Football and its fans

by: Marcia Henin

Football has always comprised strong emotional reactions. Thousands of football fans watch with growing enthusiasm the on-going process of game, fully involved in a battle presented in front of them on a football field. This enjoyment of public games, presented in front of the viewers, goes back to the ancient games of the Chinese, which originally included kicking leather balls and win highest Football scores. Today, football is the most known sports game, attracting millions of viewers, which leads to the creation of thousands fan clubs around the world.

As the game proceeds, the excitement grows and sometimes becomes difficult to control. The excitement and enthusiasm is heated by the fact that no one knows how the game will end. The viewers make different bets, sometimes on large sums of money, and watch impatiently as the game proceeds, listening to updates in the Football coverage, hoping to hear that they won. Fans of different football groups are tracking the players’ movements and criticize or praise their moves. The atmosphere becomes tenser towards the end of the game, when every second counts.

Emotional involvement in the game often brings to rivals between fans. At the mass brawl in May 2007, up to hundred Liverpool fans fought each other in Athens, hoping to get a single Champions League ticket. As a result, two supporters were injured and taken to a nearby hospital. The police didn’t succeed in putting an end to the riots. History of football remembers many similar cases with even worse injuries, sometimes even resulting in deaths of the excited football fans.

Football news has always maintained a foothold in the enthusiasm of fans around the world. Important competitions, like Champions League, attract audience all over the world, enjoy publicity and media attention. However, the importance of controlling the public’ emotional reactions has become an everyday issue next to the success of specific football groups. It is important to raise awareness of the violence among football fans, in order to minimize the problem and simply enjoy good football games.

Mia Hamm

Women's soccer never would have been the same if Mia Hamm hadn't started up soccer when she was little. She had such an impact on women's soccer that she is often thought to mean as much for it as Pele or Cruyff meant for men's soccer. But before being a great soccer player and athlete that broke down almost every possible record at her level, Mia Hamm is a great person and I'd like you to meet the human behind the soccer god in this Mia Hamm biography.

If you're like me, you're probably wondering how and when did Mia Hamm start playing soccer and what events drove her to become a super star of women's soccer. Mia Hamm's childhood circled around sports and athleticism and as her brother recalled, she was faster and more athletic than most of the boys on the block, so she was able to play competitively with and against them.

After taking up youth soccer training at her school's football team when she was only 12 years old, she learned the basics of soccer and started enjoying the sport more and more. Little did she know that three years later, when she was just 15, she would be called up for the United States national women’s soccer team, becoming the youngest player ever to play for her country at that level (one of her first broken records).

That was kind of a weird situation, since Mia Hamm was a soccer player for her national squad but didn't have a fully professional playing contract with a club. But after seeing her performances, the North Carolina Tar Heels quickly signed her and they made quite a deal, since Mia Hamm stayed with the club for 4 seasons, scoring over 100 goals during her time here.

Probably one of Mia Hamm's most important accomplishments is that she managed to bring women’s soccer to a level close to what men are playing. She is one of the two women named in Pele’s "List of 125 Best Soccer Players of All Times" and she is a symbol of women's sports throughout the World.

She also holds two FIFA World Player of the Year awards, which she got in 2001 (the first year the trophy was given) and 2002. Unfortunately, she would have gotten a lot more of these awards, but with the World Player of the Year awards being granted for women when Mia Hamm was already nearing the end of her career, she didn't really have a chance to widen her trophy room.

In numbers, Mia Hamm was the United States top goal scorer, with 158 goals in 275 matches, a remarkable record that will probably dust and rust before it is beaten. She scored more goals than any man or woman for her national team, although many soccer specialists will agree that the level of women's soccer is still in an early grade and cannot be compared to men’s soccer yet.

She won the Women's World Cup twice, in 1991 and 1999 and also put the US national team through a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in 1996. All these titles, records and awards make Mia Hamm one of the most important players in women's soccer and the fact that Pele considered to put her on the same list as legendary male players such as Maradona, Cruyff, Platini or Beckenbauer says a lot about the influence she had in the game.

Alexandre Pato

Full Name : Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva
Place and Date of birth : Pato Branco, Brazil, September 2, 1989
Soccer playing position : Striker
Nickname : New Ronaldo
Senior Soccer clubs :
Internacional (2006-2007)
AC MILAN (2007 - ……….. )
List of honours

Internacional

• Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20: 2006
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2006
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2007

Brazilian national football team

• 2007 South American U-20 Championship

Deco

Full Name :

Anderson Luís de Souza
Place and Date of birth (Nationality):
Brazil, August 27, 1977
Football playing position :
Midfielder, Playmaker
Skills :
Long Shoot, Dribbling
Nickname :
Da Little Magician, The Bus Conductor
Football Club Career :
Corinthians 1996–1997
Corinthians (AL) 1997
FC Alverca 1997–1998
Salgueiros 1998–1999
FC Porto 1999–2004
FC Barcelona 2004–2008
Chelsea 2008–

DECO : Personal Awards
FIFA World Club Cup Golden Ball: 2006
UEFA Champions League MVP: 2004
UEFA Best Midfielder Award: 2004, 2006
European Silver Ball (Second position of the European Player of the Year Award): 2003/04
Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 2004
Portuguese Golden Ball: 2003