Article in the Star

There were an article on Wed. July 30 in the Kansas City Star Newspaper, talking about soccer. I thought I will comment a little....
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Soccer players driven by dreams

The American market is huge for soccer. There are 4 millions registered male players. While these kids are often clumsily trained and lack creativity by Europeans standards, there are nearly as many of them as there are people in Ireland.

In their view, the U.S. system of developing players is broken. It is oriented around affluent, suburban teams supported by parents and organized clubs. They are puzzled by the emphasis on winning trophies and make money.

The system is based on who can afford to pay for their kids. We have some organizations that make a huge profit and don’t give anything to the kids. FC Porto is club at Johnson County, who believe in teaching core skills above all else and give scholarship to some of its players.

Why can Wizards sponsor scholarship? Why do we have to travel? With 4 millions of players, do we have enough talents? And it is not at 16 years old that you are going to develop a player but when they are 10. But until we get a sponsoring system that profit is not involve, clubs or organized programs will still emphasis on winning.

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Wizards against Columbus

The Kansas City Wizards stretched their unbeaten streak to five games Thursday with a thrilling 3-3 tie against the Columbus Crew in front of a national television audience on ESPN. Kansas City and Columbus combined for five first-half goals, the most in MLS this season. Newly signed forward Josh Wolff then converted a late game-tying goal in his first match back with Kansas City.

That was the highlight of the game. Finally we were glad to see Josh Wolff replacing Sealy who went to San Rose and scored for his first game.

Now we still have a big issue! How do we lose a lead in 12 minutes? How is it possible? If I was Cerner I will start to ask the coach what is going on!!!!

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Wizards beats Red Bulls

Jimmy Conrad scored his career-high and team-high fourth goal of the season and Davy Arnaud tacked on his first goal of the season as the Kansas City Wizards edged the New York Red Bulls, 2-1, Thursday in Major League Soccer play from Kansas City's Community America Ballpark.

That is the highlight of the night!

Hartman: he was one of his good day but I don't know if he lost his voice or what...there is no communication between his defenders.
Harrington: the best blue for me! He controls the left back and plays very well with Lopez
Sealy: I am going to try to stay calm... but he can't pass, he can't jump and he can't run. Why do we bother?
Morsink: one thing we can say, he is better than Savagnin! Did not create much but he was there when we need him.
Conrad: always doing his part! Good thing we have him!
Trujillo: I think he is still looking for his marks but he is working a little harder than mr Sealy.
Lopez: he is interested to watch. He seems that his back hurts because when he is running, he makes small steps but when he explodes, wow he is fast. Without him there is no team.
Espinoza: came at the 63rd minutes - exchange with Lopez and Lopez went to take Sealy spot. As soon as he was on the field, Reb Bulls came on the left side... I don't understand!
Well I will stop here because it is very pathetic to watch this team or maybe I should not call it team because we can see there is some tensions between the players, some frustrations. I don't see Wizards going too far if the coach don't start to think differently!

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Juggling

Ball control is an essential component of soccer. Players with good ball control carve up the field with exciting dribbles and cuts, while those without it often lose the ball to their opponents. Although it's simple, juggling is one of the best ways to improve ball control. It only takes a few minutes of training a day, but it produces noticeable results.
Step1 Pick the ball up and hold it out in front of you.
Step2 Drop the ball to your feet or thigh and kick it back up into the air. Use the base of your big toe to make contact with the ball.
Step3 Catch the ball with your hands after kicking it once. This is the basic movement behind juggling.
Step4 Drop the ball to your feet again and kick it twice before catching it. You can use the same foot for both kicks or you can alternate feet. Alternating is a good idea during training, because it strengthens your weak foot.
Step5 Count the number of times you kick the ball up before it hits the ground. Practice juggling until you can beat your record.
Step6 Master the basic juggling technique before trying more advanced moves. There are dozens of freestyle soccer moves that build on this basic technique, but you need a solid training foundation to do them well.

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