We love the Whitecaps sha la la la la la la la!

By Santiago Endara

The first season of the Whitecaps in the MLS is going like, pardon my French but: like Scheiße. The team is last in the standings, the victories at home are sparse, we beg the referee to please blow the whistle before they tie us, and as visitors our record is so bad that we already lost track of it.

Fortunately, the Whitecaps have a group of fans that rain or shine go to the stadium carrying more equipment than a Pink Floyd roadie in the late 80's.  Yes sir, in a Football afternoon, close to the stadium you will see a line of devoted guys carrying big drums, flags, banners, small drums, güiros, trumpets and many other fine articles to the section 222 of the Empire Stadium. That is the section of “La 12 Vancouver”

Of course, life is not easy for the guys of La 12; after a long journey and one or two casualties in the road, they finally arrive with all their Football paraphernalia to the gates of the stadium where the guards start looking with suspicion and scorn because, they have heard, they will be doing something almost unthinkable in a North American Stadium: Cheer.

Inside the stadium, the guys from La 12 start their chanting “like in the great stadiums of South America” with the only difference that the “Barra” is formed just by 10 to 15 strong that, as they have no visitor fans opposing them, then they have to deal with the insults and heckling of oue own legendary State of the Art Vancouver “fans” and their constant “Hey man, can you please keep it quiet!  I’m trying to eat a Hot Dog here!”  “Maaan! Don’t these guys know that we have to wait for "Spike" to give us the signal!” Geeez! 

Sad?  Depressing?  Maybe you, dear reader, will think that the life and vicissitudes of the suffered members of La 12 is just a string of bad things happening to good people, like in “The Godfather”, but believe it or not there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this good guys! 

Yes indeed, because out of 100 “fans” that go to order some food at the stadium and slip in their own puddle of beer, there is that 1% that is getting the songs and learning to cheer like fans should in a Football stadium. Yes, because at the end of the game, Eric Hassli comes and say thank you for the support and sorry for missing 5 goals in front of the empty net, but next time I will score a great goal in Seattle!   

And yes, because after repeating and repeating the song “Come on Vancouver” for the 100^th time, some other fans start to join in.  Their faces still look like “Am I being too ridiculous or what?” but they are joining in, anyway, and that is when the people from La 12 Vancouver can wipe their foreheads, drink a mouthful of water and say “Well… we are doing something positive for the Beautiful Game in this Beautiful Country, and that's enough to keep us going!" 

Women also have their World Football Party!

By Christian Basantes

I grew up in Ecuador, a country where Soccer or Football is the most popular sport. I always heard and knew that Soccer was meant to be for Men, and that's it! I'm sure some women that may be reading this, may think bad about me. However, please don't get me wrong. Throught the years I watched Soccer, I started to see that Women, specially from USA and Canada, play this sport, they love it and they are great players over there. That was a pleasant surprise!

FIFA, as usual, loves to expand the business, loves to bring soccer to all nations and to all people. That's why, they decided that Women should have their World Cup tournament. In 1991, the 1st FIFA Women's World Cup got celebrated in China. A new era for the Beautiful Game had started! 

Since then, every four years, Soccer Women have their party. In short, here we have the Winners for this tournament.

• China 1991: USA
• Sweden 1995: Norway
• USA 1999: USA
• USA 2007: Germany
• China 2007: Germany
• Germany 2011: ?

As you can see, only 3 countries have claimed World victory. Who is going to be crowned in Germany 2011?. Well, I really hope Canada. I know that Canada has a decent team for Women's Soccer, and they always participate in this championship. Also, as a matter of fact, my country Ecuador is not good enough to qualify to this tournament, so we are not good. For that reason, I better cheer for Canada, my adopted country!

The party in Germany has started, let's hope for good games and great victories!

FIFA World Cup U-17, where the Stars of the Future begin their road!

By Christian Basantes

 

Hello my fellow soccer fans, one more time here to greet you and talk more about our passion, the beautiful game, Football! This time, I'm here to talk about one of my favorite soccer tournaments, the FIFA World Cup, but the U-17! where the stars of the future show their talent and world class!.

It was in 1982, when FIFA president, Joao Havelange, had the idea to create a tournament for teen football players. The success of the U-20 World Cup was the beginning of this U-17 World tournament, and in 1985, China hosted the first World Cup with 16 National Teams. Later in 2007, at the tournament played in Korea Republic, the competition expanded to 24 National Teams. Since 1985, every two years, the competition takes place, and we’ve seen great young players that later became great stars.

Who are the best teams in this competition? Well, Brazil and Nigeria have the record of 3 world titles. Those are the most successful teams. In the major competitions, we normally see teams like Argentina, Germany, Italy as the ones that get the final victory. However, in this one, the unusual thing happens. Teams like Ghana, France, México, and Switzerland have tasted World victory. In short, this is the list of U-17 World Champions in the history:

As you may notice, 13 editions of this World Cup have been played so far. It is not a surprise to see African teams like Nigeria and Ghana winning these competitions. The same I’d say for Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. The only question that comes to my mind is What happen later to these teams? Why they don’t have the same success in a major tournament? Well, that’s another discussion; however, their country names are in the world soccer history.

Tomorrow, a new history will start. The 14^th edition of the U-17 World Cup is this summer. From June 18^th to July 10^th, 24 National Teams will be playing in 7 cities of Mexico in order to find the new U-17 World Champion. On May 17^th, in the draw celebrated in Mexico City, the groups were conformed and here they are:

So, what is the most difficult group? Or better say, what is the famous “group of death”? Well, these times, there is not easy opponent; I think all the groups are complicated. Whoever wants to be the Champion, will have to fight in every minute of every single game. No matter, who wins at the end, I really hope it is the team that really deserve it.

I'm sure that now, you are wondering who is going to be the new U-17 World Champion. Well, in order to figure out this mystery, let's follow the games, and of course, let's cheer and support our teams. In my case, Go Ecuador!!!

Tomorrow, at 1 pm, in the city of Morelia, the hosts Mexico will play North Korea, and the party will start!!

Thanks for the opportunity and enjoy the beautiful game!!

Christian Basantes

PS. Wondering about the Game schedule? Please go to http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/index.html

The UEFA Champions League, a brief history of a great Football tournament!!

By Christian Basantes

With the final whistle of the Hungarian referee Victor Kassai, the 56^th edition of the UEFA Champions League came to an end and FC Barcelona was proclaimed as the new King of Europe.

On Saturday May 28th, Manchester United of England and FC Barcelona of Spain faced each other to define the new European Champion. After a great performance, the “catalanes” beat United by 3-1. The Spaniard Pedro at 27^th, the sensational Argentinean and FIFA World Player, Lionel Messi at 54^th, and Team Spain top scorer, David Villa at 69^th got the goals for the “Blau Granas”. The English Wayne Rooney scored for the “Red Devils” to save some honour in the final. It was simply an amazing and perfect performance by FC Barcelona, and now they have four European Championships in their history.

I’m very sure that many of you, my dear readers, are saying “well I’ve already know that” “I did watch the game last Saturday”, or “that’s the same thing I read on the media and the papers about that game”. All right, you’re all right. Well, I’m not here to just tell you about the last UEFA Champion’s League Final. I’m here to tell you a brief history of this great Football tournament.

As everything, the UEFA Champions League has its beginning. In 1955, a French sports journalist, Gabriel Hanot, had the idea of creating a club tournament in Europe. He received reports from its colleagues in South America. The "Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes" known today as "Copa Libertadores de América" was having a great success since 1948. Hanot went with the idea to UEFA, and they loved it. The tournament was born as a competition for winners of the European National Leagues, it was named European Champion Club's cup, also known as, European Cup.

                             

Thorough the history, the tournament have suffered many changes. For instance, before 1992 only National League Champions plus the European Cup holder used to participate. Later, as Europe suffered different political and geographical changes, more teams were allowed to be in the competition. Countries like Spain, England, Germany, Italy, and France are allowed to send its top 4 teams. On the other side, the rest of countries get to send just their top 2. The group stage was introduced in the 1992-93 season, and the name changed to its current one, UEFA Champions League. In total, 32 teams, divided in 8 groups of 4 teams, play in the competition at the group stage. Then, the top 2 of each group go to the round of 16^th, then the quarterfinals with 8 teams, then semifinals with the European top 4, and finally the best 2 teams of Europe play for the Championship in a previously designated city and stadium. This last edition the final was played in the legendary Stadium of Wembley in London, England. The League runs from August through May of the next year.

As every exciting football tournament, the Champions League has seen great teams and players reaching the glory. Real Madrid CF was the winner in the first five editions of the tournament. This is the wonderful generation of Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Alfredo D'Estefano (Argentina), Jose Santamaria (Uruguay), Paco Gento, and Roque Olsen both from Spain. They were the kings of Europe from 1955 to 1960, a record that today is still unbeatable and hard to reach. In total, this team accumulates nine titles in the tournament. Yes, it is the most awarded team in Europe. In addition to the players I mentioned, Real Madrid has won the title with players like Raul Gonzalez (Spain), who is the top historic scorer with 71 goals. Luis Figo (Portugal), Zinedine Zidane (France), Roberto Carlos (Brazil), Fernando Redondo (Argentina), Steve McMannaman (England) and many more.

However, this is not only about Madrid, we can't forget other great teams like Ajax from The Netherlands with Johan Cruff, the powerful AC Milan with a glorious generation of the Italians Paolo Maldini and Franco Baressi, and the Dutch Rudd Gullit, Marco Van Basten, and Frank Rijkard. The FC Barcelona, now current European Champions, with its "Dream Team" from 1992 with players like Ronald Koeman (The Netherlands), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Jose Mari Baquero and Julio Salinas (Spain). Manchester United with talents like George Best and Bobby Charlton from England. And Benfica from Portugal with the talented Portuguese Eusebio, and more, more, more, and more that I would need a lot of time and a lot of pages to tell you.

However, let's make it simple, here I have the list of European Champions. These are the best teams of Europe. As an extra research I did, you will see per every year, the name of the MVP, who helped his team in reaching the European Glory. Here we go!

Please click on the table to have  abetter view.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League; and http://www.uefa.com/

As you can see, plenty of clubs and also plenty of Football stars, sorry, football stars that amazed Europe and the World. What is your favorite? Tricky question because some players may not be familiar for you, but in my personal case, I choose Zidane. I still can’t forget the amazing goal he scored on May 15, 2002 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, during the final against Bayern Leverkussen (Germany). Zidane’s goal gave the lead to Real Madrid 2-1 in the final, and consequently, it gave the ninth UEFA Champions League to the Spaniard Team. Yes, that was the last one for the “Blancos”.

What about the finals? In this topic, English club fans can be really proud, and if I were fan of Manchester United or Liverpool FC, I would be too.

In 1999, in the final played at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, the “Red Devils” of Manchester United (England) beat Bayern Munich (Germany) in the last 2 minutes of injury time! The Germans took the lead at the 6^th minute with a goal from Mario Basler. The score was 1-0 during the whole game. However at the 91^st minute, the English Teddy Sheringham tied the game, 1-1. Finally, at the 93^rd, the Norwegian Ole Solskjaer changed the history, 2-1, and United got the championship. What a shocking ending!!

In 2005, another impressive thing happened. Liverpool faced AC Milan at the Atartuk Stadium of Istanbul in Turkey. The Italian Paolo Maldini, and the Argentinean Hernan Crespo scored for Milan at 1^st, 39^th and 44^th minutes respectively to give them a comfortable lead of 3-0. I’m sure in that moment, they thought “well, it is 3-0, let’s relax”. However, Liverpool players didn’t give up, and the English Steven Gerrard at 54^th, the Czech Vladimir Smicer at 56^th, and the Spaniard Xabi Alonso at 60^th scored to tie the game 3-3! The comfortable lead became an uncomfortable draw in 6 minutes!! The game went to extra time, where no goals came, and in the penalty shoots, the nightmare for AC Milan happened! Liverpool won 3-2 and the Champions League went to The Beatles home city. Simply Amazing!!

In conclusion, England can be proud that their teams never give up. However, let’s not be unfair. I’m sure that Spain is proud with Real Madrid, the most awarded European team, and with FC Barcelona, the current Champion, and the one that is playing the best football in the world right now. Germany also enjoyed wonderful journeys with the famous Bayern Munich. Italy, can’t complain with the success of AC Milan, Juventus, and Inter.

Anyway, there are more stories to tell. I would need more time and pages to write about it. However, I’m sure that with these few episodes I told you briefly, you will agree with me that the UEFA Champions League is one of the greatest football tournaments in the world.

Until next time!!

Christian Basantes

Ronaldo Tegaskan Komitmen di Madrid

Ronaldo Tegaskan Komitmen di Madrid

Pemain termahal di dunia, Cristiano Ronaldo kembali menyampaikan komitmennya tetap bertahan di Real Madrid. Pemain berpaspor Portugal itu terobesesi untuk memberikan raihan spesial yang belum pernah didapatkan Madrid sampai saat ini.

Kendati hanya bisa memberikan Coppa del Rey bagi Los Galacticos di musim ini, rapor CR7 tetaplah sempurna. Ronaldo berhasil meraih sepatu emas FIFA. Lebih dari itu, bersama Madrid, Ronaldo menasbihkan diri sebagai top-skorer La Liga musim ini dengan torehan 40 gol.

Namun, isu perseteruannya dengan Jose Mourinho sempat membuatnya diterpa kabar tidak sedap. Ronaldo dikabarkan akan hengkang dari Santiago Bernabeu pada bursa transfer musim panas ini. Tapi, Ronaldo tetap menyatakan komitmennya mengembalikan kejayaan El Real baik di pentas domestik maupun La Liga.

“Saya senang di Madrid seperti yang saya inginkan. Untuk memenangkan lebih banyak titel untuk klub saya akan menatap di Madrid dan saya tidak memiliki niat untuk berpindah klub,” tegas Ronaldo seperti dikutip Goal.

Mengenai prestasi individualnya berupa produktivitasnya yang melambung tinggi, sampai saat Ronaldo belum bisa sepebuhnya percaya bisa melakukannya.

“Sehubungan dengan banyaknya gol, ini musim yang sangat spesial, tanpa keraguan. Mencetak 50 gol sangat aneh dan tidaklah mudah. Tapi saya sangat senang mengenai pencapaian itu. Tapi apapun itu, saya ingin meraih banyak gelar juara,” jelas Ronaldo.

Messi DIBOGEM Suporter

Messi DIBOGEM Suporter

Bintang Barcelona, Lionel Messi mendapatkan bogem mentah dari seorang pendukung Rosario Central ketika pulang ke kampung halamannya di Rosario, Argentina. Namun, Messi menunjukkan kesabarannya dengan tidak membalas serangan itu.

Dilaporkan Telam, bersama dua rekannya, pahlawan dalam final Liga Champions itu tengah menyantap makan siang di sebuah restoran Club de la Milanesa. Mengetahui kehadiran Messi, sekelompok anak sekolah menunggu di luar restoran untuk berfoto dengan pemain terbaik 2010 itu.

Selesai santap siang, Messi memenuhi permintaan anak-anak tersebut. Pada momen tersebut seorang pendukung Central Rosario melancarkan aksinya. “Aku pendukung Central. Kau dari Newell’s Old Boys,” teriak pendukung tersebut sambil mendaratkan pukulan ke muka Messi.

Pendukung tersebut dengan mudah melancarkan aksinya, mengingat Messi memang tanpa pengawalan personel keamanan dan hanya ditemani rekan-rekannya. Messi tidak membuat reaksi apa pun terhadap serangan itu. Diam-diam dia menarik diri dari tempat kejadian tanpa berkomentar sedikit pun.

Messi memang dikenal sebagai pendukung Newell, klub tempat ia memulai kariernya sebelum hijrah ke akademi Barcelona sebelas tahun silam.

5 Gunung Api Spektakuler yang Wajib Dikunjungi

Gunung Bromo, Indonesia

    Untuk aksi vulkanik dan pemandangan yang menakjubkan, Gunung Bromo di Jawa Timur tidak punya lawan sepadan. Gunung setinggi 2329 m di atas permukaan laut ini selalu mengeluarkan asap belerang dan kadang tertutup kabut lebat. Keindahan yang sangat layak untuk diabadikan.

     Gunung Bromo adalah gunung “termuda” dari kompleks gunung api Tengger yang luas dan berumur 820 ribu tahun. Dari Gunung Bromo, pengunjung bisa melihat puncak tertinggi di Jawa, yaitu Gunung Semeru, yang aktif mengeluarkan asap dalam jumlah besar tiap 20 menit.

     Gunung Bromo memang relatif mudah dicapai (bisa dengan 45 menit berjalan kaki atau menaiki jip dari desa terdekat, Cemoro Lawang). Tapi kondisinya tidak selalu aman. Dua turis meninggal karena terkena ledakan batu pada 2004.

Gunung Hallasan, Korea Selatan

     Gunung Hallasan, puncak tertinggi di Korea (1950 mdpl), termasuk dalam kelompok gunung api Jejudo. Ada sekitar 4 ribu jenis hewan dan 1800 tumbuhan yang menjadikan Hallasan sebagai habitat mereka. Lihat juga danau kawah Baekrokkdam di puncak. Baekrokkdam atau “Danau Seratus Rusa” yang indah mengilhami cerita rakyat tentang peri-peri yang turun dari langit untuk bermain dengan rusa putih. Banyak turis yang mengunjungi Hallasan pada musim semi untuk melihat mekarnya bunga azalea di pegunungan. Gunung ini juga cukup mudah didaki. Jalur sepanjang 10 km dapat selesai Anda jalani dalam sehari.

Gunung Aso, Jepang

      Kaldera terbesar di dunia ini (lebarnya 24 km) memiliki kuil pemujaannya sendiri. Gunung Aso adalah penanda Jepang yang paling terkenal dan penghasil uang untuk prefektur Kumamoto di Kyushu, Jepang. Atraksi utama di Gunung Aso adalah danau kawah berwarna biru muda yang beruap di Gunung Nakadake. Kereta gantung akan mengangkut turis menuju puncak gunung api, dan di sana ada kompleks yang penuh dengan kios oleh-oleh serta jajanan. Di pinggir kawah juga ada semacam trotoar yang tertata rapi. Di Aso, Anda juga akan menemukan sekumpulan tempat pemandian air panas.

Gunung Pinatubo, Filipina

        Gunung Pinatubo tidak sekadar “pulih” dari bencana ledakan besar pada 1991, tapi kini juga menjadi sumber pemasukan untuk lokasi utama olahraga ekstrem. Pada 1991, Gunung Pinatubo mengeluarkan ledakan vulkanik terbesar kedua dunia dalam 100 tahun terakhir. Ledakan itu menyebabkan suhu dunia turun 17,27 derajat Celsius dan korban tewas mencapai 800 orang. Kerugian financial ditaksir sekitar $ 250 juta.

       Dua dekade kemudian, kota-kota di sekitar Gunung Pinatubo hidup dari sektor pariwisata karena ledakan legendaris tersebut. Anda bisa melakukan pendakian ekstrem di Angeles City serta paket-paket berkendara di antara aliran lahar Pinatubo, yang bentuknya berupa kolam lumpur raksasa berisi materi vulkanis. Ada juga kegiatan terjun payung dan tur udara seharga $ 55 per orang.

Gunung Fuji, Jepang

       Tidak mungkin menulis tentang gunung api utama di Asia tanpa memasukkan Gunung Fuji dalam daftar. Gunung Fuji atau Fuji-san adalah gunung tertinggi di Jepang dan ikon nasional atas keindahan pemandangan dan ketinggiannya (3776 m). Selain menjadi tempat paling utama untuk berfoto dan memamerkannya ke teman-teman atau keluarga di rumah, Gunung Fuji adalah lokasi olahraga ekstrem bagi pencari adrenalin. 

      Setiap musim panas, sekitar 200 ribu orang mendaki gunung ini. Waktu yang mereka butuhkan antara 4-8 jam. Ada juga “sekolah” dan pusat paragliding di area parkir stasiun Gotemba kelima. Pengunjung bisa saja tidak beruntung datang ke Gunung Fuji saat berawan. Sebagai gantinya, Anda bisa mengunjungi Hakone yang permai di timur Gunung Fuji, serta Lima Danau Fuji, di utara gunung api.

This is My New Design

      Hello guys! I'm back again in blogger world. Y, you know I really miss blogging. Oke. First time, I wanna tell you about something that I just know. This application showing about how to design a clothes, background, and whatever you want. I just found this application from my friend, her name is Salsabilla Khansa. Yeah, I don't really interest about fashion, but I really like design! :D Oke, let me showing about my design. Check it out!

Photograph 

Oh yeah, this is the first time I design clothes. Totally, destroyed creation! -___-

Then,

White Stripes

The second time I design this clothes

 with theme "The Girl Who Like to Go Out at Night" 

6 People are like my creation! 

Pink Glam 

This one looks so elegant. I'd like to use this theme 

"The Girl in The Party" 

Gold Sparkles

Paris J'adore

This! Is one of my favorite looks! Love ya! <3

Shopaholic

What a cute girl! This girl, described about 

my true character. Ha! :D

Random Queen 

What the hell! This woman really looks beautiful, graceful, 

and elegant like a Queen. This is the most favorite design! 

A blend between a dress color and background really 

stunning. Moreover, when I gave a purplish effect on the designs.

 It's really a very beautiful work! Love this looks!♥♥♥ 

That's all of my design! Please give a comment, thankyou for visit my blog! I really appreciate it!;D