Real Madrid finally win La Decima! Sergio Ramos saved the day and Gareth Bale scored the game winner, however Angel Di Maria was the man of the match in my opinion.

A World Cup quandary: sex or abstinence

AP | By JOSHUA GOODMAN

Published June 4, 2014 12:02AM EDT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — If you're intending to score in a World Cup match, should you score the night before?

It's a question that prompts coaches to set rules, players to seek understanding from wives and lovers, and fans everywhere to debate fervently, with many adamantly believing that abstaining from sex improves performance on the field.

The age-old argument has been triggered anew by Mexico's coach Miguel Herrera, who told the newspaper Reforma last month that he expects his players to refrain from any horizontal samba during their stay in Brazil, where the monthlong tournament opens next week. The remark sparked a lively debate in the media, prompting Herrera to clarify that he wasn't banning sex outright, just urging his players to behave prudently — along the lines proposed by his Brazilian counterpart, Luis Felipe Scolari, who has cautioned against attempting any bedroom "acrobatics."

Not everyone is so reserved. Colombian star Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama lived up to his candid nature by declaring that the teams he captained in the 1990s would have advanced further in World Cup play had the players been freed from chastity.

Theories linking sex to athletic performance date to at least the ancient Greeks, who believed safeguarding a man's sperm was important for spurring aggression needed to perform well in the arena. There's little scientific evidence, however, to support abstinence as a performance enhancer.

A 1995 study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness said performance on a treadmill test was unaffected by whether or not the participant had coitus 12 hours before. Experts agree that lovemaking isn't too strenuous for otherwise healthy people. A University of Montreal study in 2013 found men burned about 100 calories on average — or about the equivalent of 20 minutes of yard work.

Indeed, many athletes and experts swear by a little nookie the night before a big game, claiming it can relieve stress and induce restorative sleep.

More than sexual contact itself, what worries coaches is the all-night revelry and boozing indulged in by athletes in the prime of their youth. Scandalous reports about carousing athletes are not uncommon, such as those describing a party with prostitutes involving Spanish players at last year's Confederations Cup soccer tournament in Brazil.

"It comes down to coaches not trusting the little devils," Pamela Peeke, a physician and spokeswoman for the American College of Sports Medicine, told The Associated Press.

Herrera may have clear reasons to try to corral the fun-seeking tendencies of his players.

In September 2010, two Mexican national team players were suspended and several others fined for indiscipline over a postgame party in the northern city of Monterrey. Local news media reported prostitutes were involved. Sports analysts speculated the six-month suspension given Carlos Vela, who is widely considered Mexico's top striker, is the reason he declined to play for the national team at the World Cup this year.

Many European teams, including Germany and Spain, have a strict ban on sex before matches, allowing wives and girlfriends to visit players at their hotel only on off-days.

The fact that sex still comes up for debate reflects widespread sexism in sports and a lack of male maturity, said Peeke, who is a triathlete and worked as a physician adviser to the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team.

While women also produce testosterone, they do so at levels far below that of men, she says. And nobody fusses over the monastic rites, or lack thereof, of female athletes before major female sporting events.

"There's a widely held belief that men just can't rein it in," Peeke said.

___

Associated Press writers Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City; Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany; Aida Cerkez in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Paul Logothetis in Madrid and Andrew Dampf in Rome contributed to this report.

http://www.rr.com/articles/2014/06/04/a/...abstinence

Reality of 'beautiful game' turns ugly in Brazil

AP | By TALES AZZONI

Published June 4, 2014 01:55PM EDT


In this May 28, 2014 photo, players from the Presidente Prudente soccer club's under 16 category train in Presidente Prudente, Brazil. Professional soccer in the World Cup host nation is struggling, with lower-division teams unable to play enough games, players forced to take multiple jobs and even top-tier teams competing in mostly empty stadiums. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

PRESIDENTE PRUDENTE, Brazil (AP) — The talented midfielder at small Brazilian club Presidente Prudente rushes to finish his rounds delivering food for a local restaurant so he can make it to practice in time. His teammate has to leave training quickly so he can get to his parent's diner in time to prepare pizzas.

Don't be fooled by Pele's fortunes, Neymar's massive contract or Brazil's powerful national team. Professional soccer in the World Cup host nation is struggling, with lower-division teams unable to play enough games, players forced to take multiple jobs and even top-tier teams competing in mostly empty stadiums.

The best players leave quickly for offers to play in other nations. More than 70 percent of Brazil's nearly 700 professional teams play only about three months a year, meaning nearly 12,000 players are out of a job for most of the season. Meanwhile, the best teams are forced to play up to 85 games a year, more than any other league in the world.

Presidente Prudente's season started in April and will end in mid-June. The team did not advance past the group stage of the fourth division in Sao Paulo and will play about 10 matches the entire year. It played only eight matches last season. It's hard to find opponents and difficult to pay for travel.

"The calendar is the biggest problem," Presidente Prudente president Mateus Grosso told The Associated Press at the club's headquarters. "Teams have to hire players for at least three months, but many times they may not get play for that long the entire year."

The debts of Brazilian clubs increased by nearly 75 percent in the last five years, and they owe more than $1 billion to the government alone, according to numbers from a players' movement created last year. Of the nearly 20,000 professional players in Brazil, about 16,000 earn less than $650 a month.

Clubs are run by unqualified directors and federations are influenced by politics, leading to bad decisions and poor planning affecting everyone involved in the sport.

There's fan violence, stadiums are empty and some of the country's most traditional tournaments have lost their flair. Brazil's most popular club, Flamengo, played in front of 375 fans in a Rio de Janeiro state championship match earlier this year.

"Professional football in Brazil is a world where only 30 percent of the teams are at a high level and can enjoy the glamour of the sport. The reality is a lot different than what it's seen on television," said Arthur Vinicius Marcelo, the football coordinator at Presidente Prudente and also the club's physical trainer. "Not everybody knows what most of the players have to go through. It's a daily struggle for most of them."

Many players need second jobs.

"I wouldn't be able to provide for my family only by playing football," said 24-year-old Presidente Prudente midfielder Rogerio Salvato Jr. "... I make more money by delivering takeout than I do by playing football."

___

President Prudente, based in a city by the same name about 560 kilometers (350 miles) from Sao Paulo, receives $6,200 annually from the Sao Paulo state federation for playing in the fourth division.

The team's monthly payroll is about $9,000 and the funds to keep the club running come from sponsorships from a local supermarket and a local tool store. Grosso said there are also investments made from his own family, which founded the club in 1989.

"We contribute with whatever we can," he said. "The lack of funds is a big problem because we can't dream big if we can't have a decent infrastructure for the players."

Presidente Prudente plays in front of fewer than 400 fans in most of its matches at the city's 45,000-capacity stadium. Players go to practice on a Volkswagen "Kombi" van which has one of its doors broken.

But it's not just the small teams that are struggling. Rio de Janeiro powerhouses Botafogo and Flamengo both had problems paying salaries this year. Palmeiras, the team with the most national titles, recently decided to use a salary cap and is only hiring players on production-based contracts, an unprecedented move for top Brazilian teams.

Instead of playing too little, top teams play too much. On average, the nation's top clubs play 40 percent more than Premier League teams.

The packed calendar forces teams to use second-stringers in many matches. It's one of the reasons the once glamorous regional tournaments have lost their importance.

At the semifinals of the Rio de Janeiro state championship earlier this year at the Maracana, the stadium which will host nearly 80,000 people in the World Cup final, fewer than 4,000 people were in hand to see Flamengo beat Cabofriense. In a Brazilian Cup match between Nautico and America, fewer than 400 fans showed up.

The average attendance in Brazil is about 12,900, less than in leagues in Australia and the United States.

___

The "Common Sense" movement has included minor player protests and a threat to strike.

"We want to try to help the thousands of players who are facing difficulties in football," said former Brazil world champion goalkeeper Dida. "We are in the elite of football but we know what most of the other players are going through."

Among the movement's goals is to develop "financial fair play," which would be a series of measures aimed at obligating clubs to pay salaries on time and abide to local labor laws.

But the group's biggest complaint is about the local football calendar, which is too long for the top clubs and too short for the smaller teams.

The Brazilian calendar is opposite to the European. The first three months of the year are reserved for championships within the states, and the Brazilian league is played from April through December. Only about 60 teams are guaranteed to play matches the entire year, while nearly 600 clubs spend most of the season without playing official competitions.

After the threats from the "Common Sense," the Brazilian football federation announced that it would start making changes to the calendar next year.

The movement also suggested the creation of a fifth division in the Brazilian league, which would allow smaller teams across the country to play more matches against other small clubs.

"If we don't play the entire year we can't get ourselves organized, we can't have a business plan," said Juninho, the former Brazil midfielder who is the general manager of Ituano, a team that stunned some of Sao Paulo's top clubs by winning the state championship this year.

Ituano played from January until April in the state tournament, but now it will only play again in the end of July in the country's fourth division.

President Prudente players will be out of a job by then, and Salvato Jr. and his teammate, Murilo da Silva, will likely just be watching football.

It's what they did when Palmeiras hosted a Brazilian league match against Botafogo in Presidente Prudente last week. They were among the nearly 7,000 people in attendance at the Prudentao stadium.

"Who knows, maybe one day it will be me playing there with those guys," Silva said. "I just have to keep working hard."

___

Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni

http://www.rr.com/articles/2014/06/04/p/...amorous#/0

(04-03-2014 09:14 PM)Murph29 Wrote:  

(04-03-2014 07:00 AM)beck Wrote:  First Liverpool. Suarez is a ******* and he will probably leave this summer which will be good for the Prem, he may win the golden boot. Besides Rogers, more than anything what will help them finish top 3-4, maybe 1-2 is that they have been healthy.

Suarez is the best player in the league and top 3 in the world right now. First off, he won't be leaving this summer. CL is what he wanted and that's what he's going to get. He doesn't need to leave to get it. Had LFC not gotten CL this season he'd have been gone and LFC would need to let him go. He's too good not to be in the CL. But he won't need to go now. He has a new deal and a club that is now ready to compete for titles. Second, why would it be good for the prem if he left?? He is phenomenal to watch. Yes he's been controversial but cantona karate kicked a fan for crissakes but he was a talent that was something to behold and a crazy genius that enhanced the league. The only people to benefit if he left would be the opposing defenses he's been terrorizing for the last two plus years. Sorry for manc fans though, he won't be leaving this summer.

oops! still you'll be better off without him.

http://www.sportsgrid.com/soccer/premier...-of-goals/

Paging Beck... What, oh what is going on with Man U?

(08-26-2014 03:58 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Paging Beck... What, oh what is going on with Man U?

Greetings from under a rock. What isn't going wrong? For me, under investment and poor investment has finally caught up. LVG says they'll be fine once they learn his strange, 3 back system but in 2-3 months they could be 18 points behind.
They are obviously bringing in good, possibly great players but overpaying for all of them, while at the same time offloading players at less than value.
Woodward and the Glazers are not good at what they do.
Moyesey must be having a laugh.

(08-29-2014 06:56 AM)beck Wrote:  

(08-26-2014 03:58 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Paging Beck... What, oh what is going on with Man U?

Greetings from under a rock. What isn't going wrong? For me, under investment and poor investment has finally caught up. LVG says they'll be fine once they learn his strange, 3 back system but in 2-3 months they could be 18 points behind.
They are obviously bringing in good, possibly great players but overpaying for all of them, while at the same time offloading players at less than value.
Woodward and the Glazers are not good at what they do.
Moyesey must be having a laugh.

Screw defending and actually competent wingers...let's get FALCAO!?!?

While I understand what you are getting at this beautiful system doesn't rely on wingers. We have Janusaj, diMaria, Young, Valencia and Welbeck, who can play on the right. We did sign Blind to shore up defensive midfield and word is RVP is going to have surgery that will keep him out for some time.

DiMaria, Herrera, Blind and Shaw are all very good signings but Falcao makes little sense to me. The Glazers must be out of town and LVG found thier check book lying on the table.