Asian Soccer Star

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Asian soccer star, London – The big game between England and Germany in the last 16 of world cup 2010 knockout stages is being built-up as England’s revenge match against the Germans. The media is going crazy building up the hype right down to predicting who will take part in the penalty shootout.

England is going to expect a lot from its players tomorrow and that means a huge amount of pressure for the players. If I were Fabio Capello I’d make sure there was a media blackout imposed around the players and they were working on their mental toughness more than anything else so close to the match.

But with all the technology and social media like facebook and twitter available on most smart-phones, protecting the players from the media hype is an almost impossible task.

Like I said, work on the psychology of the players. While practising penalties may provide confidence to the chosen penalty-takers, I believe it is a false confidence without the pressure and atmosphere of the real thing.

Mental toughness is core to performance in any sport, it’s what differentiates the winners from the losers.

Germany Promises Aggression Against England (abcnews.go.com)
World Cup 2010: Germany lose Cacau for England last-16 clash (guardian.co.uk)
England v Germany: extra police for World Cup clash (telegraph.co.uk)
Germany will see red against England (tribalfootball.com)
World Cup 2010: England can beat Germany without penalties says Peter Schmeichel (telegraph.co.uk)
England v Germany: news in full (telegraph.co.uk)

Asian Soccer Stars – Learn From England’s Performance

Asian soccer star, London – England’s performance against Algeria at the world cup 2010 was poor, and that’s putting it mildly. A game that should have seen a comfortable victory for England’s best turned into a painful spectacle for watching fans in the stadium and watching on TV screens around the world.

But there is a lesson to be learned for budding footballers looking to become Asian soccer stars of the future, but more on that later.

I’m sure like us, fans all over the country and around the world, sat down in anticipation of a thrilling world-class football game that would have us at the edge of our seats.

England’s performance certainly had us on the edge of our seats, but more in anger and frustration targeted at the poor show being broadcast from our TV screens. There was no hint of a world-class performance from any of the England players, in fact they didn’t play like a team at all, while Algeria showed fluency and good technical ability. [Read more...]

England vs Germany – The Big Game