[Football] Getting to know eachother..

We seem to have a rather consistent and hardcore group of football fans here and with the WC on the horizon, we'll likely be spending even more time discussing our beloved teams and players with eachother. So I thought it might be a nice idea trying to get to know eachother a bit better. With pics, hobbies, football memories, you name it.

Who goes first?

I'm game!

I'm Danish, and my team is Brøndby IF. We had decent success this year with a group spot in the UEFA cup, a 2nd place in the domestic league, and a semifinal exit in the cup. This while having been beset with injuries, especially to a defense corps deplete with the sale of Daniel Agger to Liverpool.

One problem... Denmark didn't make it to the World Cup this year. Too many points frittered away on ties, in the qualification. However, there's the U21 tourney to contend with, this month. Lots of present and former Brøndby players on that team, so on that dimension, the season isn't a total loss.

Other teams out there... Heavily affected by teams that have former Brøndby players - you learn about teams that way.

England: Liverpool
France: Auxerre
Germany: Schalke 04
Italy: Boooooooooooooooooo
Spain: Undecided. Most of the teams play excellent footie...

Memories:

Brøndby beating Bayern M in the fall of 1998, to lead the ChL group. The other teams in the group were Barcalona and Man U...

Defeating FC Copenhagen, the local rivals, 5-0 to all but clinch the championship, last season. That game was followed up by the actual clincher, a 7-0 throbbing of Herfølge.

Roberto Carlos' free kick goal at the pre-World cup tourney in France in 97. What a ridiculous kick!

Last season's ChL final. One of those games you watch even as a neutral fan (which I technically wasn't), and just think "what a game".

Real Madrid defeating Barca 5-0 in Laudrup's first game with Real, against his former team. Laudrup was a man possesed, one play that stands out was when he stripped Bakero of the ball in the area, found Zamorano in front for a goal. If he had played with such passion troughout his career...

As for national team moments...

4-1 over Nigeria in the 98 World Cup stands out, as does the quarterfinal loss to Brazil. Even if I got to watch it on US tv (with US commentary), it was quite the thrill.

Personal stuff - 27, sales analyst at a mortgage broker, Oilers fan... I like my humor black and my ladies red-headed.

Hm, I guess I'll try to start.

I live near Philadelphia on the East Coast of the US. I'm a senior in high school (18 years old). I really like to read, play hockey, football and tennis, and study history. I've played football since I was about 4 years old and played on lots of junior teams. I've taken a break in high school (focus on academics mainly), but I still like to play pick-up games and I'm looking forward to starting to play again more seriously during college.

Obviously, my favorite team is Arsenal. The reason for this is because during the first world cup I can remember, France 98, a certain Dennis Bergkamp scored a wondergoal against Argentina and immediately became my favorite players. I loved his finishing, but even more, his genius and passing ability.

So for about 6 years, I was a lukewarm supporter. I didn't seriously get into football until the NHL lockout when I needed something else to follow. But I really got hooked, especially on the EPL and now I probably love Arsenal just as much as the Flyers. For NT, I support Holland because of Bergkamp, but I don't know a huge amount about them, so I also support England. I don't really like the US just because they aren't very exciting. However, I'm not really a huge NT fan. I'm looking forward to the WC, but more just to see the football rather than to support a specific team.

So I guess that's basically it. I just got this computer, so I don't have any pics of myself on it, but I should have some in a few days.

Right, I might as well post.

I'm English, my name is Phil, I'm 20 years of age this here (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/juniotf/phileh_aug7th.jpg) is me, and I've been a Chelsea fan as long as I can remember (which is 1992, I think). The club goes back some way in my family, as my Mum lived in and owned a shop opposite the ground (The one which says 'Builders Merchants DIY, only it was different when she lived there, this pic is taken from outside Stamford Bridge) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/juniotf/shop2.jpg), knew half the 70s team, did charity events on the pitch, attended games, you name it. So the team's been with me for years. Went through the weird early years of the Premier League where the team weren't really up to much, the stadium was being redeveloped, and the club had little direction. Which of course changed when Hoddle took over and signed Gullit. Matthew Harding became heavily involved (RIP), and the team started to become fairly ambitious. Some moderate success came in the form of cup competitions and although league form improved, there was never any hint of a title. Until, of course, Abramovich arrived. We all know about that so I won't go into detail. Been to maybe a dozen Chelsea games this season, it's hard when they're £48 a game, but I try. Was most recently at the FA Cup Semi Final (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/juniotf/ot9.jpg). Great day, gutted about the result.

I'm a massive massive fan of football, heavily interested in assorted European leagues (although not as much as a few years back when it was nearly an addiction, but I'll get to that). I'll look out for and support Real Madrid, Fiorentina, Nantes, Bochum, and ADO Den Haag moreso than others, not entirely sure why, but a lot of it is from CM/FM (oh yeah, I work for Sports Interactive). International football is a particular vice, I can never get enough of it for some reason.

Um, memories

Chelsea losing the '94 FA Cup Final 4-0 to Man Utd in the pissing rain and to two penalties. I was 8, I was devastated.

1996, Chelsea 4-2 Liverpool, such a famous game, 2-0 down at half time, the comeback. Fantastic. Then the 1997 FA Cup Final, and Robbie Di Matteo's goal after 43 seconds. 26 years without a top trophy ended. Year after, Zola's free kick wins the CWC.

1999 and throwing away the league title with a 2-2 draw at home to Leicester, Steve Guppy scored. :( 2002 FA Cup Final wasn't nice either.

Then the Abramovich years. Winning back to back titles takes some believing to Chelsea fans, that regardless of how we got there, that this team are celebrating championships.

I could go on for hours, days, however long about assorted football memories but I won't because I can't be bothered typing any more.

Real name: Stephen
Club team: Crystal Palace
NHL team: Phoenix Coyotes
National team: England (plus will support USA and Australia in the WC)
Sporting bust: I'm a wing-back and not particularly good at it.
Sporting stud: Played squash for London Schools (one level below national level)

One of my earliest memories is seeing this amateur we bought from the non-leagues come on in a cup-tie and score the winner. That was Ian Wright who went on to have a big career. Crystal Palace surged to 3rd in the league and had several England internationals. However, the European ban killed us. Our best players left for richer teams. Ironic that the ban didnt hurt the big money teams but the ones trying to make it. Then I was a season ticket holder for 5 years as a student watching us trying to break the vicious yo-yo cycle.

After I graduated, I lived in Phoenix for 2 years (hence got into the Coyotes). Then I worked with Juni in London for a while. Now I live in Wales - am an operations manager in sports. Because of that I dont have time to watch the amount of footie I used to. But I love the WC and will take time off for it.

Edit - here's a pic

I live in Monmouth County, NJ and I am a senior at high school. I played two years of soccer in high school (try-outs were in the summer, in the summer I go to Croatia so I wasn't able to play every year) and played 4 years of baseball where I am a pitcher/left fielder.

In soccer I have two passionate teams I follow: Croatian National Team and Hajduk Split. The Croatian National Team is very successful from the U17 level to the senior level and hopefully more in the future. Hajduk Split have a strong history and tradition but this season they have been doing poorly and the past few seasons they have been embarassed in Europe losing to amatuers Shelbourne FC in the CL qualifiers and this season losing 8:0 to an average Debrecen club.

Some other teams I slightly follow are Red Bull NY, Bayern Munich and Celtic. In other sports I like to NY Islanders, NY Mets and NY Giants.

Memories:
Two years ago I got to see AC Milan vs. ManU with 80,000+ other fans at Giants Satdium, the game was 1-1 and went to 12 shots on PK, very exciting.

My name is Vitaly, I'm 27, born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. I've been a football and hockey fan since I can remember myself- not really surprising, Dynamo Kiev was the pride and joy of the city in the 70's and 80's, and every single kid wanted to be like Blokhin or Zavarov. Our hockey team, Sokol Kiev, was pretty darn good at that time as well, so we'd go to games year round- Sokol in the winter, Dynamo in the summer. Those were the days :yo: I've lived in Minnesota for the past 11 years, so naturally, I became a Wild fan. I must admit, now I'm more of a hockey fan than a football fan (used to be the other way around), and the only football teams I follow religiously are Dynamo and Ukrainian National Team. I've also become more of an international football fan, rather than club football (which I hardly follow at all anymore, with the exception of Ukrainian and Russian leagues). So obviously I'm extremely excited about the World Cup, even more so than any other year because Ukraine has finally made it to the big show. Besides Ukraine, I've always cheered for Holland and Denmark on the international stage, so don't be surprised if you see me on the Oranje bandwagon this summer ;)

I'm Nicolas, 26 since a few days (and with my driving licence from last week).
Always lived near Tours, France... near all the Loire's castles. ;)

I followed soccer probably before I was born... And I have a lot of good and bad memories!
As child, I cried when Platini was substituted or missed a penalty kick. I was collecting stickers (Panini) before playing a little bit for my hometown team at 11 (for 3 months only...)
My 1st memory is Marseille loss in 1991 vs Belgrade with Amoros and Pele missing their penalty kicks. It was better vs Milan in 1993, what a game! "Oui mon Basilou!"... Boli's goal... :)
I have a lot of other games in mind : Kostadinov's goal vs France... Laslandes' disallowed one vs Dortmund... Furiani accident... Auxerre, Nantes reaching CL semifinals... Bordeaux finals vs Bayern (with Kostadinov tackle on Lizarazu!) after the huge Bordeaux win 3-0 vs Milan (Dugarry, Zidane!)... Marseille 2 finals loss vs Lazio and Valencia... Monaco loss vs Porto... France 98 run to the World Cup title (Blanc golden goal in 1st round, DiBiagio penalty kick on the bar in quarters, Thuram's 2 goals in semis, and 1-2-3 zero vs Brazil!)... France 2000 team winning vs Italy with a late goal by Wiltord in the added time before Trezeguet's golden goal (before, Raul missed a penalty kick in quarters, Abel Xavier made a hand with a penalty in overtime in semis...)... Manchester Utd come-back with Solskjaer and Sherringham in extra time vs Bayern... and the 2002 France fiasco in Korea, Greece run in 2004... Patrice Loko's goal vs PSG in 94, with Nantes amazing season, Auxerre Championship-Cup double in 96, Lyon win in the "final" game of the season vs Lens to win their 1st title, Juninho's free kicks... and of course, Jean Pierre Papin. :)

I followed Nantes when I was young because I liked yellow. I also like Auxerre, amazing little town with the most consistant team in Europe on the last 20 years. I followed Lyon when they were promoted in L1 and liked their rise on the top of French soccer. To 4th, to 2nd, to 1st 5 consecutive years. I hope they'll win the CL next year, too bad they couldn't make it this season (and last one... Nilmar!). :(

I started to follow hockey in 2000 with EA Sports game. I chose New Jersey because they had the best goalie... before starting to appreciate the team and management, the prospects and all. Mike Rupp goal and 2 assists in Game 7 were a huge hockey moment to me. :)
Then I started to watch some games live here in Tours, too bad we lost the finals vs Mulhouse in 2005. :(

Finally, my job. I'm working as a publisher, we're making books of regional history with old postcards (I think you can find them also in Great Britain, Germany and USA). I studied history of course (especially maritime history) and was an information manager before landing there since january 2005. I like reading a lot, especially fantasy and science fiction, and listening music, rock and irish music or latino. U2 is the best band ever, Cranberries close 2nd and for French groups, I like Aston Villa, Ruda Salska, La Rue Ketanou, As de Trefle and Dolly.

My soccer teams :
France, Lyon, Auxerre and Nantes
Spain, Barcelona
England, Manchester Utd (since Cantona).

Alright;

Real name: Jordi
Age: Turning 22 this summer
Nationality: Dutch
NHL team: Dallas Stars
NBA team: San Antonio Spurs
Club team: AFC Ajax Amsterdam
National team: Oranje

Football bio: Played at the highest level of amateur football for 11 consecutive years untill my knee forced me to quit. Best moment was representing all amateur teams of the Netherlands in a tournament with professional clubs (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV). Other interesting tidbits include: having played vs Nigel de Jong, having played on Ajax trainings complex (de toekomst), with a nice view on the ArenA. Being a Captain of a team that saw 3 teammates leaving to the Ere Divisie. My little brother followed the same path, he even played in the Kuijp.

I used to be a central back, never played somewhere else. Main strenghts were positional play, speed, shot and heading.

Ajax winning the CL/World Cup as well as Holland defeating Argentina in 98 to earn a spot in the semis have stayed with me the most. Also, you know football lives over here as Holland's elimination on penalties vs Italy made my dad flip, resulting in a divorce. Pretty comical now that I think of it.

Top 3 moments:

1) Van Basten's farewell in San Siro (clip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VSIHbW6skbE&search=van%20Basten%20farewell))
2) Bergkamps goal vs Argentina (Clip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=kBDOsClJLbM&search=Bergkamp) )
3) Kluivert's Winning goal vs Milan (Clip (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8424879058364157009&q=Kluivert))

Top 5 goals:

1) Van Basten's goal in WC 88 finalClip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=-9hK8b1BsKQ&search=van%20Basten) )
2) Van Basten's bycicle kick (Clip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=cC3zJ5kVqI4&search=van%20Basten))
3) Bergkamp vs NewCastle (Clip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=70eRO6rX45M&search=Bergkamp))
4) Zlatan Ibrahimovic' solo vs NAC Clip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=hHw_qMsQTOA&search=Zlatan)
5) Van der Vaart backheel kick vs Feyenoord (winning goal as wel) (Clip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=XIwm2gm8SK8&search=van%20der%20Vaart))

Favorite players:

1) Jaap Stam
2) Dennis Bergkamp
3) Patrick Kluivert

Aside from Ajax I don't really have a favorite team. Used to like Chelsea, especially when me and a few friends were in England. We decided to visit every club in London (must have been at lest 5), but no one did we enjoy more than Chelsea. When we arrived at the stadium, the sequrity must have had a lunchbreak, the lady at the service desk was missing too. So since we couldn't find anyone, we decided to take the tour ourselves. We walked through the entire stadium, places we would never be allowed to come. We even walked through the press room where they were interviewing some important people. After being on every floor and room, we went back downstairs before a security guy caught us. Even though he seemed to go all out against his staff, he treated us all gently well, he even offered us an organised tour with one of the guides.

We left FC Chelsea with plenty of free merchandise and a nice memory. At the time there were like 7 Dutchmen playing for Chelsea as well but with the arrival of Abramovic I never liked them since.


I like/dislike most English teams at the same time. I like the Gunners for Bergkamp, but dislike most of their other players (though most have left), same for United, the way they can chase players out of town is undeniable. Usually I just follow the Dutchmen..



Personal bio: Studying to become a teacher someday. My hobbies are kicking a ball with my friends nearly every time the weather is decent. I also play street basketball and tennis at least a few times a month. And if I feel like it, I'll also run a few miles. Love watching television; fresh prince of bel air especially.

Pics below.. Oh, that short hair in that pic was the result of a soccer bet, heh.

http://hfboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15145&stc=1
http://hfboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15146&stc=1

Name: Filip
Age: 23 born in good old 1982
Club team: Liverpool
(Anderlecht in Belgium but to a much lesser degree)
NHL team: Avalanche
Cycling: Quickstep but I don't really have any favorites


Football Memories:

I played football since I was four years old, I got into it because my older brother was also playing the game. My earliest personal football memory is that I had to act as an emergency sub for my brother's team as a 5 year old playing against 8 year olds, and I managed to dish out an assist in my 15 minutes cameo appereance!
I used to be pretty good (played with a lot of pros as it turns out) but I lost interest when I was about 14 and then it went downhill with my career. I made it to the reserves of the third division but I didn't think it was worth the trouble anymore playing at that level. So I hung up my boots...


Naturally I watched the game as much as I could from a young age.
My earliest memory would have to be going to the old Heysel Stadium in Brussels with my family to watch KV Mechelen play the mighty AC Milan in one of the first rounds of the old EC 1. I hardly remember anything about the match but I think Milan won it 0-1 with Gullit scoring. I was incredibly impressed with the atmosphere though.

Then there was theWorld Cup in Italy '90 and I comletely poured over that one. I remember that incredible Brazil - Argentina where Brazil (which was my favorite team along with Belgium back then) hit the post and bar multiple times only for Maradona to pass the ball to Caniggia...
Belgium had a fantastic team that year and were beaten by the famous David Platt goal in the last minute of the last extra time. To this day it is clear to me that that wasn't a free kick though because Gazza (or was it Waddle) dived on that play by Gerets :rant:

Through playing Championship manager (CM 94 ! I'm a real veteran) I also got interested in English football. It was around the time that Canal + also started broadcasting English football here in Belgium. I got a Liverpool shirt for some reason and since they were my favorite CM team I quickly got around to following them.
My first Liverpool memory is watching Blackburn win the title at Anfield after loosing 2-1 because United had failed to win at West Ham. So that was late in the 94-95 season.

From the next season on I really started watching all kinds of English football and especially. My favorite player was Robbie Fowler (and he still is :yo: ).

Some random Liverpool / Fowler memories:
_The marvellous goal against Aston Villa (I think 95-96 season) when we were up 3-0 within 15 minutes.
_The Cup run in '96, coupled with the anti-climax at Wembley (:cry: )
_Being beaten by Brondby in the UEFA cup (thats right Petelars)
_Liverpool 2 - 0 Man Utd, with Collymore missing about 15 sitters - I recently saw that match again and it could have been even more then 15 - and Fowler scoring twice (that was the match with that streaker running on the field http://www.streaking.co.uk/relatednewscollymorestreaker.htm :lol: )
_ Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle (2 times)

There are tons more though, like Steve McManaman scoring those wonder goals against Celtic, Fowler scoring 4 against Borough to get his Liverpool ton, ...., ....


I also visited Anfield back in 2000, for a dull 1-0 win over Leicester City with Heskey getting the goal. Great trip though!

Obviously I will remember the great 00-01 season for a long time with those three Cups won, and especially that FA cup final when Owen scored two in the last minutes.

I sort of lost my enthousiasm late in the G.H. period because of the style of football played. Also the tranfer of Fowler didn't help things, Owen's great and all but he doesn't have the same value in my heart as Fowler had. I started watching more Spanish and Italian football and was especially fond of Valencia's playing style. You can imagine how happy I was when Benitez came over to be Liverpool's new manager now almost two years ago... it felt like Christmas in the summer :D

Of course last season's CL final is something I'll never forget. Along with the entire run to that final, from Stevie's goal against Olympiakos through Garcia's strike againt Juventus and Carra's heroics at Delle Alpi and against Chelsea. I didn't have a voice for three days after the Istanbul final... simply wonderful!

And now that Fowler's returned it seems like the circle is complete :)



As for my job right now I'm in the last months of a Master degree in Taw Law and then I'll be starting to work at a Law firm end of august, so probably i'll have much less time for all those sports I always watch.

Anyway sorry for this long post but I tried to keep it short. And don't even get me started on cycling memories ;)

1996, Chelsea 4-2 Liverpool, such a famous game, 2-0 down at half time, the comeback.

Remember that one too, FA Cup live on the BBC... I was sure we'd won it at half time but then again you never were during the Roy Evans days :)

I've always cheered for Holland and Denmark on the international stage, so don't be surprised if you see me on the Oranje bandwagon this summer ;)

booooooo :rant:

Manchester Utd come-back with Solskjaer and Sherringham in extra time vs Bayern...

That was so strange. With 1-0 in the 87'th minute I decided to let the dog out so I could go to bed immediatly. When I got back it suddenly was 1-1 and the 2-1 was scored seconds after I walked back into the room. Boy I hated Man Utd for doing that


http://hfboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15145&stc=1
http://hfboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15146&stc=1

I think you'd look a bit like Stam if you got rid of all the hair ;)

I think you'd look a bit like Stam if you got rid of all the hair ;)

That's not really a compliment! ;)

Am I the only one with pics, btw?

Juni's got a picture.

And here's a picture of me, remember this was taken when my head was about twice the size it normally is because I crashed with my bike:
http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=4293417&postcount=7

:toothless

Juni's got a picture.

And here's a picture of me, remember this was taken when my head was about twice the size it normally is because I crashed with my bike:
http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=4293417&postcount=7

:toothless

Back to adding sidewheels!

You look an awfully lot on the guy in your avatar..

Nah, I'm not as purely evil as Cody McCormick though!


Yeah, either side wheels or laying off the booze... I'm going for the first option for sure :yo:

Name: Sebastian
Age: Born on the same day as Michael Jordon - only 18 years later
Favorite soccer teams:

Germany: Kaiserslautern
England: Sheffield Wednesday
France: hmm, i´d say Racing Strassbourg...(sorry Metz)
Don´t have teams i follow that much for the rest of Europe.
I´m not a big fan of international games, but i´m still watching but just not getting to excited about it.

Other sports:
Tabletennis: TTC Grenzau (favorite player Mikael Appelgren)
Hockey: Edmonton Oilers (favorite players Ethan Moreau + Kyle Calder)
Basketball: NY Knicks ( :cry: ) (favorite player John Starks)
CFL: Edmonton Eskimos (no special player)
NFL: NY Jets (favorite player Jonathan Vilma)
MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers (Bill Zito)

I started like Beli with collecting Panini stuff (still got the album of 1986, Mexico), but don´t have any memories from that time.
The first thing i still can remember is the championship of Kaiserslautern in 1991 and missing out to beat Barca the next year after Barkero (Barquero?) scored a late minute goal to make it 1-3 and Barca went on.
I´ve gone up and down with my team since then, being one of the better teams in the early 90s. Lautern was relegated in 1996 (1st relegation for Lautern ever), i bought season tickets for the next year to help my team out. We came straight back to the Bundesliga and won the championship in 1998 (Otto Rehhagel was the coach). We´re trying to avoid relegation for the fourth straight year now (and we´ll make it again!). Our youth camp (build in the late 90s) is starting to produce results: Schönheim, Halfar, Fromlowitz, Sandro Roesner, Reinert, Henn & friends.
I´m proud we´ve managed to keep the good guys and are able to have former heroes join the club to help out, so is Ronnie Hellström now a scout for Kaiserslautern in Sweden. Hellström is working for Stiga - a superb company making rackets for Tabletennis :D

I do study sociology, political science and philosophy in Mainz (derby area!). I still play tabletennis for my hometeam, but i just play and don´t go to training anymore (sounds strange, but that the way it is in tabletennis). The only sport where pure talent is able to hold off work ethic pretty easy.
Aside from that i´m playing some baseball at university
I do love manager games, especially EHM NHL (can you hear me Juni :D ). Played Bundesliga Manager for years and all that stuff (first edition 1995).
I love being at big wine parties - i do live in a wine region (Deutsche Weinstrasse), so we have lots of that here. I´m interested in music a lot, especially alternative and rock. Favorite acts are Dredg, Faith No More, Thrice and stuff like that. I´m often at Strassbourg for concerts (La Letairie is a superb club).
My gf is playing soccer and had been invited to some national teams when she´s been 15/16/17 and played 2.Bundesliga (for Karlsruhe).

I do work part-time as a paramedic to get some money (did my military service there).
My parents do have a print office + newspaper, so i do write some articles every here and then.
I got into hockey when i´ve been in Edmonton in 1996/1997. I took part in a school exchange program and lived for about 9 months in St.Albert. I watched some german hockey before, but just watched.

Favorite soccer moments:

Michael Schjönberg scoring the lonely goal in a 1-0 victory on gameday one in 1997/1998, when Lautern just came back to the Bundesliga.

Every match at home in 1996/1997 (in the 2.Bundesliga) when every opponent came to the Betzenberg (stadium of Lautern) and just went back to defend from minute 1 to 90, cause they were afraid. For most parts we didn´t even need a CB.

Can´t forget, but try to: gameday 34, season 1995/1996. Kaiserslautern @ Leverkusen. Kaiserslautern has to win to stay in the league. If Lautern wins Leverkusen gets sent down (the same will happen again next week with Lautern @ Wolfsburg).
Lautern took the lead and then a Leverkusen guy went down with an injury. Lautern made a fair play and kicked the ball out. Throw in of Leverkusen, Paulo Sergio received the ball but he didn´t gave it back to Kaiserslautern and went on with a dribbling, passing to Markus Münch who scored the tying goal.
Most wicked thing i can remember in soccer and i won´t forgive anybody on that Leverkusen team. Fair play starts at gameday 1 end doesn´t end at gameday 33 for me.

I remember the invasion in the 2.Bundesliga when 25.000 FCK fans went to the away game of Kaiserslautern in Frankfurt. Awful game, no chances for both teams.

I´ve got many more memories like Patrick Andersson scoring for Bayern last minute in Hamburg, the CL final between ManU and Bayern, a game of Bremen when Rehhagel had 7 strikers on the field, the UEFA-Cup game Wednesday vs. Lautern, about all Chilavert games in Strassbourg, Mario Basler wearing a hat during a game in Kaiserslautern, first game of Lautern in the 2.Bundesliga (against the Stuttgarter Kickers). Way too many memories to name here.


My favorite players of all time:
1. Miroslav Kadlec
2. Stefan 'the saw' Kuntz
3. Gerry 'Tarzan' Ehrmann
4. Uwe Gospodarek
5. Miroslav Klose
6. Michael Schjönberg

I´d have to nominate Ronnie Hellström here at No.2, but just saw some snippets/games on TV and i´ll just name players i´ve seen live and spoken to.

Not a superb picture, but atleast one:

http://www.abi-will-ich.net/skifreizeit.htm

3rd row of the pictures, 4th picture. I´m the guy in the front with sunglasses.
Page is about 5 years old. That´s been the page of our Abitur age-group (university-entrance diploma).

OK my turn (but haven't we done that before?).
My name's Olivier, I'm 28, I live in Normandy. I'm married, I have two kids (Emma is 7, Kolya is 2).
Favourite teams : PSG, Caen, Rennes, and any french team that plays offensive football.
NHL team : Pens, obviously.

Football memories : my first WC (well first one I watched a lot) was 1986. France was playing the most exciting football since he 70s dutchies, and we were the best team in football. Platini, Giresse, Tigana, Fernandez, Bossis, Stopyra, young Papin, Amoros, etc... these are all legendary french players. The game against Brazil (quarters) was absolutely amazing.
After that it went downhill, with the "lost generation". Lots of talent, but a difficult transition. Cantona, Papin, were enable to qualify their team for the WC90 and 94 (and Euro 88). The 94 elmimination is particularly hurting, as France needed one point out of their two last home games to qualify and they faced Israel and Bulgaria. The dumbasses of the federation prepared the champagne before the Israel game (Israel was really weaker than it is now), and we somehow lost 3-2. And in the final game, at 1-1 at the 89th, Ginola has the ball on the right side, wins some seconds and after a while, having no help, decides to cross the ball. Two passes later, Kostadinov scores on a huge shot that touches the crossbar, and we're out of the WC. A few minutes later, Houiller said Ginola assasinated France.
I've hated Houiller from that moment until now. And it won't stop before this guy starts to acknowledge the blame for 180 minutes of putrid football instead of blaming one of his best players for a normal cross.

Anyway, for french clubs, I did celebrate OM's win, though I felt the games against Moscow was clear cheating (1-1 in the first game in a hard fought match, and suddenly, the russians couldn't cross midfield in the return game).
I have fond memories of these european cup years (french teams started to be competitive), and a lot of frustration.
I clearly remember one game that was absolutely incredible between PSG and Real Madrid. Real won 2-0 in the first game, and PSG, after an absolutely brilliant performance (one of the best I've seen) wins 3-0 at the 94th. That's where a normal ref (meaning not paid by Real) whistles the end of the game. Well, he doesn't, and at the 97th (!), Zamorano scores the goal that puts Real in the UEFA semis.
But obviously, the ref couldn't whistle just after the goal, so he gave one last minute. Ginola (I think) managed to get a free kick from around 30-35 meters on the right side. Valdo (I think) shoots the last chance free kick into the box and ANTOINE KAMBOUARE, just like Zorro, comes up with the header and scores the 4-1 goal!
I also remember a great PSG CL campaign (the next year I think) where PSG won ALL its group game (Kiev, Moscow and Bayern) with an incredible Weah-Ginola combination. Weah scored one of the most beautiful goals ever in Munich to give PSG a 1-0 win.
Anyway, after these years of disapointments in the crucial games, we, french fans, finally had some years to remember.
The Euro 96, where we were eliminated in the semi penalties, but the 98 WC obviously, though I think I'm among the only fans that can honestly say we were DAMN lucky to win it with such a crap of a coach (golden goal against Paraguay, penalties against Italy, 2 goals from Thuram, who had never scored with France in the semis), and then the magnificent Euro 00, where we also had some luck, but this time, we played exciting football. Henry, Trézéguet, Wiltord, Zidane, Barthez, Pires were all at their best.
We had some luck in the quarters (Raul missed a last minute penalty), but it must be said the penalty was an absolute joke. We had some luck in the semis with the extra time handball.
And obviously, we beat the already celebrating italians after Wiltord last seconds heroics and Trézéguet's golden goal.
WC 02 and Euro 04 were both huge disappointments, since we probably had a top 3 team on paper.
I've seen a lot of live games in Paris, Nantes, Rennes and Caen, but obviously, nothing comes close to Le Parc des Princes, where you can still hear Platini's celebrating Euro 84 it seems.
Le Stade de France is beautiful, very nice, and we did win the WC in it. But I don't think it will come close to Le Parc des Princes, which is an amazing stadium.

My work is CPE, Conseiller Principal d'Education, something that only exists in the french education system.
I take care of kids in all aspects of their scolarity. Family problems, problems with a teacher, problems with their level in specific areas of their education, helping them finding the best way to achieve their goals, etc...
Basically, I'm a teacher of everything except the topics seen in class.

EDIT : forgot to say I used to play in a special pre-pro academy football school where I've played with several pros. I used to play either LB or LW. I lost interest around 12-13 years old, and I started playing tennis. Even though I was probably less good, I had more fun. I've stopped tennis (due to lack of time) around 20 years old.

Picture :

I'm Rich, Im from Rugby, England, and I now live in Detroit, MI. I'm 21.

I manage a hockey shop here in Detroit, and I will be joining the US Air Force in the fall. I will be doing sattellite imagery analysis.

Favorite teams: in England, Liverpool, Coventry City, and I casually like Chelsea. I'm also a big Celtic fan.

My favorite players are mostly English of course. Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, and Owen are the top 4 I suppose, with my all time favorite player being Gary Lineker.

As far as expectations for this World Cup, I think England has a good chance to compete for the trophy. The injury to Rooney will hurt our chances, but I think that people will be surprised at how well Owen and Crouch perform together. I think we have one of the best midfields in the world, and our goaltending has improved immensley since 2002. With Seaman gone, its addition by subtraction.


Also being born in South Africa, and living in Rugby for a majority of my life, I'ma big rugby fan. My favorite rugby teams are Newcastle, Coventry, and Broadstreet RFC.

My favorite football memory would be watching my adopted country (USA) take on my home country (England) in Chicago last summer. Obviously there weren't too many big name players, but it was really cool to see 30,000 England fans in Chicago. Another couple memories were watching Sweden play Brazil in Detroit at USA94', and also seeing Steve Froggatt's last game for Coventry, due to a nasty tackle by Nicky Suthersby. *******!

Favorite rugby memory would be watching England beat Australia in Sydney to win the Rugby World Cup, local time here was 4 am if i recall correctly!

Name: Sampo
Born: 1981

Favorite club: Manchester United
Favorite national teams: Finland, Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Spain...in short, any team featuring silky skills throughout their lineup. ;)

Football career: short. Very short. Zero games played for amateur or professional clubs so far. I was the fattest, laziest, slowest, shyest and altogether crappiest player in my class until the age of 11 when I started to lose weight and train on my own. By the end of senior high, I had managed to earn a total of 1 cap for my class. I'm proud of that cap, since most of my classmates (girls included) had played for a team at some point in their life.

Ball juggling record: 1239 using feet only. I quit counting after breaking the 1,000 mark for the first time.

Playing style: odd. Very odd. I have trained in two things for the past 13-14 years: juggling and tricks. And these days, just tricks, using nothing but my feet. I can't shoot, pass, tackle, run, cross, head, throw or defend at all, I hate getting exhausted with a passion, my first touch is horrendous and my decision making takes longer than covering the Great Wall of China in graffiti, but I have more flair than the Brazilian national team put together.

Other football memories: I started following football ca 1990, but at first it was occasional at best and mostly restricted to international games. The first game I can clearly remember was the final of the 1992 European Championship, which I watched with my two cousins who both played football. The older one had bet on Denmark's victory and ended up winning a bottle of Pepsi from his friend. I on the other hand had turned into quite the glory hunter and was hoping for the favorites Germany to win. We naturally played our own little Euro 92 final in their backyard during the break and after the game, and I'm pretty sure it was then when I fell in love with football.

I still remained a glory hunter, though, and it wasn't until the 1994 World Cup when I started appreciating skilled, attacking minded football over mere results. Romário, Gabriel Batistuta and Bebeto were the undisputed stars of the tournament for me. USA 1994 was the first international tournament in soccer I really paid attention to, and it still is THE World Cup from my point of view.

In club football, the first favorite I had were Leeds from 1992 (guess why...) until 1993-94. From that moment on, I have stayed loyal to Manchester United, but to be honest I have never been as passionate about teams as I am about players. Winners come and go each season like in every other sport, but players are what make this game so fabulous. Competing is just one tool for making the game more entertaining - that's my way of looking at it. :)

Favorite players:

-->1994 Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and...Bodo Ilgner
1994-95 Romário and Gabriel Batistuta
1995-98 Ryan Giggs, Gabriel Batistuta, Peter Schmeichel, Patrick Kluivert, Gary freakin' Neville and Joonas Kolkka (forget Litmanen - back in the 90's, Kolkka was the greatest thing since sliced bread!)
1998-00 Denílson, Ryan Giggs, Gabriel Batistuta and Mikael Forssell
2000-01 Denílson, Ryan Giggs, Cristian Chivu, Iker Casillas and Mikael Forssell
2001-03 Denílson, Pablo Aimar, Ryan Giggs, Cristian Chivu and Iker Casillas
2003-05 Denílson, Pablo Aimar, Ryan Giggs, Mika Väyrynen and Alexei Eremenko Jr
2005--> Denílson, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Aimar, Lionel Messi, Ricardo Quaresma and Alexei Eremenko Jr

Best performance(s) by a player I can remember: Diego Maradona against England and Belgium in the 1986 World Cup :bow:

Best performance by a sub I can remember: Denílson against Turkey in the 2002 World Cup :amazed:

Best performance by a winger I can remember: Ricardo Quaresma's total ownage of Glasgow Rangers in the UEFA Champions League group match on November 23rd, 2005 :clap:

I guess I'll be the true American and give too much information since this is the getting to know each other thread.

My name is Chris. I'm 31 years old (though I don't look over 25-26, and a woman just asked me if I was 25 the other day), but I don't feel that old. I am definately going backwards a bit. When I was 21 I acted like I was 30. Now that I'm 31 I act like I'm 21 sometimes. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin here in the States. I am in retail management for a big clothing brand, Banana Republic. I won't post a url for Banana Republic, but a search should yield you the site if you're at all curious. It's a division of the Gap Inc., of which I'm sure you're all aware. I have two degrees: History and International Studies (International Relations). I also minored in Economics, Policitical Science, almost English and almost German. Of course I have yet to pursue a career in any of those areas. I have my own home here in Milwaukee which is a condominium. It's a new place, but it's in an old warehouse. I am currently single (though a few girls seem to think otherwise) and have never been married (though I'm starting to get ready so long as I can find someone I like who's not a psychopath). In my free time I like to watch Barça, go out (though i've been cutting back a lot lately), go to concerts/listen to music, hike, watch television, work out (well I don't like to do it), play tennis, go to the movies (though I don't do it nearly enough anymore) and go out for dinner.

Milwaukee is a city you're probably not too familiar with. It's a smaller city with about 600,000 people, but when you add the suburbs it's must be at least 800,000. It's in the midwest as your'e probably aware, but I would add the upper Midwest. It's definately different than the lower Midwest and unlike a lot of States in "Middle America", it's still a Blue State (thank God - though not by much)! Actually Wisconsin did have a history of being a pretty progressive state in the past in terms of politics. Heck, Milwaukee even had a Socialist mayor not that long ago (which is unheard of in the States). People from Wisconsin have a reputation for being nice/friendly people in the rest of the country (based on what I've been told/experienced). Wisconsin is very rural with a large portion of farms, but also very natural. "Up North" has some amazing lakes and forests, but it's also like that around here too. Milwaukee as a city is a working class town, but it's really changed a lot in the last 10 years or so. Despite the population decline, it's definately growing. The new addition the art museum is beautiful. There are a ton of new condo projects going up all over the city. It was thought that all these condos would saturate the market, but that hasn't happened yet. There are new bars and restaraunts opening up all the time, and these are very nice and different places. I was in Chicago for a weekend last summer (and go there often enough) in one of it's nicer neighborhoods (Lincoln Park), and all the bars were the same. In Milwaukee the bars are a lot different (or at least you get different types of bars). Anyway, as I said Milwaukee is changing a lot. The freeway system was considered one of the worst in the country, but that's being changed in a 10 year project that's been underway for some time. Milwaukee is considered a city of neighborhoods, but it is very segregated. Still there are some great neighborhoods in the city. All along the lake for a width of about 3 miles heading north to south are all pretty good areas/neighborhoods. Last summer I took my cousins and aunt on a two hour driving tour throughout the city and they were all pretty shocked. They're all from the Denver area and were surprised on what Milwaukee had to offer. Milwaukee is considered a German city, and I suppose for the States it is. Still I don't think it's that German. We do have at least 3-4 German restaraunts though. Milwaukee, is also considered a beer city. Brew City is a nickname. Miller is still here and there are other breweries, but not like it was back in the 1950's or so. Milwaukee is also a city of festivals. All summer long there are festivals and fireworks at the lake (there is a festival park there). There is German fest, Festa Italiana, Irish Fest, Mexican fest (though it's called something else), Indian Summer Festival (native American), Bastille Days (French, though not on the lake). The biggest festival though is Summerfest. It's a 10 day music festival at the lake. It has about 6-8 stages that are free with paid admission. You can also see the "bigger" shows on the mainstage for a price. You can do a Summerfest search to see what it's about. There is also food there. Summerfest attracts people from all over the World. I only go for the concerts myself. Every few years there is a Harley Davidson Biker celebration in the city. Harley Davidson is of course still here in Milwaukee. Cool looking bikes, but they're too loud (and the company doesn't have to make them that way). Last thing about Milwaukee, we may be getting a MLS franchise. I'd be surprised and I don't know how well it'd do, but I do know it's serious and where they'd put the stadium. My boss is related to one of the main guys trying to get it to happen. Madison is the other main city in Wisconsin. It's more of a really big town. It's a college town. I like Madison, but I don't love it as much as most. It is considered one of the ten best cities to live in here in the States though. Finally, in case you hadn't already heard the Green Bay Packers are the biggest thing in sports here in Wisconsin.

So back to me. I really do like my job most days, but I need to make some hard decisions about my future. I'm currently looking into getting a Culvers franchise (you can do a yahoo/google again). That would be amazing, though I don't know that it'll happen. As for now, I am in charge of Human Resources, Operations and Sales at my store. I have a big role in the back of store part of things and really running the store. The best part of my job though is on the salesfloor though interacting with people. I get great benefits including a lot of paid time off/vacation time. I get about 6 weeks a year (which is a lot for here in the States) and I'm currently sitting on about 9 weeks. Still I don't see it as my final career. I've turned down promotions and moves to Chicago plenty of times. If the Culvers thing doesn't go through, I'll be looking at going back to school. Law school is my guess, but we'll see.

I'm a big music fan. Off the top of my head and in no particular order I like: the Beatles, Neil Young, Interpol, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, Travis, Beth Orton, Neko Case, the Grateful Dead, Wilco, the Strokes, Pete Yorn, David Gray, the Clash, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Chemical Brothers, Johnny Cash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Beck, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Air, REM, the Arcade Fire, the Smiths/Morrissey, Bob Dylan, the Beta Band, Ryan Adams, Coldplay, David Bowie, Radiohead, Norah Jones, Iron & Wine, etc. I know I'm missing a lot here, but the bands in bold are who i've been listening to lately. Like I said earlier, I also like to go to shows. In the last year I've seen Interpol twice, Aqualung three times (once with the cool Mr. Cary Brothers, the other time with promising Perishers of Sweden), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club twice, David Gray twice (once with Aqualung opening), Neko Case (who I am in love with both literally and figuratively), Martha Wainwright twice (once opening for Neko), Doves, Franz Ferdinand with Death Cab for Cutie (Franz Ferdinand blew Death Cab away), Beck, Pete Yorn, Wilco and I think that's all. I'll be seeing Wilco again at Summerfest, for free. If I had to name my favorite bands right now (keep in mind this always changes/fluctuates), I'd say: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Interpol, Neko Case (she's in the New Pornographers BTW), the Doors, Neil Young.

As for films, my favorites include: O' Brother Where Art Thou, Big Lebowski, SLC Punk, Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Trainspotting, American Beauty, Tarantino stuff, About a Boy, Gosford Park, Jane Austen stuff and that's all I can think of. I honestly have fallen behind in movies. I really need to catch up. As for television, I really only watch HBO and Fox Soccer Channel. I like pretty much everything HBO: Deadwood (LOVE this show, best ever), Six Feet Under (also great), Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Carnivale, Entourage, the Sopranos, Sex and the City, Da Ali G show, Real Time with Bill Maher, the Wire, etc. All HBO shows of course, but Deadwood and Six Feet Under are by far the best.

Politics. Yes, politics. I'm very opinionated and I do have strong feelings about certain issues. The issue that I feel most strongly about is the environment and energy. I'm middle of the road when it comes to where I stand, but in the States that now means left of center. That's fine by me considering the people who've been running the show the last six years. I'd have taken Bush to the cleaners in a debate back in 2004, unlike that you know what John Kerry.

Food. Nobody mentioned food. Odd that it'd be me since I'm a picky eater. Actually I've been getting better over the years. I love what I consider American food. I love grilled food (chicken, American bratwurst, burgers, steak). My favorite food is pizza though. I could eat it every day. Milwaukee is actually a really good pizza city and i've been to a number of places. I like basic Italian food and some Mexican as well. After pizza though, I am a dessert freak. I love dessert. Fortunately I'm capable of holding back with all these sorts of food (notice they're all bad for you).

So as for being active, I am just getting into hiking again. I started playing tennis again last summer. I don't really play football anymore, though I played from about 6-8 years old until I hit college. I always played either midfield or defense. I was best suited as a striker though. I played baseball and basketball growing up too and was pretty good.


Favourite football team: FC Barcelona. I also like Ajax a bit and keep an eye on Celtic. I like to have a team I support in every country, but I haven't decided or felt anything yet for a number of leagues. Anyway, nobody compares to Barça for me. My favourite footballers are Puyol, Xavi and Ronaldinho. From the past I like Pep Guardiola, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane.
NT: More England and Holland. I follow most of the bigger European NT's though. Spain simply because of Barça's contingent.
Teams I hate: Real Madrid, Espanyol, Juventus

NHL: Montreal Canadiens. My favourite player is Steve Begin. I also like Saku Koivu. I hate the Bruins (though I like Bergeron) and the Leafs. I don't mind the Canucks in the West.

NFL: Not a fan really. Like it better than baseball and certainly the NBA. Still, I do like the Green Bay Packers. Very proud of the team and it's history.

NBA: SUCKS! Basketball is so ridiculous to me. Hate it. Only team I like in basketball is Barça.

Baseball: Embarrassing sport. Sick to think of all that's gone on with steroids. I used to like it more, but it's a joke now and if I had been a fan I'd have walked away anyway.

Racing: I used to follow F1, but I don't really anymore.

Cycling: Noticed some of you lads like it. I usually watch the Tour De France every summer, but that's about it. Still I like to follow the tour update shows.


Footballing memories. Well I didn't actually start following football until 92-93. Back then all I could get was the Eredivisie. I remember just seeing Feyenoord every match, until they finally showed Ajax. So I quickly took a liking to Ajax. Then the Premiership came on. I preferred Man Utd, but it was more the players that I liked. I liked Cantona and Keane. As the 90's went on football coverage grew here in the States. I began to see La Liga matches in 98-99, and that's when I started supporting Barça. It was actually after seeing them in the CL and sort of part of the Dutch revolution that happened. I quickly preferred the non-Dutch players though. Guardiola, De La Pena, Figo (despise him now), Stoitchkov (though he more fringe at this point) and Rivaldo. I feel as though I was a bad luck charm though at this point since we went 6 years trophyless after I started supporting them. Here are some memories off the top of my head:

2001. Rivaldo hat trick puts Barça into the CL. I remember the match was delayed until midnight. So I ended up watching it/taping at the same time. I didn't know the scoreline either. What a match though. And what a performance from Rivaldo. Not only did he bag the hattrick and singlehandedly secure a CL place for Barça, but he the quality of all three goals. The third and winning goal still gives me goosebumps. I also still remember Gaspart celebrating just like every other fan in the stands

2000. Barça beat Chelsea 5-1 to advance in the CL. The fans in the entire wing put up the 2-0 signs at the beginning of the match. Then of course Barça took it to the next level. It was just such a great response after the first leg. I remember Rivaldo being really fired up after one goal.

2005. First Clasico of the 05/06 season. Barça crush Madrid 3-0. Awesome demolition of our most hated rivals. Huge performance's from Messi, Ronaldinho and Eto'o. Messi proved he was a man for any doubters and Ronaldinho simply destroyed the Madrid defense. This victory was probably the sweetest of them all for me.

2004. Second Clasico match against Madrid in the Bernabeu. We had been on a great streak and were just flying up the table when only months before it seemed as though we wouldn't even get European football for the first time in the club's history. I still remember Ronnie simply lifting it over the defense for Xavi to flick home. Then of course the run continued and we finished second.

2004. First Clasico of the 04/05 season. We dispatched of Madrid for the second match in a row. Not as great a performance as in 2005, but a convincing enough win with some Madrid folly to boot. Eto'o of course starts his revenge mission on Madrid and it's still going on.

2004. Second group stage match against Milan. Didn't seem like a huge match going in, but Barça definately wanted the win. We really pressured them during the second half, but we just couldn't get that final goal. Then of course Ronaldinho took the ball and schooled Nesta blasting in that rocket. What a goal.

2005. Last season's CL. First leg against Chelsea at the Camp Nou. Plenty of controversy in this one, but what a great performance for Barça supporters. We set a CL record for shots and just kept pressuring them. Both Eto'os and Maxi's goals were thrillers I thought. I remember the Camp Nou going nuts too. My screen saver used to be of Eto'o going to the crowd after his goal with the players following. Xavi is congratulating Maxi who is pointing to Eto'o. Puyol is running behind Eto'o. The fans though are what do it in that pic. One guy is just jumping and looks like he's going to land badly. There are huge club flags and Catalan flags in the crowd too.

2004. During that stretch run in the 03/04 season. We faced Depor and won 3-2. I still remember that goal by Saviola (or was it Xavi). Both were involved anyway. Great match though as it kept the run going against a tough side who really gave us a game of it.



My first WC memories were from '94. I'd just started following the game a year or so before and it's the first time I remember the WC being on television. Baggio, Romario, Stoitchkov, Klinnsman all impressed me. I wanted Italy to win the final, but that was then and I had no favourites. WC '98 was more enjoyable for me since I actually knew the players at this point. I remember the Holland/Argentina match along with England/Argentina most. I loved seeing Brazil get spanked in the final too. WC '02 doesn't seem four years old, so we'll wait on that one 'til next time. As for the Euros, I preferred Euro 2000 to Euro 2004. Euro 2000 was a great tournament I thought. Some really great matches and some good runs by teams. It really put the Euros up there for me.


OK, so that's a lot of stuff. Typical American, too much information. I've been working on this a little at a time though. I'll post a pic if somebody tells me how. I have one saved in "My Photos" in my computer. EDIT Added photo.

I quickly preferred the non-Dutch players though.

Boooo!

So you liked all of the remaining 3 players? ;)

At one point I believe there were 9 players in the selection (Bogarde, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, Overmars, Kluivert, Zenden, Cocu, Reiziger, Hesp) with 7 often starting if I'm not mistaken. Then there was van Gaal behind the bench..

Good times..

Anyway, you can attach photo's under additional options --> manage attachments.

Boooo!

So you liked all of the remaining 3 players? ;)

Hey now. I always liked Cocu and actually defended the Dutch players a lot back then. I was always a big Litmanen fan too, though he didn't really do anything at Barça.

I currently LOVE Frank Rijkaard and Ten Cate. There was a huge dispute within the club revolving around these two guys and Sandro Rosell as I'm sure you know. This was one of the factors for Rosell leaving. I also like Gio and van Bommel. They're not the best players at Barça, but they definately add something to the side.

2001. Rivaldo hat trick puts Barça into the CL. I remember the match was delayed until midnight. So I ended up watching it/taping at the same time. I didn't know the scoreline either. What a match though. And what a performance from Rivaldo. Not only did he bag the hattrick and singlehandedly secure a CL place for Barça, but he the quality of all three goals. The third and winning goal still gives me goosebumps. I also still remember Gaspart celebrating just like every other fan in the stands


Oh boy I remember that one too! :bow:

I think it's quite amazing how quickly people seem to have forgotten how brilliant a player Rivaldo used to be.
Ronny's much better dribbling and much faster obviously, but at times the way Rivaldo would control and shoot a ball with his akward style.... simply amazing



Nice post by the way. Don't worry about giving too much information, those who wouldn't be interested wouldn't read it anyway.

Oh boy I remember that one too! :bow:

I think it's quite amazing how quickly people seem to have forgotten how brilliant a player Rivaldo used to be.
Ronny's much better dribbling and much faster obviously, but at times the way Rivaldo would control and shoot a ball with his akward style.... simply amazing



Nice post by the way. Don't worry about giving too much information, those who wouldn't be interested wouldn't read it anyway.

Rivaldo was indeed special. It was really sad to see him go, but then his time had gone. His performances had gone down hill a bit. I personally prefer Ronaldinho. His attitude and the way he's taken to the club makes him tough not to love. Rivaldo always sulked a bit much for most people. That didn't bother me so much, but couple that with his moaning from time to time and it was annoying. Still, he did have to deal with Van Gaal.

"...those who wouldn't be interested wouldn't read it anyway." :biglaugh: Gee, thanks. :biglaugh: ;)

Juni. Tell the folks at SI that the next EHM game needs an editor to come with the game.

O' Brother Where Art Thou


Ding Ding Ding - we have a winner :D :bow:

Ding Ding Ding - we have a winner :D :bow:

Hehe. A bit surprised that one of you would like it. It's very American too me. LOVE the music in the film. George Clooney is great too. I always tell my friends they're "dumber than a bag of hammers." :D OH, and I LOVE Papi O' Daniel!!! He's always ripping on his son.

Son: "Hey Papi, you gonna press the flesh and do some politickin'?"
Papi: "You thick-headed son o' b*tch! We're not not one at a timin' here. We're mass communicatin'!"

That´s just a marvelous film. Do you like some more rat ? :biglaugh:

Another good one is Safecrackers :)

Duh! I completely forgot one of my favorite players! Rivaldo was pure brilliance at the turn of the century. :o :blush: :help:

We don't get much good soccer/football coverage here, virtually no european stuff

I care most for the US national team when the WC comes around, those games are always great.

For club teams, I root for the New England Revolution in the MLS, as they're the local team.

I want to get into the FA Premier League next season. There's no tv coverage here, but I'm gonna see if I can follow it online. I think I'm gonna root for Manchester City, for two reasons. 1.I like their blue uniforms and 2.All you ever hear is Man U this and Man U that...City looks to be underappreciated...like the Mets to United's Yankees...

Nice to hear about some of the people. I seem to be the youngest on here by quite a few years. Except for a couple, I think most of you guys have at least 6 years on me.

I liked O Brother Where Art Thou a lot as well. My favorite movies are No Man's Land (Bosnian film about the war between Bosnia and Serbia) and Michael Collins (about the famous Irish revolutionary).

I got a few pics of myself on the computer, but they're all from a formal I just went to, I'm usually more of a t-shirt and jeans type of guy.

We don't get much good soccer/football coverage here, virtually no european stuff

I care most for the US national team when the WC comes around, those games are always great.

For club teams, I root for the New England Revolution in the MLS, as they're the local team.

I want to get into the FA Premier League next season. There's no tv coverage here, but I'm gonna see if I can follow it online. I think I'm gonna root for Manchester City, for two reasons. 1.I like their blue uniforms and 2.All you ever hear is Man U this and Man U that...City looks to be underappreciated...like the Mets to United's Yankees...


Being a Revs supporter you must be as pissed as I am that Twellman didn't make the WC squad.

As for the Premiership, it's already on television in the States. All you need is Fox Soccer Channel.

As for Man City, I'd wait to watch a full season or so before you decide who you're going to support. City aren't underappreciated. They have at least half of Manchester and probably more I'd guess. They're more the working class club of the city. They also just got a brand new stadium as well (at what cost I'm not sure). They have some famous supporters in the Gallagher brothers of Oasis (who've been rumoured in the past to be future owners) and boxer Ricky Hatton (who fights next week on HBO). Anyway, get some matches under your belt before you decide. You may very well find that you like someone who you've not yet seen.

More from O' Brother:

"Mrs. Hogwallop up and r-u-n-n-o-f-t."

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"This stew's awful good."

"Think so? I slaughtered that horse last Tuesday. I's thinking she started to turn."

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"I know we're kin, but they got this depression goin' on..."

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"This place must be a geographical oddity, two weeks from everywhere."

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"I don't want Fop God damnit, I'm a Dapper Dan man!"

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"I'll press your flesh you dimwitted son a *****."

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"He's the reform candidate Pappy. People like that reform, maybe we should get us some."

"I'll reform you ya soft-headed son a *****. How we gonna reform when we're the damn incumbant?"

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"You work for the railroad old timer?"

"I work for no man."

"You got a name mister?"

"I have no name."

"Well that right there may the reason you've had difficulty finding gainful employment."

Being a Revs supporter you must be as pissed as I am that Twellman didn't make the WC squad.

I don't get why Arena left him off. Ching's a good player, but they're going to need goals off the bench, as their spot in the round of 16 could very well come down to goal differential. Twellman has led the MLS in scoring a couple times and was MVP. Why would you take Ching off the bench over Twellman?

Anyway, get some matches under your belt before you decide. You may very well find that you like someone who you've not yet seen.

Good point. Are any of the matches streamed over the net? I did watch a bit of a Man U/Man City match that played on Fox Sports a couple years ago, and that's where I first saw and started liking City(it was a home game for them, and I liked the atmosphere in the stadium with the big rivalry between the two Manchester teams). I'd have to see more of everyone to determine who to root for in the end, as I have no home team being across the ocean from them all.

OK, I know this is late but I figured some of you may be interested.

Teams:
Sunderland AFC. The only team that I really care about, the others are much less important to me and temd to come from me liking one player on the team at some stage.
Anyway back to Sunderland. When I was born being from East Durham meant being a Sunderland fan. My dad passed it on to me, and I'm passing the pain onto my son. Supporting a team in the north-east really isn't like supporting a team from anywhere else in England. Sunderland have given me many wonderful memories, our 92 FA Cup run, our English point breaking record promotion season, the consecutive 1-2 victories over Newcastle, that sort of thing. However it has also lead to me supporting the worst team ever in England, twice. Plus the recent humiliation of losing 4-1 to Newcastle.
My favourite Sunderland players are: Niall Quinn, Don Goodman and Martin Smith. Julio Arca is likely to join this list soon.

Other teams:
Rangers: I was a huge fan of Chris Woods, and later Ally McCoist, despite being a Catholic.
Milan: Marco van Basten was my favourite player throughout the early 90's and so started following Milan. Seeing the way Milan played and their players made up for much of Sunderland's awfulness.
Barca: This is tied into politics and the whole Catalan 'nation', as well as reading 'Homage To Catalonia' at an impressionable age.
Porto: I liked Vitor Baia, but was very happy when Sunderland beat Porto 2-1.
Gladbach: My wife, and especially brother-in-law, and Gladbach fans.
Marseille: I was a huge fan of Chris Waddle. Basil Boli gave me the fear though.

Other sports:
Durham CCC (Cricket)
Montreal (NHL)
Green Bay (NFL)
Boise State (NCAA Football)

And I've seen the Beta Band live.

Rangers: I was a huge fan of Chris Woods, and later Ally McCoist, despite being a Catholic.



:yo:
Wednesday player :)

Gladbach fans, funny thing...still in search for the new 'Fohlen' era , eh ? ;)