Balls…Footballs. Once they were just round piece of equipment which were absolutely required to play a game of football. But for the past several decades, they’ve became a lot more.
I have always loved the World Cup, and the balls have played a bigger and bigger part in that. I thought it was about time I done a visual guide on all of the balls, and the stories behind them, both in historic terms and my own memories with them.
This is every World Cup football match ball from 1930 to 2018, and some stories behind them.
H&M have unveiled their latest collection, the H&M Studio Autumn/Winter 2018 collection, which looks pretty good, containing some good pieces for AW18 and the season moving forward.
We’re transitioning into our Autumn wardrobes with knits, sweaters and coats, so it’s the perfect time for this collection from H&M Studio. There’s some serious back to school vibes with the pieces of clothing within the collection, inspired by collegiate style which includes sweater vests, wool jackets, pea coats and varsity style sweatshirts.
H&M Say, “H&M Studio is a collection of seasonal key pieces created by our dedicated in-house design team. This autumn, classic collegiate style is merged with rebellious punk appeal, offering authentic menswear in premium fabrics.”
I am so excited that the Premier League is back! We’re in for a great football season, everyone is excited coming off the back of the World Cup, and it’s the opening weekend of the Premier League.
Last night it all kicked off with Manchester United vs Leicester, but today the first game up is my team, Newcastle, and I’ve got myself the shirt.
It’s transfer deadline day, and all the deals are done! Which players are going where, and who’ll be playing next season in the Premier League?
Deadline day is always exciting, twice a year, but the August one is usually the most exciting, as it starts before the season. This year, for the first time, the transfer window closes earlier; On the eve of the first Premier League match, which will be Leicester vs Man United tomorrow.
It’s been a really exciting transfer window, and deadline day did not disappoint either. But who was making all the waves?
Here’s the best transfer deadline day deals which I’ve been excited about.
It was a story of hope from the beginning, which is unusual for England teams in recent times. The song from 1996 came back, with the mantra being said, shouted and sung all over England for a month; It’s coming home. England did not win the 2018 World Cup, but there’s no doubt, football did come home.
It’s that feeling only the true football fans understand, it’s the feeling of emptiness. Spain have been knocked out of the World Cup, losing to Russia on penalties. It was not the greatest campaign for Spain, and as with the last one, there’s the emotional story behind it too.
You wait 4 years for the World Cup, then it’s 4 weeks of brilliant and unforgettable football if you make the final and win, but when you go out, those 4 years are gone in an instant; It’s replaced with the feelings of what if, and another 4 year wait for the next one, not knowing what the future holds.
Where did it all go wrong? Some will say 2 days before it started, with Lopetegui announcing he was joining Real Madrid and was sacked, it’s hard to pin point exactly what went wrong.
Spain have been knocked out of the World Cup, losing in the last 16 to hosts Russia 4-3 on penalties, after the game finished 1-1 after extra time.
The match was all Spain over the 120 minutes, with over 1000 passes and all the possession, with Russia reduced to counter attack breaks and defending. Russia started the game with a flat back 5, a system which was incredibly difficult for Spain to break through for the whole game.
Spain are into the last 16 of the World Cup after drawing 2-2 with Morocco, but it wasn’t an easy game to watch!
Morocco took the lead with a goal, a complete mix up with Iniesta and Sergio Ramos lead to them losing the ball around the half way line, the Moroccan Boutaïb was clear through on goal, kept his composure and scored. It only took Spain 5 minutes to get an equaliser, intricate play from Iniesta and Isco, with Isco making it 1-1 going into half time.
Everyone seems to know the score, we’ve seen it all before…If you’re a Spain fan then you’ll be used to seeing teams not trying to play and only defending, and that’s what happened tonight, but Spain managed to grab a 1-0 win against Iran thanks to a Diego Costa goal in their second World Cup match.
Iran did not play in the first half, had 10 men behind the ball and could rarely even muster a counter attack. They added in some time wasting, really slow play and diving around like they’d been shot to waste as much time as possible, and made the beautiful game as ugly as can be.
The first big match of the World Cup has lived up to it’s billing, with an epic game! It finished Portugal 3 – 3 Spain, and was a game which had everything.
Portugal started off the better team in the first 5 minutes, with Cristiano Ronaldo winning a penalty against his Real Madrid teammate, Nacho. He scored, and made it 1-1. Busquets played a long ball to Diego Costa who had a lot of work to do up on his own, and managed to bully the Portuguese defence and make it 1-1.