Asian Soccer Star

Asian soccer star – is there a shortcut?

May 31, 2009 By himmet Leave a Comment

Is there a shortcut to achieving the dream of becoming an Asian soccer star?

This is a question i’m asked by many young Asian players and their parents. They don’t just ask about becoming a soccer star but an Asian soccer star, and that’s where the problems start… with the mindset.

Asian kids and their parents don’t have the winning mindset for sports that they have in other areas of life, especially in the areas of education and entrepreneurship.

Developing a winning mindset for soccer is the first step of the journey and we’ll cover exactly how to do that in future posts.

But firstly, lets define exactly what a shortcut is. The online dictionary defines a shortcut as ‘a more direct route than the customary one. A shorter or quicker way’. [Read more...]

Filed Under: himmet, mental attitude Tagged With: attitude, belief, commitment, determination, mindset, obstacles, persistence, procrastinate, shortcut

How to be your own soccer coach

May 29, 2009 By sobha Leave a Comment

I woke up today and thought about something my dad said to me a while ago.

He said “be your own messiah” but I didn’t understand what he meant, then he said it in language that I could understand “be your own soccer coach”. I could understand the meaning of the words, but couldn’t fully understand the concept.

Over the year, every time I needed a bit of a kick in the backside to get going he would say little things that would motivate me, and my attitude would change in a second.

This morning I woke up and bang! It hit me, “be your own soccer coach”. [Read more...]

Filed Under: mental attitude, sobha Tagged With: commitment, responsibility, soccer coach

Asian Soccer Star! How to make it?

May 28, 2009 By himmet Leave a Comment

Asian soccer stars of the future need to get serious and start with a reality check.

Over the past few weeks i’ve been in contact with a number of coaches and scouts, and the overwhelming message seems to be the same. I’m not just talking about Sunday league clubs, but championship and premier league clubs as well.

It seems that even in the 21st century our kids are dogged by a stereotypical image towards Asian soccer talent, and a lot of this is our own fault. Parents and kids just don’t have the belief that they can really make it into professional soccer, and many talented players don’t even try. [Read more...]

Filed Under: himmet, mental attitude Tagged With: asian soccer, mental attitude, work ethic

Soccer Skills Training

May 27, 2009 By sobha Leave a Comment

Soccer skills! We need to work on developing your soccer skills and technical ability.

That’s what’s being drummed into me at the moment.

I’ve been working hard on my fitness, awareness, agility and pace. But working on developing my soccer skills is what I enjoy the most.

I can spend hours in the garden working with the ball, keeping it as close as possible to my feet with balance while perfecting my Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Cruyff. [Read more...]

Filed Under: sobha, soccer skiils Tagged With: Cruyff, rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, soccer skills

Soccer Vision… Seeing The Battlefield.

May 25, 2009 By himmet Leave a Comment

Soccer Vision? When you watch a soccer match what do you see?

Chances are you see what’s happening on the entire pitch and you sit there shouting instructions to your TV set or at the team from the stands at a live match. Like a general standing high on a hill top, before modern technology changed the rules of war, you have a bird’s eye view of the battlefield.

If you’re really ‘seeing’ what’s happening you can see the play before it happens. But looking at something is not the same as seeing it. You’ve got to be able to understand, evaluate and make decisions based upon what you see. That’s what seeing truely means.

There’s a way to make the battlefield more clearly defined by reaching this level of ‘seeing’ – strategy. Strategy is a long-term plan for reaching a goal. It allows you to see the battlefield, no matter how complex it becomes, and make the correct decisions quickly and consistently no matter what may arise. [Read more...]

Filed Under: awareness, himmet Tagged With: asian soccer, awareness, battlefield, soccer star, vision

Soccer Training Wake-up Call

May 21, 2009 By sobha Leave a Comment

Soccer training has always been something I look forward to, it’s the waking up in the morning that I really used to hate. Until, a few weeks ago, when my dad set me a project to find the best way of waking up happy and refreshed.

The first thing I already knew was that my body needs plenty of rest and relaxation to recover properly. So i’ve decided to get to bed earlier. The problem has always been in waking up by myself without an alarm clock or someone waking me up. This always leaves me feeling stressed and miserable.

As I was looking into my ‘new project’ I came across some interesting stuff. I learnt that we sleep in cycles of about an hour and a half. [Read more...]

Filed Under: energy, sobha Tagged With: good mood, soccer training

Soccer training… aaargh!

May 19, 2009 By sobha Leave a Comment

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and just want to go back to sleep, and sometimes I do. But the alarm keeps going off and, like this morning, I switch it off.

But then my second alarm walks into the room… it’s my dad and I can’t switch him off. I’d like to pretend to be too tired, but I can’t.

Why?

Because my training schedule makes sure I get enough rest and relaxation to allow my body to recover. I know all i’m doing is trying to make excuses. [Read more...]

Filed Under: mental attitude, sobha Tagged With: commitment, focus, homeschooling, soccer training

Excuses… is there an excuse gene?

May 17, 2009 By himmet Leave a Comment

You can’t make excuses and play football. It’s as simple as that.

Forget about playing professional football, I see all sorts of excuses being made in junior sunday league games all the time. It got me thinking, maybe there’s an excuse gene!

During my time as a coach I’ve come across all sorts of excuses, and parents seem to be the worst culprits.

” I don’t have the time”

” I’m too tired to drive you to football”

” I don’t get any support from my spouse”

Well here’s a reality check. If you’re serious about your child playing football, it’s time to replace those “i can’t” thoughts with the “I can” thoughts. Only then will your kids have the “I can” attitude that is sorely missing in the Asian football talent pool. [Read more...]

Filed Under: himmet, mental attitude Tagged With: asian football, football talent, self belief

Soccer injuries, why don’t I tell my soccer coach?

May 14, 2009 By sobha Leave a Comment

Soccer injuries or football injuries, as we say in the UK, can ruin careers. Even the smallest, niggling feeling of something wrong can lead to something more serious.

I really should know all about the feeling you get when you are out injured. A feeling that you are losing out, that you may never catch up with your team mates. A feeling that you may not get picked every game and will spend a lot of time on the bench. An even worse feeling that you might not ever reach your dream of playing professional football.

Early on this season I broke my collar bone, while in a tackle with a bigger lad, and was out for 4 months. Those 4 months were the worst months of my life as I had joined a new team in a higher league and was really starting to show my potential as a striker. There was nothing I could do to keep my fitness, not even light training. I just had to watch from the sidelines and pray that my injury would heal properly. [Read more...]

Filed Under: sobha, soccer injuries Tagged With: ankle pains, broken collar bone, growth spurt, soccer injuries

Bollywood Blues

May 11, 2009 By himmet Leave a Comment

Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan really felt the blues when he witnessed first-hand Chelsea’s claim to a champions league final slip away at the hands of some dodgy decisions. Decisions made by a Norwegian referee that looked like the biggest game he had refereed was an under 12′s league match.

Of course I am entitled to be upset. However, we cannot put all the blame on the referee as Chelsea had a number of chances to wrap up the game and this chaos wouldn’t have happened.

After the game, at Stamford Bridge, Abhishek Bachchan said “We just got cheated I think, I saw the playbacks and there were three penalties, that’s just wrong.”

We hope to see him cheering the Blues on at Wembley in the FA Cup Final later on this month!

Filed Under: blog, himmet Tagged With: abhishek bachchan, bollywood, fa cup final, stamford bridge