(no subject)
Ok, so its that time again. World Cup 2006 is upon us. For me this is by and large the biggest and most important sporting event of the year. I love football so this is heaven. At least 3 games a day, live on TV with intelligent commentators, what more could you ask for? Well, I could ask them to talk less about the US team when they aren't playing, but at least they care and prove the point that football has made it in the States. There are so many great players playing in the World Cup this year, and I believe that they merit a mention. Henry, Ronaldhino, Kaka, Christiano Ronaldo, etc etc etc. I think that I might even highlight the exploits of some of these soccer stars.
There was a time when soccer was the only sport that I cared about, and its close to being that way again, although now I have the whole cycling thing to deal with to, but thats for another time. Anyways, growing up in Tunisia, where football is something of an obsession, I became mesmerized by some of the European stars of the time. Unfortunately, its been 10 years or so since then, and thus many of those great players are retired or are in the twilight years. David Seaman, Peter Schmicheal, Paul Gascoigne, Eric Cantona, Jurgen Klinsman - just a few of the players that I came to admire. One of the players who really caught my attention, and who I tried to model my playing style after was the then Ajax Amsterdam striker Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutchman was a true class act with a flair for dramatic finishes. He played with Ajax for almost a decade before spending 2 fruitless seasons with Internazionale of the Italian Serie A league. He then moved on to Arsenal where he has added to his legend with numerous flashy goals, but with an equal amount of veteran leadership. He acted as mentor to the Frenchman Thierry Henry, regarded by many as the best footballer in the world right now, so that should be viewed as a considerable compliment to Bergkamp. I hate to speculate as to how much longer he will play, but I dare say more than 2 more years. Already he is seeing extremely limited international play with the Dutch team and is not on the roster for World Cup 2006. As an homage to Dennis Bergkamp, I always wore # 10 (and wore a pair of his signature Reebok boots!) when I played soccer even though I roamed the midfield and was rarely seen making runs into the box. Who knows, maybe now that I am more fit and once again have the itch to play soccer I can improve on my past exploits. One thing is for sure, if that happens, I will be wearing #10 and emulating the not-so-pretty but extremely efficient footwork of The Iceman.
Check out this cool compilation video of Bergkamp goals during his span at Arsenal. I tried to find some viedo footage of his playing days with Ajax, since that was the era when he became my favorite player, but alas I have been unsuccessful. Enjoy!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7574953419681607490&q=Dennis+Bergkamp
If that isn't enough for you, take a look at this sick behind the back self-pass!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2032792196623400228&q=Dennis+Bergkamp
There was a time when soccer was the only sport that I cared about, and its close to being that way again, although now I have the whole cycling thing to deal with to, but thats for another time. Anyways, growing up in Tunisia, where football is something of an obsession, I became mesmerized by some of the European stars of the time. Unfortunately, its been 10 years or so since then, and thus many of those great players are retired or are in the twilight years. David Seaman, Peter Schmicheal, Paul Gascoigne, Eric Cantona, Jurgen Klinsman - just a few of the players that I came to admire. One of the players who really caught my attention, and who I tried to model my playing style after was the then Ajax Amsterdam striker Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutchman was a true class act with a flair for dramatic finishes. He played with Ajax for almost a decade before spending 2 fruitless seasons with Internazionale of the Italian Serie A league. He then moved on to Arsenal where he has added to his legend with numerous flashy goals, but with an equal amount of veteran leadership. He acted as mentor to the Frenchman Thierry Henry, regarded by many as the best footballer in the world right now, so that should be viewed as a considerable compliment to Bergkamp. I hate to speculate as to how much longer he will play, but I dare say more than 2 more years. Already he is seeing extremely limited international play with the Dutch team and is not on the roster for World Cup 2006. As an homage to Dennis Bergkamp, I always wore # 10 (and wore a pair of his signature Reebok boots!) when I played soccer even though I roamed the midfield and was rarely seen making runs into the box. Who knows, maybe now that I am more fit and once again have the itch to play soccer I can improve on my past exploits. One thing is for sure, if that happens, I will be wearing #10 and emulating the not-so-pretty but extremely efficient footwork of The Iceman.
Check out this cool compilation video of Bergkamp goals during his span at Arsenal. I tried to find some viedo footage of his playing days with Ajax, since that was the era when he became my favorite player, but alas I have been unsuccessful. Enjoy!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7574953419681607490&q=Dennis+Bergkamp
If that isn't enough for you, take a look at this sick behind the back self-pass!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2032792196623400228&q=Dennis+Bergkamp