adidas Euro 2008 Effect Soccer Ball

#615750 Play in the EURO 2008

Ever since Tom Brady's infamous mid-day stroll, equipped with a less than fashionable walking boot on his right foot, there has been a countless number of players, fans and analysts all speculating over Brady's role in the upcoming Super Bowl. Some say that he will not be able to produce his best football as his mobility will be limited by this injury. Others say that Brady is faking, attempting the lull the Giants into a false sense of security before the big game.

Honestly, though, I think those of the latter group are full of it. Yes, Belichick did resort to cheating earlier in the season with his ever-so-shady filming debacle. But do you think the Patriots would really risk not having Brady on the field the week before the biggest game of the year? I doubt it. After all, we are talking about Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Brady has been in this situation before. He has won three Super Bowl rings without any of these so-called head games and trickery. So why do it now? Why not just let Brady and the rest of the 18-0 Patriots loose like they have been doing all season?

Something tells me that Brady's injury is real. The risk of having a sub-par Tom Brady in a winner-take-all game is just too high. Not practicing for a week could throw off his rhythm. And having a quarterback who is out of sync could mean the difference between a 4th Super Bowl ring or an almost historic 18-1 season. Yeah, there is too much riding on this game for Belichick and company to pull a stupid stunt like that. In my opinion, the cloud of secrecy surrounding Brady's injury is to make sure that the Giants don't find out what kind of injury Brady is suffering from. I mean, would you want the opposing defensive line to know exactly where to hit Brady to ensure he will not get back up? Neither does Belichick.

The bottom line is Brady has sustained some type of injury. What exactly, nobody knows. But mark my words, Tom Brady will be playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday, spreading the ball around the field just like he has done all season. He may be a little hobbled, but the Giants should be concerned with how they are going to stop the potent Patriot offense rather than keying in on Brady's injury.

Nishan Wilde is VP of Sales at RobbinsSports.com, an online resource for Baseball Uniforms, Track Uniforms and Stopwatches.

UEFA Euro 2008 Championships

adidas Euro 2008 Competition Soccer Ball

#615761 Are you ready for the EURO 2008

Real Madrid 1 Roma 2

Real Madrid came into this game with a lot of injuries to key players like Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and suspension to Sergio Ramos. They were however boosted by the return of Robinho and Pepe but ultimately paid for the lack of creativity in the middle of the park and for the lack of physical presence upfront.

Roma on the other hand had a full complement to pick from and played a very smart game denying Real any space whatsoever and causing problems of their own with Alberto Aquilani being outstanding in the 1st half. He had 2 tremendous efforts, the 1st of which ricocheted off the crossbar with Iker Casillas beaten all ends up and the 2nd in a matter of seconds, forcing Casillas into a very smart save.

Francesco Totti was not at his showy best but he held the ball up brilliantly for his teammates to join up in the attack most especially Simone Perrotta, who's unselfish, running, typifies the way Roma play.

Real Madrid did not create many chances but the ones they did create were wasted by Robinho and Julio Baptisa as they both should have hit the target when presented with golden opportunities. Baptista did hit the bar with a brilliantly taken free kick.

Pepe was given his marching orders for a 2nd yellow card when he brought down Mirko Vucinic very close to his penalty box.

Roma struck the 1st blow when Rodrigo Taddei rose to head in a brilliant cross from Max Tonetto in the 73rd minute. Raul replied with a typically cool finish after he was put through by Guti in the 75th minute but he was clearly in an offside position.

Real incredibly were playing better with 10 men than they were with 11 and Raul, on 2 occasions nearly got his side in front but he was thwarted 1st by Juan then he headed over from a free kick. Roma had the game sewn up when a free kick by Christian Panucci was missed by Fabio Cannavaro but was met by the very impressive Vucinic to make it 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.

The Greek referee, it has to be said was way too fussy and booked players, sometimes needlessly and never really gave the game a chance to flow. Roma would not care too much about that and would be looking forward to the quarter-final draw on Friday week.

Chelsea 3 Olympiakos 0

Chelsea had a very comfortable ride to the quarters as most people thought they would as Michael Ballack headed them in front from a Frank Lampard cross in the 6th minute. Lampard helped himself to an easy goal when the goalkeeper spilled Ballack's shot and in the 3rd minute of the resumption in the 2nd half Solomon Kalou made I 3-0 from another goalmouth scramble.

Porto 1 Schalke 0 (Schalke win 4-1 on penalties)

Manuel Neuer gave the best goalkeeping display by anyone in this year's champions league last night as he made 3 tremendous saves in the match and then another great goalkeeping display in the penalty shootout. Ironically it was not until went down to 10 men did they start to play some good stuff when Jorge Fucile was harshly sent off for a high challenge on Halil Altintop. Four minutes later Lisandro Lopez swivelled and scored the best goal of the night and it had to be to beat Neuer in such inspired form as he his hit the roof of the net with the goalkeeper left floundering.

Ricardo Quaresma really should have put Porto in front in extra-time but left all alone with Neuer, he could not make up his mind what he wanted to do and eventually his attempt was saved by Neuer. In the penalty shootout, predictably Schalke scored all their whilst Neuer made saves from Bruno Alves and Lisandro to put Schalke in the quarter finals of the champions league for the 1st time in their history.

For more Football news visit http://www.footballclubsblog.com

My name is Dennis and I have written a number of articles on how to make it big online.

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UEFA Euro 2008 Championships

2007 - 2008 / 07-08 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER EURO ALTEZZA TAIL LIGHTS - PLATINUM SMOKE - LED - IPCW

Accumulator.
Sometimes called a parlay. A bet where the winnings from one bet are placed on the next bet. The winnings accumulate, giving a large theoretical return. In reality, not very profitable as it only takes one to lose and your whole bet loses.

Arbitrage.
A combination of bets which guarantees a theoretical risk free profit. These sometimes occur when one bookie offers a price which is out of line with the rest of the market. Opportunities don't last long as the bookie will adjust their prices accordingly.

Asian Handicap.
A type of bet where one team is given a handicap make the odds of beating the handicap around evens and the odds of not beating the handicap around evens. Popular in Asia.

Banker.
A bet that is highly likely to win. Odds are usually less than 1.5 for these types of bets.

Betting Exchange.
A place where people bet against each other. The exchange takes a commission from each winning trade.

Book Value.
The over round that a bookie builds into the odds. For example a typical football match will be booked to 110% meaning that if you bet on all outcomes you'd lose about 10%. Very similar to payout which is defined as 100/book value. To work out book value simply use this formula, Book Value = 1/outcome1_odds + 1/outcome2_odds + ...

Bookmaker, bookie.
The person who accepts a bet.

Decimal odds.
The odds expressed as a decimal, with the stake included in the overall price. For example decimal odds of 3 equals fractional odds of 2/1, as the stake is included in the former but not the latter.

Double.
An accumulator with 2 bets.

Double chance.
A bet that is offered on the 3 way market where you bet on 2 outcomes. For example you might bet on the home win or draw. Odds are usually very poor but you are much more likely to win the bet.

Draw no bet.
A bet where the draw returns your stake. This is exactly the same as a +0 Asian Handicap.

Each Way.
A type of bet where you can still win if your choices comes in 2nd/3rd/4th depending on the market. The bet is split into 2, half placed on a straight win and half on, say the next 4 places. This is popular in horse racing but is used in football, in some markets, eg. First goal scorer.

European Handicap.
Do not confuse with Asian Handicaps. This is where a team is given a goal start but the bet cannot be drawn. Three prices are quoted, on for the team giving the handicap, one for the team with the handicap and one for the handicap draw. For example if a team is given a +1 European handicap and the match is lost by a single goal, the bet still loses, unlike with Asian Handicaps where the stakes are refunded. A +1 handicap is equivalent to a +0.5 Asian Handicap, a -1 handicap is equivalent to a -1.5 Asian Handicap.

Evens.
A bet where the odds are 1/1 fractional or 2 decimal. Basically you double your money if you bet on this and it wins.

Fixed odds betting.
This is where you know what you are going to win or lose at the time of placing the bet. Your winnings and liability are 'fixed'. Compare with spread betting.

Fractional odds.
These are a popular way of expressing odds in Britain. The stake is not included in the return. For example, 2/1 is equal to 3 decimal, as it only expresses the winning part of the bet.

Goal line, Unders/overs, total goals.
All similar markets centered around the total goals in a match. Unders/overs usually mean 2 goals or under, for unders and 3 goals or more for overs. The goal line is practically the same as unders/overs but the bet can draw. For example if the goal line is 3, a game with 2 goals over few will win the unders, a game with 4 or more will win the overs while a game with exactly 3 goals will void the bet. Sometimes the goal lines have quarters in them, eg. 2.25, here is there are exactly 2 goals in the match, the unders bet will win half, while the overs will lose half. Total goals are usually expressed in 3 brackets, 0-1, 2-3 and 4+.

Half Time/Full Time, sometimes called double result.
This is where you bet on what the results at half time and full time are.

Lay a Bet.
This is what a bookmaker does when he accepts a bet. It is possible to lay bets yourself on a betting exchange.

Odds against.
A bet where the odds are greater than evens.

Odds on.
A bet where the odds are less than evens.

Scorecast.
This is a bet where you predict the first goal score and the correct score. Odds are good but getting these right is very difficult.

Spread betting.
An increasingly popular method of betting where the returns aren't fixed. You be on the difference between what the bookies sets as the spread and what you think will happen. For example in the time of first goal market, the bookie may offer a quote of 26-29 minutes. You can either go under (buy) or over (sell) this spread. If you bet under and a goal is scored in the 6th minute you win 20 (26-6) times your stake. However if it ends up being scored in the 80th minute you are going to end up losing a lot of money.

Three-way betting or 1X2.
Betting on a home win/ draw/ or away win. 1X2 because in betting shops, you mark 1 for home win, X for a draw and 2 for an away win.

Void bet.
In Asian Handicap terms this is where the bet draws. Void bets can also occur in other markets, for example in the first goal scorer market if your player isn't on the pitch when the first goal is scored the bet is void. Can happen if matches are postponed or abandoned.

Ben writes football (soccer) betting tips for http://www.klsbetting.com

UEFA Euro 2008 Championships

Spain UEFA EURO 2008 Fan Favorite Ringer T-Shirt

- 100% Prima cotton jersey T-shirt by Bulletin - Contrast neck and sleeves - Double needle construction stitching at seams - Full front print designed for the UEFA EURO 2008 Soccer Championship

If Pele, Maridona, and Beckham don't sound at all familiar to you, or if you think Freddy Adou is a guy you may have gone to high school with, keep reading... please. This article covers all the equipment and skills you'll need to join the rest of the world in playing the wonderful game of soccer.

Actually, the rest of the world plays football - they call the sport that Steve Young used to play American football. The term 'soccer' came into being in the later part of the 19th century when people began abbreviating the French variation of 'association football' to soccer. Whatever name you use (I'll call it soccer for the purposes of this article), it refers to the fast-paced, exciting game that has captured the interest of more and more Americans in recent years. If you've found that you've been left behind when it comes to the sport, here's a few equipment tips and skills you'll need to have to start playing.

As the name 'football' suggests, you'll need a ball. Soccer balls come in many different sizes, materials, and styles; and league specifications vary depending on the age and level of the players. If you just want to buy a 'normal' ball, double check with the store clerks to make sure you've chosen the right one; or if you're buying online, you can check the ball size against the standards found at www.fifa.com. The best material for your ball depends on the type of surface you're going to play on. If you'll spend any time at all kicking the ball around on the street or playground, I would shy away from buying a nice leather ball - the asphalt will tear it up. Synthetic materials will usually hold up better on those surfaces, and typically cost less.

Once you've got your ball, you're going to need at least one pair of feet; however, if you want to do more than just kick the ball against your garage you're going to need at least two sets. There are a number of different techniques when it comes to kicking the soccer ball - I'll just summarize them all by saying that the goal of kicking the ball is to hit it with some part of you're foot and make it go in the direction you want it to. In fact, in soccer matches you may use any part of you're body to move the ball except your hands and arms. If you grew up playing catch in the back yard, the first couple of times you try to kick the ball you'll probably look even more awkward than you feel, and it's very likely your kids are going to laugh at you. Practice makes near perfect, and you'll get better over time. Kicking the ball back and forth between two or more people helps. Once you feel like you might be able to kick the ball and jog/run at the same time, you're ready to graduate to playing a game.

Goals (pronounced 'gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!!!' in actual soccer matches) in soccer are scored by kicking the ball through a rectangle shape appropriately called the goal. Though the rectangle is standard, goals can be made by placing any two objects a few steps apart. I have personally played in neighborhood games where the goal posts were chairs, barrels, younger siblings, and shoes (if you're playing barefoot, make sure no one is wearing cleats). Kicking the ball below head height and more or less between the makeshift goal posts constitutes a goal, though you will find each goal will be heavily debated.

Competitive leagues almost always require shin guards, and you can usually pick up a decent pair for pretty cheap. Even in a friendly park setting, players can get pretty passionate, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to wear them during the game.

The rules are simple and easy to learn. The basics you need to know are that you should try to avoid kicking people, you can't tackle people like in American football, and you can't use your hands. In that sense, except for the hands restriction, soccer is a lot like life. Other rules apply more in competition, but it wouldn't hurt to read up on them at www.fifa.com.

As with any sport, the most important thing is to look good, so go out and buy yourself some silky soccer shorts and jerseys. Long hair and an Italian accent certainly won't hurt your chances of going pro - but if neither of those is an option for you, just remember to have fun and play fair.

Nick Smith is a soccer fan and client account specialist with 10x Marketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For great soccer goals at affordable prices, check out Bargaintable.com.

UEFA Euro 2008 Championships