Snak

Det er jeg heller ikke tvivl om det gør. Tyskerne og russerne tror jeg også godt kan være med, men så er det også det. De fire nationer kommer til at slås om at få flest medaljer.

Damn den kineser - hun svømmede fandme stærkt !

Ja og hun var over 2 sek efter verdensrekorden inden hun skulle svømme crawl, men så satte hun torpedoen igang.

De har 5 guldmedaljer allerede :D

Quality Stuff.

Futebol Arte vs Futebol Força: The Great Latin American Football Debate

When we think of Brazilian Football there is a strong tendency to fall back on deep-rooted stereotypes of wider Brazilian society. People speak of Samba Football (whatever that is), carnival and think of silky skilled players who make the game a joy to watch.

Of course there is an element of truth in the stereotypes. There is an incredible level of flair and invention in the Brazilian game, which has been an ever present throughout its football history. Unfortunately, however, the panorama is rather more complicated than the stereotypes suggest.

Winning has always been a habit in Brazil, and each time they don’t win there are recriminations, inquests and action is taken. For that reason, and many others, such as the financial consequences of winning or losing, the obsession with results has reached its zenith in Brazil.

Club managers often have a shelf-life of a few weeks if their sides don’t produce or if the manager can’t get on with big name players, and thus there is a tendency towards highly negative formations, high levels of professionalism (professional fouls, simulation, time-wasting etc) and very set ideas about the physique of player who is most likely to succeed in the modern-game.

All of this is a million miles away from the exoticised image of laid-back relaxed Brazil and its football that most Europeans lazily buy into. The push towards futebol força (which is a catch all term for a more physical style with set roles meaning more positional discipline with less freedom for players to express themselves) has its roots in Brazil’s reaction to the development of European Football, from Pelé being kicked out of the 1966 World Cup to the emergence of tactically refined totaalvoetbal (Total Football) which asked huge questions of all Latin American sides of that time. Advocates of futebol força within Brazil point to Brazilian World Cup triumphs gained in 1994 and 2002 using a more functional less aesthetically pleasing style, as opposed to the quarter final exit of the much lauded futebol arte class of 1982.

The current Santos manager Muricy Ramalho is fairly representative of the reformist tendency at work in the Brazilian game. He makes no secret of the fact that he feels no responsibility to entertain the paying punter or to play beautiful football. A number of other figures are representative of the same tendency, like Dunga or Big Phil Scolari for example.

Ramalho famously declared after a particularly dull routine victory ‘A torcida paga ingresso para ver o time vencer. Quem quiser ver espetáculo que vá ao Teatro Municipal (The fans pay to see the team win. If you want entertainment you can go to the theatre.’). The brutally honest Paulista went on to compare football to war. Ramalho is widely respected in the Brazilian game having won a string of trophies at a number of Brazil’s main clubs, latterly with Santos of course.

However, hotly-contested debate about the futebol arte-futebol força dichotomy is never far around the corner. The performance of the national team in South Africa and the result of a match that is used far more often as a yardstick in South America than in Europe, the World Club Cup Final between Santos and Barcelona, have re-opened all wounds.

The Brazilian collapse to historical bête noire Holland in South Africa, coupled with the abject humiliation experienced by Ramalho’s Santos side by Guardiola’s imperious Barcelona side, have made Brazilians start to question the route they have started to go down.

The Barcelona game in particular saw small dynamic players dominate the game in a way Brazilians used to do for so long. The rationale for futebol força suggests that a team brimming with creativity, invention, movement and tricks like Barcelona would be overrun by brute force, tactical nous and sheer discipline. This clearly didn’t happen in Yokohama.

Brazil’s production of exportable players remains prolific, but the type of player Brazil is producing, depressingly, appears increasingly homogenised and mass-produced to suit the demands of the European market.

This would be accepted if it were yielding results, but surely the current Brazil side is evidence that another paradigm shift back to producing the compact flair players of the past (Jairzinho, Zico, Pelé et al) is what is needed at youth level.

Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al have usurped the Brazilians as the standard bearers of the beautiful game. The soul-searching in Brazil is inevitable given the way they have abandoned their widely admired style in the pursuit of winning at all costs.

The nation is split between those who like Ramalho are only concerned with results, and those who question whether following the pragmatic approach indeed yields the best results. All this makes the emergence of a player like Neymar all the more interesting. Neymar seems a blast from the past in the modern Brazilian game, offering glimpses of the Brazil of old.

The broad argument that is known in Brazil as futebol arte vs futebol força is often heard across the border in Argentina, albeit in a slightly different guise as Menottismo vs Bilardismo. The two characters are synonymous with two styles of Argentine football which are easily discernible watching today’s Argentine Football and its considerable diaspora playing and managing in Europe and to a lesser extent Latin America.

The country’s two World Cup winning managers provide two contrasting models to follow. On one side, is chain-smoking philosophical liberal left-wing idealist Cesar Luis Menotti, and on the other scheming tactician and ‘master of the dark arts’ Carlos Bilardo.

Menotti triumphed on home-soil in 1978, much to the pleasure of the incumbent Argentine Military Junta. This triumph was a landmark in Argentine football, as until 1978 the Argentine players had failed to produce on the national stage. Menotti ignored players from champions and historically favoured Boca Juniors, choosing players from unfashionable sides, like Huracan’s Oswaldo Ardiles. He was also brave enough to leave out a young Argentine player who idolised him. Diego Maradona was capped under Menotti, but was left out of the World Cup squad.

Menotti imbued his players with a sense of his own confidence telling them that ‘”Se puede perder un partido , pero lo que no se puede perder es la dignidad por jugar bien al futbol (you can lose a game, but what you cannot lose is the dignity earnt by playing good football)”. The emphasis on the way the game was played was central to Menotti’s style.

Menotti’s commitment to entertainment was so extreme that victory was almost secondary as expressed in the following phrase: “Tu obligación no es ser campeón del mundo, tu obligación es saber cuál es la idea de juego (Your obligation isn’t to be world champion, your obligation is to know what the game is about)”. Especially in the environment in which football is played today Menotti sometimes seems to be a last link to a bygone era.

Menotti made blanket statements about aspiring to provide a ‘left-wing football’ which was representative of the people, open football which offered the people belief in themselves and offered them relief from the difficulties of everyday life. Menotti openly opposed the incumbent dictatorship, and told his players to focus on the swirling mass of Argentine fans in River Plate’s Monumental Stadium on the day of the final, rather than on the Generals who sought a propaganda victory for a truly sinister dictatorship.

Menotti saw football as art, as a medium for inspiring the masses with its beauty. Menotti’s successor, Bilardo on the other hand was reared on the anti-futbol of Zubeldia’s Estudiantes in the 1960s, an infamous side that would stop at nothing to win a game of football.

Estudiantes, became champions of the world when Juan Veron (senior) rifled a crucial away goal against European Champions Manchester United in a particularly ugly game.

Bilardo, like Muricy Ramalho, set out his blueprint early on “El fútbol profesional es ganar y solo ganar. Yo soy como Muhammad Alí: durante la competencia no tengo amigos, y a los contrarios, si puedo, los mato y los piso. (Football is about winning and nothing else. I’m like Muhammed Ali : during the fight I have no friends and if the opportunity arises I tread all over the opponents and destroy them)”.
If the manager’s work sets the tone for what his team does, then Bilardo would surely have to take his share of the blame/credit (delete as you feel appropriate) for Maradona’s infamous first notable contribution to the Quarter Final showdown with England in Guadalajara. The second goal that day, was a world apart of course.

The nervy, inhibited, cagey Argentina which defended their world title at Italia 90 personified Bilardo as they scraped through each round by the slightest margin with any entertainment for neutrals derived only from watching the once great suffer. Mercifully they lost in the worst final in living memory, to a strong German side.

The difference between the two standpoints couldn’t be starker, and the resulting antipathy is never far from the surface. The influence of both is there for all to see in every Argentine side that takes to the field.

A new generation of Argentine managers, like Bielsa and Sampaoli, owe a debt of gratitude to Menotti, and others like Nery Pumpido, Jorge Burrachaga and Sergio Batista are self-confessed disciples of the Bilardo school.

The larger picture for Latin American Football, is deciding which route to go down, if indeed it is a case of choosing one over the other. The crude dichotomisation of the two terms seeks to create a good vs evil black & white simplification of many complex issues. Levels of fitness are higher than ever before, as is tactical awareness and discipline (evidenced by the defensive masterclasses and discipline of Jose Mourinho’s Champions League winning sides amongst others). A no-stone unturned tactical analysis of each opponents strengths and weaknesses has become a must, something which in part must be credited to Oswaldo Zubeldia, a hugely controversial figure in Argentine Football.

However, the triumphs of Barcelona under Guardiola, Universidad de Chile under Jorge Sampaoli and of the Spanish national side at the last World Cup (to name but three random examples) show that, though many deny it, there is a place for flair, creativity and downright exhilarating football. Despite all the interest groups at work, some of the most effective football played is also the best spectacle for the watching millions. The mythical Futebol Arte is alive and well in the 21st century..

Muligvis ikke videre relevant, men Diego Alves pillede lige 4 ud af 4 straffespark i Trofeo Naranja-kampen mod FC Porto. Næsten synd, at han ikke kom med til OL.

Har vi et kælenavn til ham, FAS?


Edit
Og så må jeg sige, at colombianske James Rodriguez ser yderst spændende ud - ligesom hans debuterende landsmand Jackson.

Efter et kig i arkiverne må en reference til (og en fra FAS lille beretning om...) argentinske Goycochea næsten være på sin plads.

Halløjsa unge mand,

Er de ikke ham de kalder "el parapenaltis"

http://www.as.com/futbol…iftb_50/Tes


Ja James er en af de helt store kanoner talentmæssigt - så´en en mellem ting mellem Valderrama og Cristiano Ronaldo - Valderrama blev kaldt El pibe så james bliver kaldt el Nuevo pibe. Jackson Martinez er også colombianer - absolut ganske talentfuld var rygtet til liverpool tidligere i år - hThe Thriller /cha-cha-cha har en fantastisk kamp/mål ratio der vel kan sammenlignes med Meessi og Cristiano...148 kampe/98 mål ganske pænt snit - det var vel en af grundene til han var rygtet til Liverpool tidligere i år.

Efter et kig i arkiverne må en reference til (og en fra FAS lille beretning om...) argentinske Goycochea næsten være på sin plads.

absolut....


http://www.youtube.com/w…VxE7JJNi7AI

Godt nok lige et halv år gammel, men artiklen pinpointer alligevel en række kulturelle og organsitoriske problemer i brasiliansk fodbold - en interessant read for natteravne eller de morgenfriske som har interesse i brasiliansk klubfodbold.

Tim Vickery Column: In the wake of the December 18th massacre, some thoughts on the essence of football

Tim Vickery returns to Sambafoot with his thoughts and views on the latest news in Brazilian football. This time, the lessons that can be learned from Santos´ humbling at the hands of Barcelona.
It is too early to identify the lasting benefits, but it seems clear that the massacre of Yokohama is giving a much needed shake up to Brazilian football.What Barcelona did to Santos is almost universally being recognised as a scathing 90 minute comment on the state of the contemporary Brazilian game. The much-hyped stars Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso were reduced to the role of bystanders. I don’t see the game as their failure, though. How can they shine if their team never has the ball?

This was a collective failure, the joyful and clinical imposition of Barcelona’s philosophy of play on that of Santos - coached by the king of the scene, Muricy Ramalho, Brazilian champion in four of the last six years, nearly the national team coach following the World Cup and the choice of many to fill the role - until Sunday December 18th 2011.

Outside his comfort zone, Ramalho cut a pitiful figure, thoroughly out of his depth. Taking place in front of his own eyes was a repudiation of the footballing ideas he stands for. His teams, even in their frequent successes, have tended to be grimly efficient, set piece and counter attack sides. “If you want to see a spectacle,” he says, “then go to the theatre.”
And then he finds out that at the highest level, with Barcelona setting the benchmark, football is spectacle. Can he adapt to a post-December 18th reality? We shall see. Can Brazilian football? Of course.

It will be fascinating to see which concepts are reviewed and rethought over the next few months. In a spirit of humility there is one concept I would like to submit for re-evaluation - the frequently expressed idea that the essence of football (and here I have to break into Portuguese) is ‘gozacao.’

Roughly translated, in the context we are dealing with this is a term that refers to the taunting or baiting of one set of supporters by another.. To my mind the importance of this activity can be wildly exaggerated, and in addition to the threat of provoking violence, in the current climate an emphasis on ’gozacao’ carries two specific dangers.

The first is the stress on localism, the idea that more than anything else the game is a backdrop for workmates and school colleagues to taunt each other on a Monday morning. And therefore that if there is no one local to taunt then the victory loses some of its flavour.

This is dangerous because it can lead to an isolationist position. With its size and linguistic isolation, Brazil has a tendency to gaze at its own belly button. The rest of the world can sometimes seem an abstract concept. But we are talking about the global game. And the evidence of 2011 is that Brazil has been left behind. “Brazilian football has never been so rich in money and poor in quality,” wrote ’Lance’ columnist Benjamin Back in the wake of the massacre of Yokohama. His colleague Eduardo Tirone welcomed Barcelona’s triumph. “A win for Santos would hide the fact that our football, of the ’exciting National championship’ and the ’lots of teams fighting for the title in the last round’ blah blah blah --- that our football is second rate. And without this reality shock would be parked on the corner thinking that everything is fine.”

But even before December 18th the warning lights were blinking fast. In theory Brazilian teams should be cleaning up in the continental club competitions. They now have much more money than their South American opponents. Instead in 2011 they were frequently outplayed in the Libertadores and the Sul-Americana. No Brazilian side came close to the compact, aggressive, attractive level of play of Universidad de Chile. Consistently Brazilian teams struggled against opponents who have embarked on the trend of fielding three strikers.
The danger now is that the focus of the debate might get lost. As the footballing world looks outwards, Brazil turns inwards upon itself in the appalling State Championships, where local rivalry is transformed into irrelevant fetish.

Barcelona are such a unique case that, in the short term at least, it is not possible to adopt all the aspects of their model. But what have Universidad de Chile been doing? This is the moment to broaden horizons, not wallow in the pleasures of a local derby win and go looking for some opposing fans to taunt.

There is a second argument against the importance placed on ‘gozacao‘ - that it assumes that the only pleasure in football comes from the victory. It even leads to the belief that the ideal derby win is 1-0 with a last minute goal that was clearly offside or punched in off the striker’s hand - the anger of the opposing fan adds extra spice to the taunting.
Over recent years the idea seems to have grown in Brazilian football that some contradiction exists between playing well and winning. “Where was the show?” ask the world’s press after a joyless win for the national team in some international tournament. “For us, winning is the show,” is the response from the players.

This kind of stuff is no longer good enough if you want to be judged by the highest standards - and the magnificent tradition of Brazilian football demands nothing less. Barcelona take the field primarily concerned with imposing their philosophy - with their collection of little players exchanging passes at pace (“as my dad and my grandfather told me Brazil did,” said coach Pep Guardiola in a pointed press match press conference comment) in the knowledge that they might not always win, but that in the long term the best way to win is by playing well. And if they lost, then at least they did it their way.

Because in a sport with as much potential for individual and collective self-expression as football, victory is far from the only pleasure. The essence of football is not ‘gozacao.’ It is spectacle. I’m hoping that Brazilian football comes to this conclusion in 2012.

Brasserbold:
Diego Forlan fik en godkendt debut for Internacional i lørdagens hjemmekamp mod Vasco da Gama. Angriberen var som altid super bevægelig, og det blev til to afslutninger i løbet af den time, som Forlan fik på banen. Kampen endte 0-0, og den levede ikke op til de forventninger man måtte have til et møde mellem rækkens nr. 2 og 5.
Coritiba slog på eget græs Grêmio med 2-1. Det var Leonardos venstreben, der udløste jackpot kort før tid. Coxa punkterede dermed Grêmios flotte serie af sejre. Det blev til en håndfuld i træk for Luxemburgos mandskab.
Clarence Seedorf fik sin første sejr i Botafogo-trøjen. Efter 2 nederlag på 0-1 vendte lykken i hjemmekampen mod bundproppen Figueirense. Andrezinho blev matchvinder efter en lille times spil.
Det er masser af sambafodbold i dag søndag. Brasiliens OL-drenge spiller kl. 16 mod Hviderusland, og i aften/nat er der 7 kampe i den brasilianske Serie A. Topholdet Atlético Mineiro med Ronaldinho kommer på en svær opgave mod Flumiense, og São Paulo mod Flamengo er også et ekstra kig værd. TV2Sport sender Bahia-Corinthians forskudt fra kl. 24.