Monday, October 14, 2024
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Hope and Glory The Official History Of The England Football Team
In 2004, world football's governing body, FIFA, formally recognised China as the birthplace of football. Although it is unlikely definitive proof will ever be unearthed, recovered artefacts in particular balls and drawings depicting early games - suggest that the Chinese played a sport known as tsu chu or, more popularly, cuju as early as 2,500 BC. This involved kicking an animal skin past 9-m (30-ft)-high bamboo poles and was probably part of military training. The ball would later become round and less likely to burst, and the goals would be made smaller. By 200 BC, cuju had spread to the upper classes and there were even professional players, several of them members of the Chinese royal family, who enjoyed staging cuju matches at diplomatic events or feasts. The rules became increasingly complicated, with a points system for performing particular manoeuvres and a number of judges keeping score: matches were watched by thousands of fervent supporters and players gained fames for their exploits on the field. Women were as likely to take part as men, and the game also flourished in some pans of Korea and Japan until medieval times...
Premier League 2011 2012 Chelsea Manchester City
Stamford Bridge
En cette fin de semaine de décembre, le moral est loin d'être le même dans les deux camps. Chelsea sort d'une mini-série de deux victoires contre la surprenante équipe de Newcastle d'abord, puis contre Valence en Ligue des champions. Les Blues ont conservé leur avance sur Arsenal en Premier League avant d'assurer leur qualification en Ligue des Champions avec la réception des Espagnols. Ces deux victoires trois buts à zéro, si elles ne permettent pas aux hommes d'André Villas Boas de rêver, leurs permettent au moins de se sentir à l'aise, en bonne confiance après un mois de novembre très compliqué avec trois défaites et un nul. Du côté de City, la situation est complètement différente. La victoire à Norwich la semaine dernière est déjà oubliée. Ce succès n'était qu'une simple formalité et elle est loin de satisfaire les supporters. Ce qu'attendent les fans des Skyblues, c'est du lourd. Et l'élimination en Ligue des champions ce mercredi, malgré une victoire 2-0 contre le Bayern, ne va clairement pas dans ce sens. Les Citizens s'y voyaient déjà, ils pensaient dominer la compétition comme c'est le cas en championnat. Mais le groupe de la mort leur a été fatal et ils n'abordent surement pas de la meilleure des manières ce choc du week-end. Surtout que les hommes de Roberto Mancini ont aussi en tête le match de dimanche prochain, encore contre un londonien : Arsenal.
FA Cup 1995 1996 Final Manchester United Liverpool
11 Mai 1996
Wembley Stadium
L'ennui d'une rencontre qui s'éternise comme une partie d'échecs ne désarme pas l'enthousiasme des 80 000 spectateurs de Wembley. Les chants se répondent par-delà le fatras d'actions inachevées, et la prolongation pend au nez de tout ce monde. Encore cinq minutes de jeu. Il n'y a plus grand-chose à espérer et plus personne ne croit désormais à l'impossible exploit. Soudain la balle voltige au-dessus des têtes. David James, le gardien de Liverpool, a bien cru s'en débarrasser en la dégageant du poing n'importe où. Heureusement. Éric Cantona a compris avant tout le monde. Placé en embuscade à l'orée de la surface de réparation, il s'est mis à reculer en attendant le rebond. Déjà sa jambe droite a amorcé la frappe. Fouetté de volée, le ballon transperce la défense avant d'atterrir dans le but de Liverpool.
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FA Cup 1978 1979 Final Arsenal Manchester United
Finale12 mai 1979
Wembley Stadium
Can just five minutes of football earn a match the billing of being 'great'? For all ihose who witnessed the incredible last five minutes of the 1979 FA Cup final the answer has to be a definite yes. Arsenal were back at Wembley a year after losing to the only goal of the match by Ipswich Town hero Roger Osborne. The game had been a personal nightmare for Irish international midficld master Liam Brady, who had unwisely played when less than fully fit and he had been unable to make any son of impact on the match. Brady was determined to make up for the heartbreak of 1978 against Manchester United, a team making their thin] FA Cup final appearance in four seasons. They had been stunned to defeat by Southampton in 1976 and had returned to Wembley the following year to sink mighty Liverpool. United, with former Arsenal coach Dave Sexton as their imaginative manager, had cleared ihe Liverpool hurdle again after a replay in the semi-finals to earn a place in the 1979 final. Arsenal had survived a dramatic five-match third-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday and eventually got to Wembley via a 2-0 semi-final victory over Wolves.
Division One 1978 1979 Manchester City Chelsea
20 Janvier 1979
Main Road
Never at any time during the nine long months of the 1978-79 season did it seem remotely likely that Chelsea could avoid another relegation experience. One bad result followed another with depressing regularity and when Shellito resigned in December the position was once again one of desperation. By appointing the legendary Danny Blanchflower, the famous Irish international and captain of the Spurs 'double' side, as his successor, the directors took a gamble. Since his playing career ended in 1963 be bad been out of the game and working as a sports journalist. He simply loved football. He was a theorist who would expound his ideas to many an enthralled audience who might, or might not, he able to follow his reasoning. Certainly his players at Chelsea never responded to his rhetoric, or fully understood where he was trying to take them. Players moved out. Some like Bill Garner were pensioned off, others brought in cash to fill up the empty coffers, among them Steve Wicks and Kenny Swain who threw in their lot with Derby County and Aston Villa respectively. Blanchflower's recruits included Duncan McKenzie, a mercurial figure and brilliant artist with the ball, and Kamonn Bannon a Scottish half-back from Heart of Midlothian who, sadly, never settled into the Knglish game. And with Bonetti's 21-year Chelsea career finally over, his successor was the Yugoslav keeper Petar Borota. Brilliant one day, awful the next. Never consistent, he loved to entertain the crowd with his unique brand of showmanship and clowning. The Chelsea fans took him to their hearts, prepared to overlook his blunders and frequent disasters. Meanwhile, Chelsea managed a mere five League victories and their total of 20 points was a new, and unwanted club 'record'.
Main Road
Never at any time during the nine long months of the 1978-79 season did it seem remotely likely that Chelsea could avoid another relegation experience. One bad result followed another with depressing regularity and when Shellito resigned in December the position was once again one of desperation. By appointing the legendary Danny Blanchflower, the famous Irish international and captain of the Spurs 'double' side, as his successor, the directors took a gamble. Since his playing career ended in 1963 be bad been out of the game and working as a sports journalist. He simply loved football. He was a theorist who would expound his ideas to many an enthralled audience who might, or might not, he able to follow his reasoning. Certainly his players at Chelsea never responded to his rhetoric, or fully understood where he was trying to take them. Players moved out. Some like Bill Garner were pensioned off, others brought in cash to fill up the empty coffers, among them Steve Wicks and Kenny Swain who threw in their lot with Derby County and Aston Villa respectively. Blanchflower's recruits included Duncan McKenzie, a mercurial figure and brilliant artist with the ball, and Kamonn Bannon a Scottish half-back from Heart of Midlothian who, sadly, never settled into the Knglish game. And with Bonetti's 21-year Chelsea career finally over, his successor was the Yugoslav keeper Petar Borota. Brilliant one day, awful the next. Never consistent, he loved to entertain the crowd with his unique brand of showmanship and clowning. The Chelsea fans took him to their hearts, prepared to overlook his blunders and frequent disasters. Meanwhile, Chelsea managed a mere five League victories and their total of 20 points was a new, and unwanted club 'record'.
Manchester City Legends Lee, Bell, Sommerbee
Employed nowadays on the club's commercial side, Mike Summerbee is still a familiar and much-loved Maine Road face. He first arrived in the summer of 1965, the second signing by Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. A crowd-pleas ing and direct player, at home on the wing or at centre forward, Summerbee played his early football with Swindon Town. His debut for City came at the start of the 1965-66 season, a season in which he didn't miss a single game and City were Division 2 Champions. An influential part of City's triumphs during his time there, his biggest disappointment was missing the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup final with a leg injury. one-time part owner of a Manchester boutique with George Best, Summerbee has developed a successful shirt business alongside his work with City. His father George, and his son Nick, have also played league football, thereby guaranteeing the name Summerbee remains in the record books. A regular after dinner speaker and someone who always has time for the fans, Mike Summerbee will be forever associated with City as a member of the great trio alongside Francis Lee and Colin Bell.Manchester City A Club In Crisis 1980 1981
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