THE ROUND OF 16 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2012 REAL MADRID AND BARCA

This 2012 will bring us another important tournament THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE . This coming edition  has amazing matches in its Round of 16.

Matches and dates are the followings: 

ROUND OF 16 

GROUP STAGE

FIRST LEG

February 14th, 2012

vs

LYON                                   APOEL

Stadium: Stade de Gerland Lyon (FRA)

VS

  Bayern                                               Barcelona

Stadium: Bay Arena Leverkusen (GER)

February 15 , 2012 

VS

ZENIT                        BENFICA

Stadium: Stadion Petrovskiy, St Petersburg (RUS) 

       vs  








MILAN                   ARSENAL

Stadium: Giuseppe Meazza, Milan (ITA)

FEBRUARY 21 , 2012 

vs

CSK MOSKVA                        REAL MADRID 

Stadium: Stadion Luzhniki, Moscow (Rus) 

VS

NAPOLI                          CHELSEA

Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Naples (ITA)

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

VS

MARSEILLE                       INTERNAZIONALE

Stadium: Stade Velodrome Marseille (FRA) 

VS

BASEL                          BAYERN 

Stadium: St. Jakob -Park Basel (SUI)

These will be the first leg matches the second leg will be posted in a few days . Wait for the best football in the planet. 

FIFA GOLDEN BALL 2011 AND MESSI

Lionel Andrés Messi an argentinean who was born in Santa Fe can become part of football history. At the age of, 24 Messi is a  finalist for  The FIFA GOLDEN BALL award that will be given this coming January 9th. 

Messi could win the award  the third time in his football career. In the previous editions of the Gala, Messi was nominated with one of his teammates and friends Xavi Hernandez. This year Messi is a finalist with Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernandez. 

Messi´s ability with the ball and dominance on the pitch make him unique and the best football player on the planet. 

On the pitch one can enjoy watching Messi playing with elegance, a wonderful understanding of the game and quick movements that allow him to givve the right pass at the right moment. Messi is the worst nightmare  for defenders and a dream come true for Barcelona.

Messi has just one thing to achieve in his career as a professional football player which is to win titles with the Argentinean National Team. In  Southafrica 2010, Argentina disappointed many people and in Copa America 2011, Argentina didn´t take advantage of playing at home and lost the chance of winning something important. 

However Messi is still a young player with a brilliant present and a wonderful future. We just have to enjoy watching this amazing wizard of the ball who will win Golden Ball this year!

THE WINNER OF THE UEFA EURO 2012 POLAND-UKRAINE WILL BE....

 UEFA EURO 2012 is every day closer and people around the world have already chosen their favorite team to win this important competition . FIFA's official website have asked to  their visitors who they think will emerge triumphant from the competition. You can check what people say here : http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=1544185.html 

Most of the visitors say that either Germany or Spain will win the EURO. 

Most of the participants in surveys in different forums  mention  three National Teams as the strongest teams in the competition. 

SPAIN

NETHERLANDS

GERMANY

Spain has shown in the recent years that they are a strong team with many skillful players like Xavi, Iniesta, and David Villa, players who make the difference in important matches as they did in the last World Cup in Southafrica. They are strong candidates to win the EURO 2012 this year. 

We also have Netherlands. A very experienced team with lots of stars like Van Persie, Sneijder,  and Robben. Netherlands will show in this EURO that they are always in the poll showing why they are in the second place of The FIFA world ranking. 

Germany, the third one in FIFA world ranking, is the strongest candidate to win this coming EURO 2012. For many reasons Germany has enchanted many people with their fast-paced and attractive play. The effectivity they show at the moment of attacking is an attribute that makes Germany one of the best  teams at the moment of attacking. We have to remember last World Cup in which Germany scored 16 goals. Germany is a young team with rising stars like Oezil, Goetze, and Muller.  There are also stars that show their best in each match they play like Miroslav Klose, Philip Lahm ,and   Bastian Sweinsteiger. 

Germany will show in this EURO that they have learned from previous experiences and that now they are able to win. 

Who will win this EURO 2012 ? For sure, it will be the best team in Europe. The team that shows magic, elegance, effectivity and courage.  Meanwhile , let's enjoy every single match of this coming competition. 

MESSI , CRISTIANO, AND XAVI FINALISTS FOR THE GOLDEN BALL 2011

THE TOP PLAYERS ARE AT THE TOP AGAIN 

Lionel Messi , Cristiano Ronaldo , and Xavi Hernandez  are the three candidates for the Best Player award for 2011 given by "FIFA" and  and the French magazine "France Football". According to the media , the Argentinean who has won the Goden Ball the last two editions,  is the favorite candidate to win it this year.

At the age of 24, Messi can be the third player to win this award three times and the second one to win it in a row. 

 Closer in the number of votes is the portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo who has won  it before  in 2008 while he payed in Manchester United. 

Xavi Hernandez was the third nominated for the award . The midfielder from Terrassa who turns 32 this year has been nominated for this award three times. In 2010 many people believed that he  could have won it since he was the creator of the game that led Spain to win the World Cup, but his friend Messi won it. This year will be a new chance for Xavi to win the award. 

FIFA and France Football  will announce  winner in the second gala of the Golden Ball Cup ', which will take place on January 9, 2012 . 

LA LIGA SPANISH FOOTBALL IS AT THE TOP

Nowadays Spanish football shows once again that they have the best players and clubs around the world. In fact as the following add shows it is La Liga that moves the planet...or world . Check  Andres Iniesta and Iker Casillas showing how that is possible. 

Many people have said that La Liga is not fair since just two teams ( Barcelona and Real Madrid ) compete most of the time for the titles. I totally agree with the previous information but for me it shows the fantastic football level that every team must show to be in the first places of La Liga.  It should be hard for the rest of the teams to compete against two of the legendary teams in the planet. France Football recently showed the list of the best 11 players of all the clubs around the world and nine of them play in la liga . Seven players from Barcelona and  four from Real Madrid. Theres is another list in which journalists from the planet voted and the dream team according to them will be the following :  

No doubts about it for many people ,  La Liga is the best football league in the whole world. 

ALL ABOUT UEFA EURO 2012 POLAND UKRAINE

The UEFA EURO 2012 POLAND-UKRAINE  is every day closer. All football lovers around the world are waiting eagerly to enjoy this wonderful competition that will take place in Poland and Ukraine. Many details about this event have been revealed up to know, this blog will discuss some interesting things about this memorable event in football. 

The two host countries are POLAND AND UKRAINE . These neighbor countries will show and share their beauty with all the visitors. 

THE STADIUMS

The stadiums  are distributed in the two countries. They are the following ones: 

Beautiful stadiums if you want to  see the way they look in real life just visit the link below : 

http://girlslovesoccer.blogspot.com/2011/12/uefa-euro-2012-poland-ukraine-stadiums.html 

THE TROPHY

Now let's talk about the cup that will be given to the UEFA EURO 2012 winner. 

The first model of the European Championship was made in 1958 by goldsmith Chobillon and then bought by Arthus-Bertrand in Paris. The design of the cup was not changed for more than  40 years but in  Euro 2008 held in Austria and Switzerland, the design of the trophy was redesigned. The new trophy is 18 cm tall and weighs two pounds more than the original. The trophy  is made of sterling  and silver, and has retained its historical name.

The new Trophy was created by Asprey London. Among the small differences between the original and current trophy, is the basis of silver, which has been lengthened to make the cup more stable. In addition, the names of champions countries before appearing on the pedestal, have been placed  at the back of the trophy.

Beautiful trophy!!!! 

THE MASCOTS

Every competition needs to have a mascots or mascots and this UEFA EURO 2012  is not the exception . 

These friendly boys are two brothers that wear uniforms with the color of the flags of Poland and Ukraine. Their names are  Slavek and Slavko .Pretty cool brothers. 

 To learn a little bit more about FIFA and their mascots through the world cups VISIT the link below. 

http://girlslovesoccer.blogspot.com/2011/07/mascots-of-fifa-world-cups-since-1966.html 

THE HOST CITIES 

The host cities in Ukraine expect a considerable amount of visitors during  all the matches of The  European Football Championship in 2012, for that reason they are offering   safe rooms in hotels, dormitories and hostels  to all the visitors .Alternative accommodation is also going to be available.

Also in  Kiev, in the recreation area Podgortsy village  guests of the capital may not only see the live matches of the tournament  but  also live there. It is planned that the area can accommodate more than 30, 000 fans.

According to the manager of group of companies "Fan-EURO 2012," Igor Kovalevich, which is quoted by the newspaper "Segodnya" will  have an  area of 30 hectares and consist of four parts. "We took into consideration the preferences of all visitors. " said Kovalevich. 

That's fantastic..!!!

THE REFEREE AND HIS ASSISTANTS 

The Referee also plays an important role in every football competition and EUFA EURO 2012 will have many of them and we hope the best around the world to participate in this EURO. 

The salaries that the referee and his assistants  will have is unknown but they will have a lot of money for sure. Let's make number comparing the previous competitions.  During Euro 2008, the referee took € 10 000, two assistants(linesmen), € 5 000, the fourth official   € 4 000,  and the fifth official, € 3 000. At Euro 2012 it is planned to use six their salaries, of course, go up (if you consider inflation and other factors, we assume 1.5 times) and so we obtain that the group of referees will get  € 35,000 for a match  during the European Championships in Ukraine and Poland. Making numbers we have that for 31  matches the UEFA will pay  € 1.000.000.000 . Impressive!!!

I want to be a referee!!!! 

TICKETS TO SEE THE MATCHES

You do not need to stand in long lines to buy your tickets to see the matches. You can buy them on line at  the UEFA official website. The most expensive tickets are located in the central parts of the stadiums and they cost  € 120 -600  the other tickets cost              €  70-330 . You can also watch the matches by € 30-50 but You will watch them form the low parts of the stadiums .You can also support your country by buying all the tickets of your favorite team in the Option "My stadium" . WoW!!!Well , It relly doesn't matter where you watch the matches, at home , in a restaurant, wherever you watch them make sure of having fun and enjoying this wonderful competition. 

CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT UEFA EURO 2012 POLAND-UKRAINE