HIROKI SAKAI

Hiroki Sakai is a Japanese player who plays as a defender. He started to play in the youth team at Kashiwa Reysol in the period of 2003-2008. He is 23 years old now.

 

Hiroki was born in Kashiwa, Japan. From 2009-2012 he played in the Kashiwa Reysol senior team. He made a total of 51 appearances and scored 2 goals. After playing so well he went to play in the Bundesliga with Hannover 96. With Hannover 96, he has already made 13 appearances with no goal.

 

Hiroki as he joined Hannover 96 from Kashiwa Reysol.

Photo by: www.fifa.com

Hiroki for Kashiwa Reysol vs Neymar for Santos in 2011 FIFA club confederations Cup

Photo by: www.sport.orf.at

Hiroki for Kashiwa Reysol vs Club de Futbol de Monterrey

in 2011 FIFA club confederations Cup.

Photo by: www.fifa.com

It is Hiroki , the machine at work for Kashiwa Reysol

Photo by: www.nippon-ganbare.com

Hiroki for Kashiwa Reysol vs Auckland City 

in 2011 FIFA club confederations Cup.

Photo by: www.zimbio.com

Hiroki in one of Hannover96 practice sessions.

Photo by: www.hannover96.de

Hiroki also participates in the Japanese national team. He is not yet to score any goal but he has made a total of 12 appearances. Hiroki is only 23 years of age and he is the pillar for the Japanese football and the Japanese national team. With a player like him, something productive is expected. Joining Hannover 96 from Kashiwa Reysol is a huge advancement for the Japanese youngster. This will give him a lot of experience which in turn will contribute to the Japanese national team.

 

Neymar's Santos VS Hiroki's Kashiwa Reysol. See for yourself.

 

 

 

Before playing for the senor team, Hiroki played for the Japan U-23 a total of 17 games and won 2 goals. In 2011 he won the J-League best 11 award. Hope he will follow the successes of Hidetoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura.

KIM BO-KYUNG - CARDIFF CITY STAR

Kim Bo-Kyung is a South Korean footballer who currently plays for Cardiff City in England. He started to play in the youth team at Hongik University in the period of 2008-2009. In 2010-2012 Cerezo Osaka signed him and he played a total of 41 games and scored 15 goals.

 

Kim in one of the matches against Blackburn Rovers.

Photo by: www.zimbio.com

 

 

While under Cerezo Osaka, Kim was transferred on loan to another Japanese team called Oita Trinita in the J-League 2nd division. He played successfully while on loan and he appeared 28 times for Oita Trinita and scored 8 goals.

 

Kim among Sheffield Wednesday defenders

Photo by: www.zimbio.com

 

 

In 2012 he was sold to the English side Cardiff City. His first goal for Cardiff was in the match between Cardiff and Blackburn Rovers, where Cardiff won by 4-1. He helped Cardiff to win the championship and qualify directly to play in the premier league in the next season.

 

 

Cardiff City vs Crystal Palace-Carling Cup.

 

 

 

Kim has a good record in the South Korean U-23 team. He won the bronze medal in 2010 in the Asian Games. Kim also won the bronze medal in London Olympics in 2012 with the U-23 squad.

JAPANESE U-23 TEAM (1)

The Japanese U-23 soccer team is a strong base for players in the Japanese senior team as well as the domestic league known as J-League. The team has been playing in the Olympic Games since 1936. In the Olympic Games which were hosted in Germany, the Japanese U-23 reached the quarter finals. This is a remarkable history for the team as it is not always easy to reach the quarter finals in such a big tournament as the Olympics.

Japan vs Spain in 2012 summer Olympics

In 1936 the Japanese U-23 squad allowed 10 goals and it scored only 3 goals. This shows that the forward line did not score many goals to advance further in that competition. 3 goals only are not enough if you expect to reach the finals for example.

In 1956, the Olympic Games were hosted by Australia. The Japanese team did not do well as compared to 1936 record. It was defeated in the 1st round and that was the end of its expectations. In that tournament the Japanese team did not score any goal and it allowed a total of 2 goals.

In the summer Olympics of 1968, the Japanese squad did very well in its history. It won the bronze medal just after Poland which won the silver medal and Hungary which won the gold medal. Japan started its campaign in group A with Spain, Brazil and Nigeria. Japan played its first match in October 14th against Nigeria. They defeated Nigeria by 3-1, in an event which the Japanese player Kunishige Kamamoto scored the hat trick.

Their second match was against Brazil whereby Watanabe of the Japanese squad scored the only goal in the late minutes to equalize the match. The match with Brazil ended at a 1-1 draw. Their 3rd tie was against Spain and it was a goalless draw. Japan qualified for the next stage after becoming 2nd in group just below Spain. It had a total of 4 points just one point below Spain who had 5 points.

Japan faced France in the quarter finals and they defeated France by 3-1. This gave them a ticket to play in the semi finals.

One of The semi-final matches was between Hungary and Japan. Japan suffered a defeat of 0-5 from Hungary.

In October 24th 1968 Japan played against Mexico. The hosts were severely beaten by the Toyota makers. Japan won the match by 2-0. This was the bright shine for the Japanese team. It is my hope that one day Japan will reach the world cup final before it can take it.

MARIUS STANKEVIČIUS-THE LITHUANIAN CAPTAIN

Marius Stankevičius is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays in the serie A in Italy for S. S. Lazio. Mrius is now 32 years of age. He is the captain for his national side. He has apent most of his football carrier in other European countries especially in Italy.

 

In 2001-2008 Marius played a total of 157 games for Brescia and he scored a total of 12 goals. 12 goals is a good record for the defender because no one expects the defender to play on the goal-scoring role. In 2010-2011 Marius was taken out on loan basis in the La Liga in Spain where he played for Sevilla and Valencia before returning back to Italy and joining Lazio.

Marius in Spain when he played for Valencia against Barcelona.

As expected Marius started to play football in his home soil in Lithuania. His 1st club was Ekranas FC. He played a total of 87 matches for Ekranas and he scored 3 goals. After playing successfully for Ekranas FC he went to join the Italian side Brescia.

Marius in Sampdoria shirt

Marius was selected as the Lithuanian footballer of the year for two years in a row, 2008 and 2009. He won two Lithuanian cups with Ekranas FC in 1998 and 2000. Marius also won the Lithuanian Super cup with Ekranas FC in 2000. He has something good in his CV so far. In Spain where he spent some time on loan he won the King’s cup with  FC Sevilla. With S. S. Lazio, Marius added something important in his CV and history by winning the Italian Cup or Coppa Italia in 2012/2013 season.

Marius wonderful goal against Spain.

Marius has played for the Lithuanian National Team since 2002. He has appeared 62 times for his country, and he has netted a total of 5 goals. In 2008 World cup qualifying match with Romania, Marius scored an opener, in a victory of 3-0 against Romania.

LA MASIA

La Masia was established in 1979 after being proposed by Johann Cruyiff the former Barcelona player. Cruyiff was inspired by the home academy in the Netherlands where he himself grew into a wonderful footballer.

Some wonderful Skills from La Masia

Cruyiff was reared by the Ajax Amsterdam FC youth Academy. In his proposal, Cruyiff was trying to inject the techniques and basics of youth football to Barcelona. This has marked for the recent success for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team in particular. The La Masia class of 1987 was so wonderful. That class consisted of Fabregas, Pedro, Pique and Messi has come to realize the dream of Johann Cruyiff for establishing the academy.

Some goals from the La Masia kids

Each year the boys from the age of 6 to 8 try to get in the acdemy, and normally it is only about 200 boys who will be selected to enter. From the age of 7 until the age of 18 La Masia has a total of 16 teams at different ages. Imagine the strength of a midfield player like Sergio Busquets, and we come to realize how important is La Masia in grooming the young talents for spain and for Barca as well. La Masia is a reality. La Masia is not a day dream. La masia is a power house for Spain and Barcelona.

Mikel Arteta is one of the strong midfield players for Arsenal AND HE Graduated from La Masia in the class of 1982.

FC SPARTA PRAHA

A club like Sparta Praha has a huge history in both the old Czechoslovakia and the current Czech Republic. Most wonderful players for Sparta Praha used to be in the National team. The trend for this pattern to continue looks to stumble somewhere because currently the national team of Czech Republic consists of many players from other major European leagues. That is to say we are now missing the real taste of Czech Republic soccer style. The home talents have no other option than to dream on playing outside their country.

Sparta Praha squad.

Photo by: www.theoffside.com

Jiri of Sparta Praha celebrating a goal with his teammate.

Photo: www.zimbio.com

Sparta Praha was established 119 years ago. It is one of oldest teams in Europe. It is older than AC Milan and Real Madrid. In the previous season Sparta finished in the 2nd position. Sparta Has been managed by about 58 different managers from 1907 up to now. From 1985 to 2013 Man United was under Sir Alex Ferguson only. In the same length of time Sparta Praha has been under a total of 29 coaches. Is this trend favourite for football development?

 

Chelsea vs Sparta Praha early in 2013

 

 

In more than 10 years back from now, the only coach to stay with the team for a long time is Jozef Chovanec who managed the team from 2008 until 2011). Sparta Praha has been the venue which makes good players who normally go outside the Czech Republic to play. Such players are such as Jan Koler, Ptrick Berger and Peter Cech .

 

 

AZAM FC IN SOUTH AFRICA

Azam FC is a new emerging soccer team in Tanzania. It now enjoys a 5 years old time since its establishment. In the previous season it fought hard in the Vodacom Premier League and ended in the 2nd position. This ensures Azam FC for a chance to play in the CAF cup in the next season. It is managed by an English coach called Stewart Hall.

Mwaikimba of Azam FC after scoring a goal.

Photo by: www.makoleko.blogspot.com

Azam FC has decided to travel to South Africa pre-season matches. It has already played one match with Kaizer Chiefs FC and went down by 3-0. After suffering that defeat Azam FC side has given some reasons for the defeat. They say that the cold weather was a big problem for their side. They have also played against Mamelodi Sundowns FC and they won in that match by 1-0. The goal from Azam FC came from Gaudence Mwaikimba in the 74th minute after netting in the header from another Azam FC player called Atudo in the right wing.

This is a second match played by Azam FC in South Africa so far. Azam has played another friendly match today 9th August against Orlando Pirates before finishing their pre-season schedule with Moroka Swallows FC. The match was played in the morning and it was so hard for Azam FC because of the adverse cold weather in South Africa this time. Orlando has won the match by 2-1.

 

The only goal for Azam was netted in by Jabir Aziz. This pre-season match time table will strengthen Azam FC physically and tactically for the next season. May be they will take the trophy in the Vodacom Premier League next season.

FC GOMEL FROM BELARUS

Gomel football club is a football soccer team based in Belarus. The club has a very long history which starts from the pre-soviet era to the soviet era to the post-soviet era. There has been a change in the name of the team in all that time and the current name is FC Gomel. The club was found in 1959 and it uses the Central Stadium.

 

 The Central stadium has a capacity of 14,037. It participates in the Belarusian Premier league. The home colours for FC Gomel is white for both a t-shirt and the short. Green is used as an away colour by FC Gomel.

Liverpool vs FC Gomel in Europa League in 2012

In 1959 the team was called Lokomotiv Gomel and in 1978 it was Gomselmash Gomel. The changing of team name appeared about 5times before gaining the current name which it is using currently. This is a very wonderful history but it is  normal to different teams all over the world. The difference is the number of times that the team name is changed. For example Simba sports club of Tanzania  was known as Sunderland before later being changed to be Simba. The change appeared only once.

Artur Liatvinski of Gomel agaist Steven Gerrard of Liverpool(2012)

Photo by: www.dailymail.co.uk

Fc Gomel has been under 19 different managers from 1990. That might be the reason as to why the team can not advance further and gain more development in and outside Europe. From 2005 the team was under different 8 managers. this is an average of  1 manager per year. This is a huge problem to FC Gomel and Belarusian football in general.

FC Gomel has won the Belarusian Premier league once in 2003. The team has also won the Belarusian cup in 2002 and again in the year 2011. FC Gomel has won the Belarusian Super cup only once in its history and this happened in the year 2012.

Liverpool vs FC Gomel highlights in August 2012

The current squad consists of 31 players of which 3 of them are foreigners. The foreign players are from Estonia, Ukraine and Lithuania. Of these foreign players there is Andrei Sidorenkov, a 29 years old defender from Estonia. He also played in the Estonian national team from 2004 until 2011. He made a total of 21 appearances for Estonia with no single goal. In 21 appearances which he made for Fredericia  FC in 2012, he has scored a total of 2 goals. Fc Gomel is the 10th club for his in his carrier. He probably has a lot of experience from different leagues, different countries and different teams.

 

 

MÁRCIO RICHARDES DE ANDRADE-URAWA REDS STAR

Marcio is the Brazilian player who plays in the midfield, as an attacking midfielder. His current team is Urawa Red Diamonds which participates in the Japanese premier league famous as J-League.

 

Marcio in one of the matches for Urawa Reds

Photo by: www.foxsportsasia.com

 

 

 

Marcio is 31 years old and he joined Urawa reds from another Japanese club called Albirex Niigata, the club which he played a total of 107 matches and scored a total of 38 goals.

Marcio is an experienced player who has played in 10 different teams before coming to play in the Japanese league. His last club whch he played before coming to Japan was known as Sao Caetano FC, a team based in Brazil.

 

Marcio in mid of Muang Thong United from Thailand.

Photo by: www.zimbio.com

 

 

In 2010 Marcio won the J-League best 11 award. He has already played a total of 22 matches and scored a total of 2 goals.

 

Urawa Reds vs Gamba Osaka in 2012 Highlights.