, thighs, stomach, chest and head. Be careful though. A head shot can hurt and you cannot control the ball well with your knees.

The Outside Elastico is a simple beginner move. This strategy can assist you in cutting inside quickly whenever defenders are approaching you. To practice, start by grabbing a cone, bag, or shoe and then placing it on the ground. Your starting position should be about five paces behind the marker. Start dribbling to it. As you get closer to the cone, tap the ball outside then tap it in quick motion back to the inner part. Outside touching is the move that fools opponents. Know that you need to make the second touch larger than the one you did first.

Don’t be the soccer mom who makes all the other parents cringe and all of your child’s teammates ridicule him or her at school. Support the decisions of the referee and do not shout instructions from the sidelines or run out onto the playing field to consult with the ref or instruct your child.

All the practice drills in the world won’t help your game if you lack the physical endurance to play the entire match. Develop a jogging or cardio program that will allow you to build your stamina. You will find it easier to execute on the field when you aren’t exhausted.

Use your whole foot when playing. When you’re dribbling fast, you will most likely be using the front and instep of your foot. In order to get better, you have to know how to use each side of both of your feet. No matter what direction defensive pressure is on, this techniques serves to cut your ball away from it.

Well, do you feel like you could become the next David Beckham? Take things one step at a time by utilizing the advice that has been given to you. Surely, you will fare just fine if you put the time and effort into your sport. It’s a fun, fun game to play!

The author is a New York City soccer fanatic who enjoys writing on soccer topics and giving advice on soccer goalies.

An England World Cup preparation wouldnt be complete without one of its star players suffering from a metatarsal fracture, only weeks before the start of the tournament! David Beckham was the first victim of the much dreaded injury in 2002, and in 2006, Wayne Rooney topped most of the newspapers with the same injury. This time, it was John Terrys turn, or so we feared.

Thankfully things werent as bad as they originally seemed, and John Terry will still be present in South Africa, leading Englands defence.

So what exactly is a broken metatarsal and why do we seem to hear so much about it these days more than we ever have done in the past?

Before we identify why, lets take a closer look at the metatarsal bones first.

The bones between the ankle and the toes are called the metatarsal bones. The first metatarsal is located on the inside of the foot, and connects the ankle with the big toe, whereas the fifth metatarsal bone is located on the outside of the foot and connects the ankle with the little toe.

The two main functions of the feet are to propel and to support. The metatarsals play a major role in these two functions. By acting like a rigid lever to aid propulsion, they manage to increase our efficiency whilst walking or running. Additionally, they act like a flexible structure to aid and support balance to cope with uneven ground.

The second, third and fourth and fifth metatarsal bones are usually injured as a result of a prolonged period of overuse, creating something we call a stress fracture. A stress fracture is an incomplete fracture in the bone. It could be described as a very small sliver or crack in the bone. These types of fractures are also known as hairline fractures. These kinds of fractures are common with athletes, soldiers, and ballet dancers.

Another common cause for metatarsal fractures is direct trauma i.e. a direct kick to the sole of the opponents boot. This typically affects the first metatarsal bone.

One of the reason why the foot is so susceptible to fractures is that is very few muscles and fat protecting the foot from any impact.

The initial therapy with a broken metatarsal bone is to rest it, absolutely no exercise for 4 to 8 weeks. The recovery time of the injury is determined by the extent of the damage and which of the five metatarsal bones is affected.
Walking boots or shoes with very stiff soles may be advised for the player to wear in order to protect the fracture while it heals. If the fracture was caused by overuse and not by direct trauma, the athletes training habits, equipment and running technique should all be investigated and possibly adapted.

Putting a time scale on the recovery of a stress fracture is very difficult as the following examples of recovery times show. Michael Owen, broke his fifth metatarsal in 2006, was predicted to return in 6 to 8 weeks, but finally made his return 17 weeks later. Steven Gerrard broke his fifth metatarsal in 2004, again was predicted to return to football 6 to 8 weeks later, but eventually returned after 10 weeks. David Beckham broke his second metatarsal in 2002, was predicted to return 6 weeks later, and stepped back on the pitch after 7. David Nugent broke his fifth metatarsal in 2006, and returned 6 weeks later. He claims that his speedy recovery all came down to drinking lots of milk!

Dr Mark S. Myerson, M.D. a renowned expert in foot and ankle reconstruction at the Mercy Medical centre in Baltimore, Maryland, United States thinks that one the reasons for these fractures in Football players is the fact that many football players are bowed legged and have a chronically unstable or loose ankles. This puts an abnormal amount of strain on especially the fifth metatarsal, increasing the chance of a stress fracture.

Other suggestions explaining why we tend to see more metatarsal fractures these days than we have in the past included: an increase in the number of games played at the top level, an increase in training intensity, or even the training that a lot of teams do on artificial surfaces, which has a higher impact on the body.

Additionally, the pitches seem to be a bit harder these days than what they used to be due to their drainage. Grass pitches are often sand-based to improve drainage. The watering of these pitches increases their speed, but does not improve their hardness.

Players themselves are fitter, faster and stronger than they used to be. Again, this increases the forces that feet have to deal with.
Finally, some specialists argue that todays boots are lighter and less supportive and protective than they were in the past.

The coming of David Beckham at the Los Angeles Galaxy team a couple of years previously may not have provided much success in favor of the club itself, however it has undoubtedly raised the profile of the “beautiful game” in the United States.

Beckham and Victoria brought together the VIP celebrity society and the superior echelons of the soccer world in a mode that had by no means been seen beforehand in The United States. Before his appearance (in truth even at the present), the leading American soccer players might only daydream of making a small percentage of the sky-high numbers bandied about when Beckham’s overall salary are mentioned
But still, he seems to have had the desired influence of raising the sport at grassroots level, as well as in the star world. This was emphasised by the gigantic crowds on show when Chelsea, AC Milan and Inter Milan appeared in the States for a pre-season tournament. Every game was played in front of a sell-out crowd. I seem to recall over 100,000 being at one match concerning Chelsea, dwarfing the figures seen at pre-season games even in England.

The upsurge in the fame of “soccer” has also seen a rise in the blogs and fan-sites appearing in the States, and a few have caught my eye of late as they seem to have a entirely unlike manner of looking at football than the English population. Perhaps we should modify it to “soccer” also, it might change our attitudes!

I especially love the weirdly named Amongthethugs (a testimonial to a tome by American author Bill Bruford about British hooligans from the nineties i suppose, even if it is not spoken of on the site). This is a site set up by six West Coast football supporters, who between them support five diverse English clubs, plus they retain a pleasingly comical stance on the footballing landscape in Britain. No-one is protected from their jibes and i observe myself habitually checking back to establish who their jokes are aimed at next.

They have only just asked why Carlo Ancelotti would deliberately throw a contest against Wigan which i found quite amusing, and they projected a new eye protection for Van Persie to show off when he subsequently faces Adebayor.
A further one that tickled me is the resemblance of Carlos Tevez to a Caveman! You have to see them to get the jokes, so go over and have a peep. You will not be dissatisfied. The good-natured ribbing of the clubs supported by the other bloggers is something you definitely don’t get in angry old England! If you are into soccer and like a bit of fun, test it out, you won’t be disappointed with AmongTheThugs.

So you can see that the “David Beckham effect” has had a much further reaching impact on the American football scene than any person had expected. Though he may have been making obscenely astronomical salary, he has had the desired outcome of tempting more and more “soccer” fans to matches than has ever been seen previously.

And the American view of “soccer” is perhaps something that I would like to see exported to Britain, as the fans here just seem to take everything much too seriously!

Soccer has reached the highest popularity ever since the buzzing vuvuzela faded in last July 2010. From poster boys to veterans, world-class soccer players gathered on the African soil for the first time. They performance were inspiring many people, especially the youngsters to learn some soccer tricks.

Soccer is played with the objective to score a goal. The formation is originally 4-4-2. One goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers. The trick is four defenders must develop their skill to set an offside trap. In the past tense, Arsenal had four solid defenders to cause the opponent striker got offside. They were Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, and Lee Dixon.

But recently there is a progress in soccer trick, when two defenders are running on right and left wings make some overlaps and switch with the midfielders to supply the ball for the forward (striker). Overlapping needs a high skill. And the player should be a fast sprinter. This way could deliver a goal from defender himself. Roberto Carlos, Ashley Cole, and Glenn Johnson are very good defender to perform this overlapping.

In soccer, goal could be delivered by a corner kick. Here is the trick, if you have a left handed player, put him ask executor at the left corner. In 1998 World Cup Final between the host France and Brazil, Emmanuel Petit took a perfect left corner, and Zinedine Zidane jumped at the ball and put it on the net. That was the first goal for France. The second came from the right corner-which also from Zidane-and the third goal was taken open-play by Emmanuel Petit in his solo-run. The score was 3-0 for France.

Free kick is another opportunity to create a goal. David Beckham, Luis Figo, Wesley Sneijder are perfect players for this. Make a goal in dead ball situations (corner, penalty, and free kicks) are easier than in open play. If your opponent control ball possession, your team still can deliver a goal from counter attack. This is frequently happened in matches between top team and underdog.

At the match when every effort failed to deliver a goal, every player should become an opportunist finding a niche to kick the ball to the net. For example is in the match between United Stated versus Algeria in 2010 World Cup, a late goal at the stoppage time from Landon Donovan that took the opportunity from Clint Dempsey who fell out to put the ball to the net.

Some coaches like to change his team formation from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 or 4-3-2-1 or 3-4-3. Using three strikers is potentially to create more goals but it is also push the goal keeper and the defenders work very hard to keep the net clean sheet.

Soccer needs good cooperation. The good coach must orchestrate the most perfect players for their position. There are also some dirty tricks. Diving (pretending fall out) especially in a penalty box at some case could make the referee give you a penalty. But it is risky, because if you are a bad actor, the referee could give you yellow or even red card. Another dirty trick is to provoke the opponent player so that caused a yellow or red card.