FIFA
David Beckham has signed a two-year contract with Los Angeles Galaxy, the Major League Soccer side have announced.
The 36-year-old's five-year contract expired last month and he had been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain. However, Beckham has now re-signed with the LA-based club with which he won the 2011 MLS Cup.
I've seen first hand how popular soccer is now in the States and I'm as committed as ever to growing the game here.
David Beckham, LA Galaxy midfielder
"This was an important decision for me," Beckham said on the club's website. "I had many offers from clubs from around the world, however, I'm still passionate about playing in America and winning trophies with the Galaxy.
"I've seen first hand how popular soccer is now in the States and I'm as committed as ever to growing the game here. My family and I are incredibly happy and settled in America and we look forward to spending many more years here."
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Badge of champions awarded to FC Barcelona
FIFA
FC Barcelona today received the FIFA Club World Cup Champions Badge, a physical reminder of the club’s emphatic triumph in FIFA’s annual club event in Japan in December.
Following on from individual awards for Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi at the FIFA Ballon d’Or, the Champions badge is an award for the whole team, serving as a visual acknowledgement of the club’s status as the best club football team in the world.
The badge, featuring an image of the FIFA Club World Cup trophy and the text “FIFA World Champions 2011”, will be seen on the shirts for the first time in Thursday’s Copa del Rey match versus Osasuna. It will remain on the shirts until the final whistle of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012.
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter congratulated the FIFA Club World Cup Champions on their performance in Japan, saying “We are pleased to be able to honour FC Barcelona after a truly remarkable year for the club. To have won five top titles in one calendar year is a great achievement. I’m sure the badge will be a great reminder of this success every time the players wear the team’s jersey.”
"The players can be very proud to wear this badge for the next year,” said FC Barcelona coach and FIFA World Coach of the Year Pep Guardiola. “Our victory at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan concluded a fantastic year for our club. It is an honour to receive this mark of recognition from FIFA.”
This is the second time that FC Barcelona have had the honour of wearing the badge, following their victory at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009. First introduced for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007, the badge has also featured on the playing kits of AC Milan, Manchester United and F.C. Internazionale Milano.
The FIFA Club World Cup Champions badge is just one in a series of FIFA World Champions Badges which are awarded to the winners of selected FIFA events. The first team to be presented with the FIFA World Cup™ Champions badge was the Italian men’s national team, champions of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, with the Spanish national team recently taking over this honour after their success in South Africa. Germany’s women’s national team also wore a Champions badge in recognition of its success in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007™, an honour which was then bestowed upon the Japanese women’s national team following their triumph in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™.
FC Barcelona today received the FIFA Club World Cup Champions Badge, a physical reminder of the club’s emphatic triumph in FIFA’s annual club event in Japan in December.
Following on from individual awards for Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi at the FIFA Ballon d’Or, the Champions badge is an award for the whole team, serving as a visual acknowledgement of the club’s status as the best club football team in the world.
The badge, featuring an image of the FIFA Club World Cup trophy and the text “FIFA World Champions 2011”, will be seen on the shirts for the first time in Thursday’s Copa del Rey match versus Osasuna. It will remain on the shirts until the final whistle of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012.
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter congratulated the FIFA Club World Cup Champions on their performance in Japan, saying “We are pleased to be able to honour FC Barcelona after a truly remarkable year for the club. To have won five top titles in one calendar year is a great achievement. I’m sure the badge will be a great reminder of this success every time the players wear the team’s jersey.”
"The players can be very proud to wear this badge for the next year,” said FC Barcelona coach and FIFA World Coach of the Year Pep Guardiola. “Our victory at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan concluded a fantastic year for our club. It is an honour to receive this mark of recognition from FIFA.”
This is the second time that FC Barcelona have had the honour of wearing the badge, following their victory at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009. First introduced for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007, the badge has also featured on the playing kits of AC Milan, Manchester United and F.C. Internazionale Milano.
The FIFA Club World Cup Champions badge is just one in a series of FIFA World Champions Badges which are awarded to the winners of selected FIFA events. The first team to be presented with the FIFA World Cup™ Champions badge was the Italian men’s national team, champions of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, with the Spanish national team recently taking over this honour after their success in South Africa. Germany’s women’s national team also wore a Champions badge in recognition of its success in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007™, an honour which was then bestowed upon the Japanese women’s national team following their triumph in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Asamoah: We want another go in 2014
FIFA
One of the best players in a generation of top-drawer Ghanaian talent, Udinese’s Kwadwo Asamoah has been a consistent force for club and country since emerging on the world stage at the start of 2010. In that year, the Accra native played every match for the Black Stars as they marched to the final of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and then narrowly missed being the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup™.
In a team positively bursting with midfield players, the 23-year-old proved to have a lethal combination of strength, pace, technique and vision, and he was voted the Most Promising Talent on the continent by its international coaches. Asamoah built on that success in 2011, playing a major a role in Udinese unexpectedly finished third in Serie A, which has reportedly put him on the radar of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Manchester United.
With I Zebrette just two points off the pace in the Scudetto race and Ghana set to enter the CAF Africa Cup of Nations among the favourites for glory, FIFA.com caught up with the 23-year-old to discuss those competitions, his nation’s quarter-final elimination at South Africa 2010, the road to Brazil 2014 and life in Italy.
FIFA.com: Kwadwo, Udinese sold several key players in the summer but have made a strong start in Serie A and the UEFA Europa League. What will it take for the club to compete with the big teams in Europe consistently?
Kwadwo Asamoah: Last year we worked hard and deserved the chance to play important matches. These games against high-level opponents boost the prestige of our club, and it is an opportunity we should not miss. We always strive to do our best.
What has been the key to the club’s success?
Our young age and mentality. We are one of the teams with the lowest average age in the Serie A. We help each other a lot on the pitch, and the group is very united. Our mentality is the same as a year ago, even though several new players have arrived.
You have been playing further back in the midfield for Udinese. Has that made a big difference to your game?
I do notice a difference between the national team and the Italian league. With Ghana, I play behind the only striker, Asamoah Gyan, while in Udine I learnt to play as a left midfielder and help more in all parts of the pitch. I even happened to play in defence.
Football is like that. There are bad moments and defeats to be swallowed. The good thing is that you always have a chance to come back.
Kwadwo Asamoah on Ghana's South Africa 2010 quarter-final exit
How strong will Ghana be at the upcoming Cup Nations Cup?
We are a good team, without any phenomenons but with many quality players. If we are compact and gritty as [coach Goran] Stevanovic asks, we will be dangerous for anyone to play.
Do you think the absence of teams like Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria will make it an easier competition to win than previously?
It is true that strong and successful teams will be missing, but it still won't be easy to win the continental tournament. Not even South Africa will be there, but there are always new teams who will make life hard for anyone. All the teams who qualified for the finals deserved it.
Who do you see as the favourites? Can one of the smaller teams make a big surprise?
I do not see any favourite. We all start on the same level, so of course there could be a big surprise. I see a very balanced tournament.
What do you think about the Brazil 2014 qualifying draw? Who is you main opposition from Sudan, Zambia and Lesotho?
It is not a difficult group. Zambia are certainly the opponents to fear most.
How long did the disappointment of losing on penalties in the South Africa 2010 quarter-finals last?
Football is like that. There are bad moments and defeats to be swallowed. The good thing is that you always have a chance to come back. We got within a step of the semis, and in the last minute we missed a penalty that would have allowed us to make history, but it can happen. We hope to have a chance to overcome it in the next World Cup. I would like to have such an opportunity. Obviously we were very sad, but in the end it is a football game.
How do you enjoy life in Italy?
I like living here. I have been in Udine for four years, and I am truly happy to live in such a pleasant place. I fit in completely.
After several years in that country, do you consider yourself as a Ghanaian-Italian?
I am a Ghanaian and my nationality does not change, but I am very happy to live in Italy.
Have you adopted the Italian foods already? Do you choose pasta over fufu now?
I always eat Italian food. When I can, I do not give up fufu, but I must say I prefer pasta or rice.
One of the best players in a generation of top-drawer Ghanaian talent, Udinese’s Kwadwo Asamoah has been a consistent force for club and country since emerging on the world stage at the start of 2010. In that year, the Accra native played every match for the Black Stars as they marched to the final of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and then narrowly missed being the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup™.
In a team positively bursting with midfield players, the 23-year-old proved to have a lethal combination of strength, pace, technique and vision, and he was voted the Most Promising Talent on the continent by its international coaches. Asamoah built on that success in 2011, playing a major a role in Udinese unexpectedly finished third in Serie A, which has reportedly put him on the radar of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Manchester United.
With I Zebrette just two points off the pace in the Scudetto race and Ghana set to enter the CAF Africa Cup of Nations among the favourites for glory, FIFA.com caught up with the 23-year-old to discuss those competitions, his nation’s quarter-final elimination at South Africa 2010, the road to Brazil 2014 and life in Italy.
FIFA.com: Kwadwo, Udinese sold several key players in the summer but have made a strong start in Serie A and the UEFA Europa League. What will it take for the club to compete with the big teams in Europe consistently?
Kwadwo Asamoah: Last year we worked hard and deserved the chance to play important matches. These games against high-level opponents boost the prestige of our club, and it is an opportunity we should not miss. We always strive to do our best.
What has been the key to the club’s success?
Our young age and mentality. We are one of the teams with the lowest average age in the Serie A. We help each other a lot on the pitch, and the group is very united. Our mentality is the same as a year ago, even though several new players have arrived.
You have been playing further back in the midfield for Udinese. Has that made a big difference to your game?
I do notice a difference between the national team and the Italian league. With Ghana, I play behind the only striker, Asamoah Gyan, while in Udine I learnt to play as a left midfielder and help more in all parts of the pitch. I even happened to play in defence.
Football is like that. There are bad moments and defeats to be swallowed. The good thing is that you always have a chance to come back.
Kwadwo Asamoah on Ghana's South Africa 2010 quarter-final exit
How strong will Ghana be at the upcoming Cup Nations Cup?
We are a good team, without any phenomenons but with many quality players. If we are compact and gritty as [coach Goran] Stevanovic asks, we will be dangerous for anyone to play.
Do you think the absence of teams like Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria will make it an easier competition to win than previously?
It is true that strong and successful teams will be missing, but it still won't be easy to win the continental tournament. Not even South Africa will be there, but there are always new teams who will make life hard for anyone. All the teams who qualified for the finals deserved it.
Who do you see as the favourites? Can one of the smaller teams make a big surprise?
I do not see any favourite. We all start on the same level, so of course there could be a big surprise. I see a very balanced tournament.
What do you think about the Brazil 2014 qualifying draw? Who is you main opposition from Sudan, Zambia and Lesotho?
It is not a difficult group. Zambia are certainly the opponents to fear most.
How long did the disappointment of losing on penalties in the South Africa 2010 quarter-finals last?
Football is like that. There are bad moments and defeats to be swallowed. The good thing is that you always have a chance to come back. We got within a step of the semis, and in the last minute we missed a penalty that would have allowed us to make history, but it can happen. We hope to have a chance to overcome it in the next World Cup. I would like to have such an opportunity. Obviously we were very sad, but in the end it is a football game.
How do you enjoy life in Italy?
I like living here. I have been in Udine for four years, and I am truly happy to live in such a pleasant place. I fit in completely.
After several years in that country, do you consider yourself as a Ghanaian-Italian?
I am a Ghanaian and my nationality does not change, but I am very happy to live in Italy.
Have you adopted the Italian foods already? Do you choose pasta over fufu now?
I always eat Italian food. When I can, I do not give up fufu, but I must say I prefer pasta or rice.
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