Wednesday, May 29, 2013

La Vecchia Signora For 31!


                Juventus, also known as Vecchia Signora, succeeds in winning another league title in Italy’s Serie A league. Juventus now have 31 league titles and their second in a row. With a very defensive 3-5-2 formation, they have managed to win 27 games, 6 draws and lose 5 times. This added up to a total of 87 points with second place only reaching a 78 point mark. Although Juventus had not been beaten last season in the league, they did manage to obtain more points than last season. Last season their record was 23 wins, 15 ties and no losses. That’s 15 games of Juventus fans wondering what could have been if there was a different result. Their total points were 84, so it wasn’t such a bad season. We will see if Juventus can manage to defend their league title and go for their 32nd one. It is going to be an evenly matched league next season with teams such as Napoli, Milan and Inter de Milan getting busy in the transfer market.
 

One More Time!

     FC Barcelona has sealed the league matches before the season ends. Currently at 97 points with one game left, they are trying to reach that 100 point mark. They had 31 wins, 4 draws and only 2 losses throughout the season. Barcelona has obtained their 22nd league title, falling 10 behind the team with the most which is Real Madrid with 32. It may seem far away but Barcelona has obtained their 4th league championship in the past 5 years. If Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and the rest of the team kepp playing the way they do, they are sure to catch up in the next decade or two. Barcelona’s ball possession tactic and constant passing of the ball through the midfield has proved very effective and now they just wait for their next game and hopefully get to 100 points.


 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Farewell to One of the Greats

Au revoir: Beckham destroys all those 'Leyton Orient to Lorient' headlines
 
His time as a soccer player is now becoming a part of the past. David Beckham retires at age 38 being a champion in France with Paris St. Germain and donating his 7 million dollar salary to charity. He has had a long career in soccer and will retire as a legend. Being captain of England’s international soccer team and winning titles and championships with Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, LA Galaxy and now Paris St. Germain. He has won over 19 trophies in his career. One of the things he will mostly be remembered for are his beautiful free kicks. A saying was even named after him. It was “Bendi it like Beckham.” David will always be remembered as a great soccer player of this decade if not century.


Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

1. Positive Statement
I am most proud of my product in my senior project of becoming a better defender because I feel I have become a bteer player overall and I have improved many of my weaknesses. With this I feel I have a better chance and am a step closer to being able to accomplish my goal of playing college soccer for Sonoma State University.

2. Questions to consider
a. P
b. P

3. My independent Component worked in my senior project beause it was fairly easy to complete my hours since there was always training and games. It was also a very important tool to retrieve information and help defend my answers about endurance and the 4-2-3-1 formation.

4. If I could change anything in my senior project it would have to be my EQ just because it was very difficult to find research that specified an U-19 league championship. A lot of the information was general to any age of soccer competition.

5. Finding Value
With my experience in mentroship with my mentor Leo Espinoza, I was able to improve on my defensive skills and become a better overall defender which means I can now tell any coach I play for, that I can play forward, midfielder and defender, which would give me a higher opportunity of playing and hopefully mastering every position on the field. My independent component along with the "4-2-3-1 Soccer Formation" article, helped me see what tactics are effective and how to position myself on the field when playing a certain position. With this information, I can use it to my advantage when trying out for Sonoma State's soccer team. All in all, I want to join their team and I feel these experiences and information will help get me to that point.

America New Mexican League Champion!


It was a rainy Sunday night in the Estadio Azteca, with over 100,000 fans waiting to watch their team play a finals that would go down in history as one of the best in Mexico. Club America became Mexico’s new league champion. This gives the team their 11th league title in history, 1st since 2005, and up against a powerful Cruz Azul team who seemed to have everything under control. Cruz Azul won the first leg 1-0 and in the 14th minute of the 2nd leg, America was already down to 10 players. They had a whole game ahead of them and already had to push through the struggle of having one less player and being down in the scoreboard. Come the 20th minute, on a Cruz Azul counter attack, Teofilo Gutierrez scores the game opener to have America at a 2-0 overall deficit. The game continued with goal scoring opportunities for both teams. It was hard to even sit still. Towards the last 10 minutes of the game, hope had seemed lost for America, needing to score 2 goals to go into extra time and nothing happening. Then, on a cross from the right side of the field, America defender Mosquera, was able to get a header in and score the first goal for America in the 89th minute. There was hope for America. America kept insisting yet nothing was happening. With only 30 seconds left in the game, America is given a corner kick in which the goalkeeper even goes up to try and score. As the cross goes over the box, goalkeeper Moises Munoz gets a header in. There was a defensive block and two seconds later you see the ball circulating behind the net. GOAL! America scored the missing goal that took them into extra time. It was an amazing moment.

                Going into extra time, America dominated but was unable to score thanks to amazing saves by Cruz Azul goalkeeper, Jesus Corona. The game ended in a draw which meant there would be a penalty shoot out. First up is Cruz Azul with a block from Munoz and a miss for Cruz Azul. America is up next and scores. Cruz Azul goes up again and the shooter slips on the kick and misses. America is now up 1-0 and the next shooter scores, getting them to a 2-0 advantage. Cruz Azul score their next two shots and now it’s up to America’s executer to end it all. Miguel Layun prepares himself and shoots then slips. Then the ball goes to the right side of the goal and even with him slipping, the ball finds it way behind the goal. America was officially the new Mexican league champion. America deserved it having placed second in the league and dominating all their playoff matches. Now they have a title to defend next season, so we’ll see how that goes down.
 
Las Águilas buscarán levantar el vuelo en casa. (Foto: Mexsport)

Monaco Big Spender in Tranfer Market



AS Monaco FC has been spending a lot of money to build their team for Ligue 1’s next season. The ultimate goal is to become league champions and stop PSG’s domination in the league. Being on a budget of 200 million Euros. 140 million of those have already been spent on four players. The first two were goalkeeper Victor Valdes, and center forward Radamel Falcao. The next set of players the team recently bought were Porto’s midfielders James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho for a combined $90 million. This team is taking things very seriously and we’ll see who their next target is in the days or weeks to come.


Neymar to Barcelona Transfer


         It had been rumored for about two years now, and it has finally become a reality. 21 year old all star, Neymar, will be departing his current club Santos and has found a new home. After all the rumors of playing for Real Madrid, Chelsea & Manchester City; FC Barcelona was able to get a hold of Neymar. According to USA Today’s “Neymar signs 5-year agreement with Barcelona,” Neymar will be in Barcelona to sign the missing contracts and be officially presented as a Barcelona player. The amount paid for Neymar was not specified but it was an approximation of 30 million Euros, equivalent to $38.7 million. He leaves behind a legacy in Santos at such a young age, being Pele’s replacement, top scorer of all time with 138 goals in 230 games, 1 Copa Libertadores Championship, 1 Brazilian Cup and 3 straight Sao Paolo State Championships. "Here it ends this wonderful passage with a special club," Neymar said. "Thank you for everything. I'll keep these moments with me my entire life."


(Not a bad look for Neymar)

Bayern Munich 2012-2013 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!

 
 
 

     It's official. As of May 25th, 2013 in Wembley Stadium, a new team has been proclaimed champion of the UEFA Champions League 2012-13. Bayern Munich wins the title a very difficult game for both clubs. Both teams using their very effective and versatile 4-2-3-1 formations, and coming from a good path, gave it all they had for the last 90 minutes of the tournament. Borussia Dortmund had only lost one game throughout the entire competition and Bayern Munich was coming in with an immense victory over Barcelona (7-0). Borussia hasn't won this tournament since 1996 while Bayern had the chance in 2009, but lost to Inter de Milan. It was a game of constant back and forth action and the first goal didn't arrive until the 59th minute, scored by Bayern Munich's center forward Mandzukic. A simple pass by Robben was enough to help him put the ball behind the net. The equalizer came in the 71st minute from a penalty committed by Bayern center defense, Dante, on Borussia's Reus. Gundogan Executed the penalty very well. As people were cheering and chanting in Wembley Stadium, thinking the game would go into extra times, a man known as Arjen Robben had the ball at his feet in the 89th minute of the matchl, coming from a pass from Ribery. Alone against Borussia's goalie, Robben barely kicks the ball to the side, impossible for the him to stop it. The ball slowly rolled towards the goal and ended behind the net. The crowd goes wild and Robben had just scored the winning goal that led to Bayern Munich's UEFA Champions League Title.
 
 

Monday, May 20, 2013

Blog 25: Mentorship

Literal:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am8FNtUFpylUdHhnZnlJVlVZS3pKbElXOFFLbVJ1aWc#gid=0

Interpretive:
The most important thing that I gained from this experience is that it helped me become a better overall player and more disciplined because I used to just show up to games just a couple of years ago and my team wouldn't even train, meaning it wasn't as serious for me as it is now. I became a better defense in specific thanks to all the tips Leo Espinoza gave me and him dedicating his time to help me become better in that position which meant I could go to my games and be more efficient in my team. With becoming a better defender came the mastering of certain skills such as slide tackling and protecting the ball. The fact that he played as a defender as a main position in most, if not all his teams, and the fact that he played for the Cal Poly soccer team made his advice much more valuable. Hopefully with this, I can accomplish my goal of being able to play college soccer.

Applied:
This has helped me answer my EQ because I was able to learn and experience for myself what a soccer player must go through during the season before games. I did all the training and most skills most players must master in order to become efficient and essential for the team. I was able to practice some tactics used during games and realized how efficient they are, such as the overlapping tactic I would practice with Leo. I realized how important these sessions became because I would incorporate what I pick up during those sessions into actual games I would play.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions


Content:


(1)   What is your essential question? What is the best answer to your question and why?

What is most important in winning an under 19 year old soccer league championship? My best answer is, the best way to win an under 19 year old soccer league championship is for the coach to use a 4-2-3-1 formation during his games as a main formation, providing a balance between defense and the creation of goal opportunities in the offense while also maintaining ball possession because it is what helps create scoring possibilities and not receive goals. You also need the players to know their positions and be clearly defined because if it is not, everyone will just do what they want; there will be a lot of misunderstandings in the field, weakening the team and retaining progress of the offense and may lead to a loss.

(2)   What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

My topic is soccer performance, or soccer player, and me having played for about 10 years made it easy for me to choose this as a topic. I tried focusing on soccer players individually in the beginning of the year and then was given feedback, and I was guided into a different direction, changing it to a general team concept and figuring out how to win a soccer league championship. Dieting was the first thing that came to mind as well as stretching because they seemed to be the most obvious answers. Dieting because you should be healthy if wanting to play a demanding sport like this at a competitive level, and stretching in order to prevent injuries because with injures, come no game time. Then I came across something that was in front of me the whole time, when playing and watching games. That was strategy. While playing FIFA, I noticed that many great teams such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, have their defined formations and I saw how it would benefit them for the most part when they would use their personal tactics during an actual, live game. Bayern Munich and Barcelona became league champions, while Chelsea won the 2011-12, UEFA Champions League, which is the highest ranked, European competition. I had seen how much the formations helped each team perform to the best of their abilities. I also noticed how we also used a certain formation, and we also won several league championships in the past years. I then knew, this had to be one of my answers.

(3)   What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

First problem, I did not have a definite essential question or focus. I was focused on individual soccer player. I was able to resolve this once given feedback from Purther, and I was guided into a different direction with a focus on how to win a league championship, which is still about soccer players, but as a whole. That led to me defining my EQ and progressing with my project. My second problem was finding research that directly related to my essential question which was about U-19 soccer leagues. The way I resolved this was by finding research through my independent component which was about participating in an under 19 year old soccer league.

(4)   What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

First most significant source: Coach Rod Jativa from my independent component because he was able to share information with me about soccer players through two points of views, which were being a professional soccer player, and being a coach. My independent component itself also helped because I was able to find my own research and witness the different affects every decision on the field made.

Second most significant source: “4-2-3-1 Soccer Formation” soccermaniak.com really helped get an understanding of the 4-2-3-1 soccer formation is. It was very specific and detailed as to what areas need to be covered by each position on the field, how the different players should move when on offense and defense, and the different tactics that help make this formation successful and get the best out of it. It also discusses how it is a very balanced formation, which makes it that much more valuable to soccer.

(5)   What is your product and why?

My product is that I improved immensely in playing the defensive role/position. Playing defender was one of my major weaknesses and I had never been able to master it, which also didn’t help me when I would play midfielder and had to defend. I played defense throughout many league matches and I was given a major responsibility to defend well when we were short a couple of players, especially since no one else knew or wanted to play defense. My experience as an offensive player also helped me while playing defense because in many occasions, I would intercept the ball thinking to myself what it is I would do, and assume the opponent would do the same.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Blog 23: 2014 Interview

Content:

1. Who did you interview and what house are they in?
A: Daniel Gamboa, East House

2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
A: Well the career that i'm looking forward to is electrical engineer, so I want to do something based on it because it will help get a better understanding of my career and help me decide if its what I really want.

3. What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
A: My neighbor and his father both work in the Career that I want so i plan on asking if they can be my mentors to see if i can complete my 10 community service learning hours.

4. What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?
A: Hopefully they will give me a clear idea of how to tackle the project when its my turn and i will be able to see what I should and shouldn't do so that I can prepare on time.

5. What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?
A: How is senior year in work and project wise, how organized do I need to be so that I can keep on track, any ideas?

Response:
Senior year in work and wise because it gives you a different kind of experience that you might not be used to such as working on your own, being more independent and getting to meet and be in contact with different people outside of school in order to work with them. You should always be on top of things and during the summer be attentive to your e-mail and create a log or something to put your 10 hours on and update it everytime you do something, it'll be easier on you and a lot less stressful when the day school starts gets closer.

Follow Up Question:
So what do you mean to be in contact with different people outside of school?

Response:
People like your mentor, whoever you work with for independent component and the people you decide to interview.

    UEFA Champions League Final

    There were four semifinalists until today. Now there is the definite finalist, Borussia Dortmund, and the remaining semi-finalsits, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. There is only one spot left and both have to fight until the end to obtain the last ticket to Wembley Stadium.


    May 1, 2013 (Camp Nou Stadium)
    On this day, Barcelona is playing in their home field with a 4-0 disadvantage that they brought from Germany. Barcelona's only option was to win with a 5 goal difference without Bayern scoring any goals, in order to move on to the next round. The first half did not seem so good since it ended in a 0-0 draw. Coming into the second half, it all went downhill for Barcelona. Arjen Robben scores the first goal, then Pique scored an own goal and it ended with Muller scoring the 3rd and final goal to seal the match and allow Bayern to move on to the finals. With a crushing 7-0 aggregate, Bayern is the second and final finalist. Barcelona's dream of moving on was over, and Bayern dreams to be the next UEFA Champions League Champion.


     
    Xavi and Ribery battling it out to see who will proceed to the next round.

    UEFA Champions League Final


     These are the four semi finalists of the UEFA Champions League 2012-13



    April 30, 2013 (Estadio Santiago Bernabeu)
    The first finalist of the UEFA Champions League has been determined. German team, Borussia Dortmund, is the first team to move on to the finals after being Real Madrid 4-1 in the first leg, and losing 2-0 in the second leg. The 4-3 aggregate gives this team their first finals in this competition since 1977. Robert Lewandowski had an amazing first game with 4 goals and they almost threw the game away when receiving two goals in the last 10 minutes of the second match and only being one goal away from elimination. Even then, it was not enough for Madrid to move on to the next round.   







    http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2013/05/01/1226632/883571-130501-champions-league.jpg


    Borussia celebrating victory in Santiago Bernabeu    Center forward, Robert Lewnadowski, scores four goals in the first leg to give Borussia a great advantage for the second match.