Spain's Casillas praises Costa Rica goal keeper

A month ago, Costa Rica delighted their fans with a remarkable 2-2 friendly draw with world champions Spain. The Central Americans’ goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, left the pitch highly satisfied with the result, and during his return journey to La Liga outfit Levante was even congratulated for his performance by Iker Casillas, his Spain counterpart and winner of the adidas Golden Glove at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.“I felt pretty comfortable during the match and was pleased by his comments," Navas told FIFA.com. "When the work that you put in is recognised, it makes you feel very proud. It’s a tough job that requires lots of time and effort.”

Navas would have been particularly content with his first-half display, during which his goal remained intact, despite numerous attempts by David Villa and Co. But by the final whistle he had conceded two goals. “Each one of us tried to give our all, but we can’t forget that we were playing Spain, who are not just any old team," said the man who was named top goalkeeper at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2009. "They really fought hard to get back in the game.”

On the verge of turning 25, Navas is currently experiencing something of a professional paradox. While enjoying first-team status with his national team, he has had to settle for a place on the bench at Levante.

“When I meet up with the national squad I have to completely change my mindset,” he explained candidly. “Obviously they’re different roles, but I still try to give 100 per cent and work just as hard in both situations."At Levante, it is the form of Uruguayan keeper Gustavo Munua that has blocked Navas’s path to first-team football so far. “It’s a bit complicated. My team-mates have been doing well, and I try to train hard and always make sure I’m well prepared, so that I’m ready to react should an opportunity arise,” stated Navas, who played in the Spanish second division last year with Albacete, following a move from Costa Rican heavyweights Deportivo Saprissa.

The words of his coach, Juan Ignacio Martinez, should offer him some encouragement. “Sooner or later he’ll get to take centre-stage, because he’s been training so well,” said the 47-year-old Spaniard.

Navas continued: “I try to show that I’m fit and that I’m ready should they ever need me. Right now I have to wait, but it’s always nice to see that I’ve got some support. I just need to be patient and wait for the right moment.”For the moment, he is content to enjoy the fine form shown by his team, who, with 15 matchdays gone, currently occupy an unexpected fourth place in the table, a position that would offer access to the preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League.

Navas commented: "We’re very happy about what we’ve achieved. It’s been difficult, but these points that we’ve gained will help us to remain in this division, which is our real goal. The players fight really hard, and it’s very rewarding to find ourselves in this position.”

Ronaldo Signs for Brazil 2014 LOC

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“Ronaldo was a fantastic player. Three times the FIFA World Player of the Year, he was also a world champion in 1994 and 2002, and took part in four FIFA World Cup finals in all, becoming the competition’s highest scorer of all time in the process,” No one who symbolizes Brazil's national identity better than Ronaldo, a man who’s proved that  Brazilians can reach the top,”  “Brazilian followed every step of his fantastic career and they know he’s the right man coming in at the right time.” Given his prodigious goalscoring record in FIFA World Cup  finals, Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima richly deserves his nickname of O Fenômeno. The scorer of 15 goals in 11 world finals appearances at France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006, having also made the Brazil squad for USA 1994, the legendary striker is the leading marksman in the history of the competition, striking a staggering 1.4 goals per game. Delighted to come on board, he would use his high profile to ensure that Brazil stages a memorable tournament: “It’s an honour for me to accept this great challenge. This FIFA World Cup is for the people of Brazil and I want to make my contribution. They’ll be monitoring preparations very closely and They’re going to show how proud we are to be hosting the World Cup.” There is more, much more, to Ronaldo than that landmark achievement, however. A role model to many, he has also set an example off the pitch, a fact he underlined once more on Thursday, Dec 08 2011 in accepting a position on the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Local Organising Committee Management Board.

23 recipients one award...who will win?

Eusebio the 69-year-old Portuguese legend told SporTV that he believes Lionel Messi deserves to retain the FIFA Ballon d'Or and that Neymar can become the best player on the planet. “Right now the best player in the world is called Messi, the Argentinian,” “He’s a player who deserves it.” Eusebio, who hit 41 goals in 64 games for Portugal, was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1965, ahead of Inter Milan pair Giacinto Facchetti and Luis Suarez. Lionel Messi, already won soccer's biggest annual individual prize in 2010 and ’11, and is hoping to become the first man to receive three successive awards. Eusebio reckons his status as the sport’s best player could be challenged by Neymar in the future. The Mozambique-born former Benfica striker said of the Santos teenager: “He’s still a young player, he has qualities. He could become the best in the world if he uses his head. “He has to prepare well physically, because he knows how to play with the ball. In Europe you have to know how to play and defend in terms of your body. Like I said, the future is in his hands and his head.” Messi is one of four multiple recipients of FIFA’s award for the world’s best player, along with Ronaldo (1996, 1997 & 2002), Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000 & 2003) and Ronaldinho (2004 & 2005). Alongside the Albiceleste captain and Neymar on this year’s 23-man shortlist are Eric Abidal, Sergio Aguero, Dani Alves, Karim Benzema, Iker Casillas, Samuel Eto’o, Cesc Fabregas, Diego Forlan, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller, Nani, Neymar, Mesut Ozil, Gerard Pique, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Wesley Sneijder, Luis Suarez, David Villa, Xabi Alonso and Xavi. The winner will be revealed at the FIFA Gala at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on Monday 12 January 2012. It will be very interesting to see who will get this well anticipated award with so many great players out there. If i can remember correctly i believe that at the end of the World Cup 2010 Diego Forlan won the golden shoe award and Iker Casillas won the golden glove award, with these awards recently handed to them it just comes to say that if Messi and Neymar want to win that award they're going to have to step up their game a bit!

The "underdogs" are moving up

World and European champions Spain remain unchallenged atop of this month’s FIFA/Coca- Cola World Ranking. La Roja’s having lost to England and draw with Costa Rica lost them

points, fortunatly for them their place on the global ladder remains unchanged. Just behind them, a shocking Germany is dangerously close to the second-placed Netherlands following their 3-0 victory in the match between the two sides. Right on their tale is Uruguay, who are continuing

to make progress due to their convincing 4-0 win over Chile in the South American Zone qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and a friendly defeat of Italy, which brought Cesare Prandelli's team's 13-game unbeaten run to an end. Within the top ten, England (5th, up 2) have climbed up the Ranking, as have Portugal (7th, up 1) and Croatia (8th, up 4) thanks to recent successes in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying. In the top 50, meanwhile, Czech Republic (33rd, up 14) and surprisingly Ecuador (42nd, up 10) have made the biggest jumps. The next three teams are currently in their highest-ever position since the launch of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking back in August 1993: Venezuela (39th, up 1), Cape Verde Islands (57th, up 9) and Antigua and Barbuda (83rd, up 7). What's even more shocking, Sao Tome e Príncipe (192nd, new) have been ranked for the first time in four years. In all, 131 international 'A' matches were played in the past month, of which 72 were Brazil 2014 preliminaries, eight were EURO 2012 qualifiers and the remaining 51 were friendlies. Seeing how much procress all these teams are making, even teams many of us never even heard of are doing, now really brings out the question will there soon be a new world leader?? Or better yet will an "underdog" win the world cup in 2014 over all the "strong teams"?? If all these "underdog" teams keeping jumping up 5, 10 up to 14 then Spain, Netherlands, Germany and Urguay better watch their backs. Did you guys notice that Brazil is not even in the top 5?....My point exactly!

11/11/11 .....an exciting day or a bad day??

11/11/11 was a day to remember for obvious reasons.....especially in the soccer world. This date for many is a curious date in the calendar but turned out to be a postive one for Uruguay especially for their striker Luis Suarez, with a 4-0 win over Chile that sent them straight to the top of the south american standings. With Suarez scoring all 4 goals to win Chile he is now with an impressive 26 goals in 52 appearances for his country's senior side. Unfortunatly 11/11/11 was not a date many Argentinians or Colombians want to remember, instead of gaining 3 points because they were the favourites to win against Bolivia and Venezula, they had to settle with a tie (a score of 1 point). For Colombia at first it seemed that they had the points in the bag because of an early score in the first half but it wasn't till late in the game that venezula's midfielder scored leaving the game as a 1-1 final. Argentina on the other hand was even more embaressed having only tied with Bolivia on home soil. Bolivia made Argentina sweat because at first it seemed that Bolivia was going to win that game with the first goal in the 56th min until finally Argentina was able to get on pass Bolivia. In the end you can say that Argentina underestimated Bolivia just like everyone else as well as Colombia underestimating Venezula. The only thing i can say about this whole thing is that we don't know who is going to win anymore. The "strong" teams don't seem that strong anymore it really just is anyone's game at this point. If this keeps up it may not even be a favourite to win the world cup (Spain, Brazil, Netherlands), it just may be that team that everyone thinks won't even make it out of the round of 16, that team that everyone keeps underestimating.......all i gotta say is that it's going to be one hell of a ride!!

Football! Hockey! Soccer???

Oh my goodness, where have the FIFA 2014 World Cup soccer qualifications news gone? Lately, all i've been hearing and reading is football and hockey news, not that that's bad thing but for us soccer fans, we need to be aware of what's happening in the soccer world! Right? Well, luckily for you, I have gathered some new information regarding the qualifications, but brace yourselves because for some, it may be shocking! So far the qualification rankings are as follows: 1) Spain, 2) Netherlands, 3) Germany, 4) Uruguay, 5) Portugal, 6) Italy, 7) Brazil, 8) England, 9) Croatia, 10) Argentina.

So, the 2010 World Cup finalists are in the top spots with the champions holding their first place, following the finalists, later comes Germany which is not much of a surprise for most due to the fact that Germany is a strong team. What is surprising and may be shocking for some is Brazil! 7th place! Once known to be one of the top five is now in the top ten and for some it's not pretty. Is Brazil no longer a strong team? Is the coaching not that great? what's going on? For Brazil fans, this must come as a surprise but remember my dear fans, it's not permanent yet, there's still room for change. Anything could happen, and trust me it will, after all, what may seem impossible for some, could end up being possible. Just ask Spain, who knew that they would win Netherlands, a strong team as well. Many didn't believe Spain could, but look they did! So, in a game where anything is possible, you just have to ask, will Ecuador ever make top ten? hmmm, my guess is not yet but there's still time. So to all my soccer fans out there, don't despair despite all of these football and hockey news, there is still some exciting soccer news hidden underneath it all, just waiting to be exposed. Afterall, soccer fever will always be among us, and I bet I could surely say that the fans will insure that it never dies! because when you hear that Portugal is 5th and Brazil is in 7th, you have to dare ask, what in the world's going on?

South America ready for the big kick-off

The region's qualifiers are regarded by its players and fans as the toughest in the world, and look especially open on this occasion. With hosts Brazil not taking part and so little separating the other sides, it could be the most fiercely contested qualifying campaign to date. Just a few months after Uruguay won the Copa America; South America’s national teams are preparing to do battle once more – this time for places at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Uruguay added the continental title this year to their fourth-placed finish at South Africa 2010. La Celeste opens their campaign in Montevideo against a Bolivia side that finished second-last in the previous qualifiers. Having secured a play-off berth in the last three preliminary competitions, Uruguay start as firm favorites but will not be underestimating a Bolivia side that showed great composure in holding hosts Argentina to a 1-1 draw in the opening game of this year’s Copa America. Peru versus Paraguay will see Sergio Markarian and Francisco Arce renew acquaintances, but this time as opponents. Currently at the Peruvian helm, Markarian coached Arce while leading La Albirroja to the finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. The visitors will be hoping to improve on their disappointing record on Peruvian soil, where they have lost three and drawn two of their five qualifiers. Winner of the Best Player award at the recent Copa America, the Uruguayan goal-getter will be anxious to run out against Bolivia, the team he scored his first competitive international goal against in the corresponding fixture in 2007. Coach Oscar Tabarez will wait until the last minute before making a decision on whether to partner the Liverpool striker, who is recovering from a muscle strain, with Diogo Forlan.

South America begans qualification

Argentina vs Chile, Colombia vs Bolivia, Ecuador vs Paraguay on Friday October 7th 2011 South America begins to qualify for the 2014 World Cup that will be held in Brazil. As the host nation of the 2014 World Cup Brazil automatically qualifies leaving 9 South American teams that will began there journey to the 2014 World Cup this Friday. Out of the 9 only the top 4 teams will qualify directly to Brazil 2014 with the fifth place team having to face an intercontinental play- off with the fifth placed team from Asia. With the best team in South America, Brazil, not having to qualify it will give another country in South America a chance to qualify for Brazil 2014, for some teams it may even be the first time in their history to qualify to a World Cup ever. That distinction belongs to Venezuela who, after an impressive fourth-place finish at the recent Copa America, will be keen to put that right when qualifying gets underway this friday. The sequence, which represents a competition records, set between 1997and 2004and came to end on 6 June that yearwith the Albiceleste's scoreless drawn against Paraguay in Bueno Aires. With this being said now that there is another South American team (not including Brazil) that can qualify to the World Cup, does South America have a chance to bring the World Cup to South American soil? or will the World Cup remain on European soil.?

FIFA 12 Love Soccer Play Soccer..

EA Sports latest instalment in Soccer Franchise.. Promises tons of realistics action for console gamers.

FIFA Soccer 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine built to deliver real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch. Revolutionary game play innovations inspired by the real-world game make FIFA Soccer 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling delivers a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for attacking players, while Tactical Defending fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes, and tackling. Plus, CPU players have been infused with Pro Player Intelligence, the next generation of player intelligence and performance. There are no exceptions to EA will never ask to you for you to log in. CPU players have been infused to self-awareness and aptitude, enabling them to make decisions based on their skills as well as the strengths and attributes of their teammates. Additionally, the teams will vary their attack based on the strength of players on the pitch. Redesign defending mechanism fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning intercepting passes and tackling at the right movement. Tactics and timings are very crucial. Enjoy new ways to take on opponents, more time on the ball to make decisions, and complete control of the pace of the game. Utilize close dribble touches in tight spaces, on the wings, and even while fending off an opponent. The Player Impact Engine monitors contact between players in real-time, analyzing the force of the collision and impact on the body to detect real injuries, creating a deeper more challenging Career Mode.

Spain loses title

So for those who have not yet heard Spain is no longer ranked number one in the world! Spain is now ranked number two in the world putting the Netherlands in the number one spot according to the FIFA statistics. It seems to me that the Netherlands are more determined then ever to out rank their competitors after a shocking loss in the finals of the 2010 World Cup. Most of you recall that Netherlands was one of the favourites to win the World Cup 2010 due to their strong plays and competitive attitude. Unlike Spain the Netherlands have been in the World Cup finals a couple of times and having loss to Spain, a country that most thought was not going to make it to the final, was a slap to the face to the strong Netherland team. Spain has been ranked number one in the world after having been crowned Euro Cup champions back in 2008. This comes to a shock for the Spanish community after having won the Euro Cup and two years later beating the Netherlands in the championship game of the World Cup in 2010 crowning them World Cup champions. With the Euro Cup around the corner and the World Cup coming up in three years will Spain be able to gain its title back as "the best in the world"? Or is the time of "la furia roja" over and the time of the Dutch about to begin?