Football: The Benefits Of Getting Children Into Sports From A Young Age

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Children always obtain some valuable active skills by playing football. They only need to be provided with suitable team wear and sports equipment, and then get recruited into the right classes for their age to help enhance their development. Football games for kids facilitate both physical and mental growth, and also helps improve their social skills. While there are so many other sports that a child can take part in, the benefits that come with football cannot be overlooked –the main ones include the following:

Confidence

A football game involves many players, and this means that as a child takes part in the game, they get to interact with other children and as a result they are able to blend in and belong. In addition, while playing a game, the child will receive encouragement which will subsequently enhance their confidence level and they will therefore be able to handle different issues better.

Enhancing Sociability

There are children who may naturally want to just keep to themselves due to shyness, but as they play football, they will not only learn how to respect others, but they will also see the importance of working in a team. Having the same team wear also provides them with a sense of belonging and this consequently enables them to develop a great sense of esteem and camaraderie.

Football: The Benefits Of Getting Children Into Sports From A Young Age

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Chelsea Win Europa League; Set New European Record

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Europa League Trophy

It was a moment of joy as Chelsea finally ended the 2012/13 season by lifting the Europa League trophy at the Amsterdam ArenA at the expense of Benfica on Wednesday night. Goals from Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanovic were enough to give the English side victory, thus making them the first team ever to hold both the UEFA Champion’s League and the Europa League trophies the same season.

The match started on a very good note for the Benfica players as they clearly dominated the first half, making the Blues look ordinary. The Portuguese team mesmerized the audience as they dribbled and distributed their passes with precision. However, poor finishing was to cost them the trophy later as they failed to take their chances especially in the first half.

Chelsea Win Europa League; Set New European Record

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Chelsea and Benfica to Face Off in Europa League Final

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The 2013 Europa League semi finals have seen some serious upsets in the soccer community after Benfica eliminated Turkey giants Fenerbache on 3-2 aggregate after beating them 3-1 in their second leg match at the Estadio da luz in Lisbon. Fenerbache had beaten Benfica by 1-0 in their first leg encounter in Turkey. Against all expectations, Chelsea beat FC Basel to see them go through to the final.

Chelsea advanced to the finals with a comfortable win of 3 goals to 1 and a 5-2 aggregate when they beat FC Basel at Stamford Bridge. Fernando Torres and Victor Moses maintained their high scoring standards and each put a ball in the net for Chelsea, both scoring within 3 minutes of each other in the second half. David Luiz stunned the crowd with a curled goal that ended the match with a 3-1 score and secured Chelsea’s place in the final on the 15 May at the ArenA in Amsterdam. Luiz will be playing against his former club teammates and hoping to repeat his goal success of the semi final.

Chelsea and Benfica to Face Off in Europa League Final

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Bayern Munich Humiliate FC Barcelona Out of Champions League

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It was completely unbelievable as Bayern Munich of Germany humiliated four time UEFA champions FC Barcelona, out of the 2013 UEFA Champions’ League on Tuesday night at camp Nou. It was a night Barcelona players and their supporters would never love to remember in their lives.

The Munich players came to Camp Nou with a 4 goal advantage, having beaten Barca 4-0 in Germany a week earlier. The magic boys had hoped to upturn the table back in Spain; but how they intended to do that without their talisman, Lionel Messi, remained a pipe dream. It turned out eventually that Barcelona suffered their worst Champions league defeat ever by losing another 3-0 to Munich, thereby making it a 7-0 aggregate in favour of the Germans.

Lionel Messi watched with disbelief from the bench as Barca were torn to shreds. Messi has been down with a hamstring injury for some weeks and only managed to play in the second half of the match against PSG at Camp NOU in the second leg of the quarter finals. So, playing without him made Barcelona much uncoordinated, and without bite for the whole of the 90 minutes of play. The first half ended in a barren draw with the Germans looking more purposeful in front of goal.

Bayern Munich Humiliate FC Barcelona Out of Champions League

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Where to Watch Lacrosse, aka the Greatest Sport Ever Invented

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Lacrosse is popular in the U.S., and the greatest sport ever invented. The size of the sport tripled from 2010 to 2011 and isn't showing any signs of slowing down. The statistics were verified and complied in a report by The Atlantic news researchers.
However, the rate of exposure on primetime TV is having trouble keeping up with lacrosse's recent surge in popularity. In a country dominated by leagues like the NFL, it's tough for lacrosse to earn their spot on network TV. The NFL was the most watched “show” of any genre last fall. You need to watch Lacrosse … That's a lot to compete with, but it doesn't mean that there aren't ways to watch. Until the sport finally makes its way to networks like NBC and FOX, here are some ways to watch lacrosse games on TV:

ESPN U

ESPN is definitely on board with the madness. And while Lacrosse isn't yet making headlines on the two prime channels, your one stop for all lacrosse coverage and news is ESPN U. Different television packages vary on whether or not they offer ESPN U alongside basic channels, but if they don't, ESPN still has you covered.

ESPN 3

ESPN 3 is actually a website — not a TV station — so this is a great alternative if you don't have cable. ESPN 3 has live scores, rankings and news coverage — both collegiate and professional — and SportsCenter-style highlights from previous games. If you have an Xbox 360, you can even watch on your TV and avoid being stuck behind your laptop for an entire game.

Where to Watch Lacrosse, aka the Greatest Sport Ever Invented

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Nigeria Wins AFCON 2013; Beat Burkina Faso 1-0

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AFCON Trophy

It was a moment all soccer lovers in Africa and across the world had waited anxiously for; the moment when the champions of AFCON 2013 would be crowned. The Nigeria Super Eagles and the Stallions of Burkina Faso were the Last men standing. Other big names like Cote D’ivoire, Zambia, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and South Africa had all fallen aside.


The final battle was between Nigeria and Burkina Faso (both West Africans): Mali and Ghana had in the previous day slugged it out for the 3rd place match with the former emerging 3-1 winners against all odds.

With Emmanuel Emenike (Nigeria) and Allain Traore (Burkina Faso) both ruled out as a result of injuries, the match was certainly going to miss two of the tournament’s best strikers. Good news for the Burkinabes as Jonathan Pitroipa had been pardoned to play against the Super Eagles after his Red card in the semi final match against Ghana was cancelled by CAF.

The match was expected to be a tough one as it eventually turned out to be. The Nigerian Super Eagles dominated the first half of play, missing several chances that should have put them ahead in the early minutes of the match. It was obvious the absence of Emmanuel Emenike created a vacuum in the attack which Ikechukwu Uche, who was a little heavy could not fill. Ideye Brown could not convert a lot of scoring chances that came his way. Victor Moses kept producing those his flashy runs from the wings but nobody to bury the ball in the net.

Nigeria Wins AFCON 2013; Beat Burkina Faso 1-0

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AFCON 2013: West African Teams Square Up in Semi Finals

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Super Eagles of Nigeria

 AFCON 2013 has entered the Semi final stage and only West African teams survived to this stage. The surviving teams include the Super eagles of Nigeria, Black Stars of Ghana, Eagles of Mali and The Stallions of Burkina Faso. Nigeria squares up against Mali while Ghana squares up against Burkina Faso.

Mali’s coach Patrice Carteron has already admitted his side are the underdogs as they clash with the Super Eagles this afternoon at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban to determine who claims the Finals ticket. Considering the form of the Super Eagles and the confidence they exude after beating Cote D’ivoire (The tournament’s favorite) at the quarter final stage, the Malians would definitely find the Nigerians a hard nut to crack. Kick-off time for the match is 15:00Hrs GMT.



Eagles of Mali



Mali is ranked 25th in the world and 3rd in Africa while the Nigeria is ranked 52nd on FIFA’s list and 9th in Africa. The rank of the Malians would face a litmus test as they meet the Super Eagles this afternoon. Both sides have some quality players that can deliver, but the odds seem to favour Nigeria.



Black Stars of Ghana



Coach Stephen Keshi of Nigeria has been receiving accolades for taking the Super Eagles into the Semi final stage. Everyone has quickly gotten over the fears of the coach crashing the team in the group stage. So many soccer pundits had expressed fears the coach might fail at the preliminary stage just like he did with Togo and Mali when was coach of the West African teams in the 2006 and 2010 editions respectively.



Stallions of Burkina Faso



The second semi final match between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Stallions of Burkina Faso comes up by 6:30GMT at the Mbobela Stadium in Nelspruit. The Stallions are a very physically fit side with Traore and Pitroipa Jonathan that could be dangerous up front. However, having survived the scare from Cape Verde, Ghana looks set to withstand the Burkinabes.

AFCON 2013: West African Teams Square Up in Semi Finals

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Nigeria Super Eagles Beat Elephants of Cote D’ivoire 2-1 To Advance

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Super Eagles of Nigeria

The Super Eagles of Nigeria this afternoon proved soccer pundits wrong by beating the Elephant of Cote D’ivoire 2-1 in AFCON 2013 quarter final match in South Africa. It was a match many soccer followers never gave the Super Eagles chances of winning. However, the Nigerians came into the game highly determined to beat the Ivoirians whom they had never beaten in the last 4 games they met.

The Super Eagles did not really impress Nigerians in their group matches in which they drew against Burkina Faso and Zambia, and only managing to win the Ethiopians by 2-0 in their last match. But the match against the Elephants was a different ball game as the Eagles gave a very good account of themselves, dominating the first half of the game.

Elephants of Cote D'ivoire

The Nigerians were great in every area of the game, denying Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho and others the opportunity of running circles around them like they did in their group matches against Tunisia and Togo.

Emmanuel Emenike

Nigeria lost a couple of chances in the early moments of the game until Emmanuel Emenike drew the first blood in the 43rd minute of the first half after firing home Obi Mikel’s pass from the edge of the box to give the Eagles a goal advantage at half time. However, the Elephants came back strong in the second half and were able to get an equalizer in the 50th minute of play through Tiote who nodded in Didier Drogba’s freekick.   Nigeria took control of the midfield again and made sure they got a positive result at the end of the game. Sunday Mba scored the winner for the super Eagles of Nigeria after he single-handedly made a solo run across the Ivoirian defense line to blast home the second goal in the 78th minute.

Sunday Mba

Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi’s side would be meeting Mali in their Semi final match. Keshi has previously led Togo and Mali to AFCON and lost out at the group stages on both occasions; but now he has broken the jinx, leading the Super Eagles all the way to the Semi finals. Who knows, he might just end up winning the tournament for his fatherland, Nigeria.
What are your thoughts about the Nigeria/Cote D’ivoire match? Do you think the Super eagles deserved the victory or do you think Ivory Coast should have won the match? Share your opinions with us. If you love this, kindly share with your friends on Facebook and on Twitter

Nigeria Super Eagles Beat Elephants of Cote D’ivoire 2-1 To Advance

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