Sunday, November 30, 2008

Manchester United



Manchester United is a very popular soccer team amongst soccer fans. They have won many championships in Europe, and are known for many of their great players. They became the first European club to win the European Cup in 1968. Red and Gold are Manchester United's team colors and they are known as the red devils. Since the 1990's they have became one of the richest soccer teams in the world and are one of the top two teams in Europe. Soccer fans cant deny that Manchester United is a great team and today have some of the best players including Cristiano Ronaldo.-Timothy Menjivar




Sunday, November 16, 2008

France


France has several soccer teams which are all managed by the French Football Federation. Their biggest team, which competes within FIFA, is the France National Football Team, also known as Les Bleus (The Blues). The national team is currently ranked 12 in the FIFA rankings though they actually made it to the finals in the 2006 World Cup. France was defeated in the final round by Italy with a score of 5-3. 
Despite doing very well in the World Cup, France did not make it into the quarterfinals of the Euro 2008 cup. This marked the end of ten successful years of competition. Although they did not do well in the most recent Euro Cup they have qualified for the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.


Sunday, November 9, 2008

South Africa


The Republic of South Africa is host to several soccer teams. Association soccer in South Africa is somewhat complicated. The South African Football Association (SAFA) is the association that governs all soccer in South Africa. Soccer is composed of several leagues, its number one league being the Premier Soccer League, and its number two league is the National First Division. From there each league is made up of several teams which are called clubs. The sixteen best clubs in South Africa make up the Premier Soccer League. 
South Africa has competed and done very well in tournaments around the continent of Africa and in tournaments around the world. They are members the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which hosts tournaments all over the African continent.
South Africa is currently ranked number twenty in the CAF and eighty-five in the world. Though they are not ranked very high on the global scale South Africa is holding the FIFA World Cup in 2010. 

Senegal!







We have talked about teams in the United States, Europe, Asia, etc so now we are writing about a team in Africa. Senegal is from the African continent and made there first world cup appearance in 2002. In there first game of the world cup they had a huge upset beating world cup champions France 1-0. Also in 2002 they became the second team in the African continent to make it to the quarterfinals but lost against Turkey. They go by the nickname Les Lions de la Teranga (Lions of Teranga) and there team colors are red, white, green and yellow. They didnt make it to the world cup in 2006 but hopefully they will make it in 2o10. - Timothy Menjivar



Sunday, November 2, 2008



The current German national football team has been in existence since 1990, when the East German and West German teams combined after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since the two teams combined they have become one of the foremost teams in Europe. Though they do not always place first they are consistently within the top five. In 1993 Germany was ranked first in the FIFA world rankings. They are currently ranked third, in front of Brazil and behind Italy. 
Germany was the host of the most recent World Cup, which was held in 2006. Throughout the event, Germany scored a total of 14 goals, which was more than any other team. In addition to being ranked third by the FIFA world rankings, Germany placed third in the 2006 World Cup. Germany is unique in that it has qualified for every World Cup it has entered. In the UEFA Euro 2008 Germany made it to the final match, only to be defeated by Spain.