Let's go teams!

Another football/soccer post, annoying yes, but I can't help it! I've been asked these questions more than 8 times already and I'm tired of repeating the answer!
Who are your teams? Who do you support? How come you go them?

After a good amount of reflexion time, I decided to share the teams I support. Don't judge, if you don't like them, it's alright, but I have reasons to like them even though some reasons are just random and idiotic!

Before I can start with the teams I follow, I'll talk about formations and if you don't know or understand them, here's a little quick note that helped me visualize when I watch my teams play. 
A formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the field. Some are more attacking or defensive soccer style. They say that if you want to be good at football you must be able to ay in all possible formations... No one can rely on one single formation so it's quite a game! 
Example:  4-4-2 is a formation with 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 forwards, it's the most common formation today. 
The 4-3-3 is a classic one that was taken by great teams, actually, Germany won the World Cup of 1974 with that formation! F.C Barcelona adopted this formation quite well... 
The 3-4-3 is an offensive formation with little defense thinking and it mostly focuses on attacking. It's not a formation that is used quite often, rather rare to see a coach use it. 
The 4-3-3 with a triangular midfield puts a holding central midfielder above the four defenders with two offensive midfielders behind the center forward and two wingers. I've seen Italy use this one often! 

So there you have a few ideas on how to view formations, it's only positions and how they affect the game! 

Let's start off with my first team I ever supported and it has to be Liverpool F.C. from Liverpool, England. The Reds! 
This team was the very first team I really loved watching mostly because the Spanish player, Torres even though I don't like Spanish teams or players much. I know most of my teams are based on the players... And the club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone". I always thought it was a good one! They had amazing players like Suarez from Uruguay, Steven Gerrard from England ... I mean the team had some really good players and still to this day! Balotelli, Italian, arrogant player but still wonderful in his own way... 
The formation that I saw worked was 3-5-2, 4-2-1-3 or a 4-3-3 depending on how Rodgers wants to dictate the game. They made me happy by winning against Arsenal on Sunday 14th of August! You should watch them, they deserve some support! 

The second team I absolutely loved was and still Manchester United F.C, well obviously from Manchester, England. Also known as The Red Devils. The first game I watched them, they were playing against Southampton, another British team. Then I realized they had Rooney, the captain! At the time I don't think it was him, but I started to love them! I mean each game, they gave everything they had. Now, they also have Matteo Darmian and Italian defender who I absolutely love... And they are getting Paul Pogba which used to be on my favorite team, Juventus. Manchester United has to be one lucky team to have him in the squad! It's going to be a game changer! To be fair for the formation they do 4-2-2-2 and I don't know... Not really what I wanted to see... 

Chelsea F.C, London, England... The Blue Lions, or The Blues... 
Their current manager, Antonio Conte is Italian... I was happy about that! He is really good, they got lucky on that one! At the moment, the team has amazing players counting, Oscar, a Brazilian, Hazard, a German and a lot more players! I got interested in the team when a friend of mine wanted to watch them in my presence, I didn't oppose as they looked amazing on the field. At the time, Lampard was playing... Then Drogba, Mata...Anyways, the team definitely has great players. The formation has to be 4-2-3-1...

More recent team and my FAVORITE team, JUVENTUS from Torino (Italy). 
I didn't start liking them because they were good! At the beginning, I actually had no idea how good they were. A few years ago, I was watching a game on TV.  As a matter of fact, my favorite player, Claudio Marchisio is a midfielder for the team, so I watched a whole lot of Juventus game, followed them, got into the history, the formations... Everything! Juventus is an amazing team with wonderful players. They have one the best goalie out there, Buffon is incredible. They know how to really play and be a team, family. I'm number one fan, I mean I have jerseys, a scarf, a little blanket, a jacket... I'm just in love with the team. For the formation, I'm a bit lost at the moment, Marchisio went out because of an injury, and Pobga left for Manchester United, so I'm rather lost on how it's going to play out. They do have Dybala as a striker, center forward, so I'm pretty convinced that they have a chance of doing something good! 

A.C Milan from Milano, Italy... Il Diavolo (The Devil)! 
I follow them slightly before Juventus but it's around the same time. I was watching the Serie A, it's like the Premier League but in Italy. They aren't that amazing, but they had something that caught my eye, plus they have cute players like Mattia De Sciglio who is a defender, Manuel Locatelli, younger than me, but Santa Cleopatra, so cute, a midfielder, and Andrea Poli, midfielder as well... 4-3-3 might have to be the best formation they could use. I honestly don't know much about the style, all I know is I started following them for the players, the cute ones. Please do not judge! 

The last team I support is Leeds United F.C from Leeds, England. The Peacocks! 
Just a few months ago after watching my favorite YouTuber, miniminter, I decided to watch the team he goes for, Leeds! Now, I barely ever saw them play, only against Liverpool and Manchester United, so I never really watched how they do play. But I was open-minded to watching and I was surprised. I mean it's far from the best team out there, they are nothing like Chelsea or another great team! It's new so I'm learning the history, how the coach works, the each player style of play, and so much more. Can't talk much about them! 

Hope this long post will help you realize that even if I will always go for Juventus, I love and support other teams! I'm very open-minded when it comes to either Irish, Scottish, British and Italian teams. I ain't a fan of Spanish teams at all, neither Germans or French! Even though there's a lot of good teams! I have a few more that I do follow but I needed to stop the post at some point, you have much more to do on this Monday than reading some blog! 


If you want to learn more about football, let me know in the comments below or via social media! 

"Anyone who thinks sunshine is happiness has never played football in the rain."

~Bella

That one question that pops up every time...

So far everyone asked me if I miss my home country, Europe... All I could respond was " Sure, sometimes I do miss it."
Despite family issues, terrorist attacks, and maybe the weather that may be terrible at times, I miss a lot of things. 

Being away from what you are used to can be challenging. The funny thing is that whenever I used to go back, I didn't feel home, just like I don't feel at home in California. Almost everything is different, and it took a while to get used to everything. I don't think I'm entirely acclimated to every single difference. 
Back home, kids are allowed in bars, can't drink until the appropriate age, but they are allowed in the bar. Orange juice or hot cocoa doesn't break any rules. While here you have to wait until you are 21 years of age to enter a bar, I understand that it's the drinking age but it's exaggerating! Since I have to wait another year to go drink in a bar, I can only drink at home or with people that don't care about me drinking. That my friend is very irritating! 
The portions, food wise and the large cups? In America, the large cups are large, while back in Europe the large cup would be called a small or medium for Americans... And food portions, back home, we have smaller portions, here, the plate could be for two or three people. I'm still aren't used to it yet, maybe one day...
The humor, Santa Cleopatra, this one gets on my nerves! See I can understand and laugh at the British humor all right, but the American one, still don't quite get it. For example, I went to the movies with a friend to watch Spy with Melissa McCarthy. It was funny, no doubt about that, but while the parts that everyone laughed at, I didn't, and I laughed when no one was laughing. Pretty embarrassing if I say the least. If I drink there'll be no problem laughing at your jokes, but other than that, I either don't get them or don't find them funny. Then people think I'm weird and have no sense of humor, b****, please. 
I like eating burgers, good ones, I don't mind them at all, but I can't eat multiple ones in a month. I'm more the European type of food, you know the ones that don't really get you fat much. I prefer cooking at home anyways, but the food is rather different. Like here, I can't eat red meat, or too much of it or else I have lower back pain. The first time that happened, I didn't think of the meat, and then I saw a pattern later on, plus my dear mother has the same issue so, not fun. 
Sports as you can already tell with my past posts, FOOTBALL is soccer, but we don't call it soccer, that's weird for us! Plus we have rugby to replace American football... Which in my opinion is probably worse cause there is no helmets or real protection so you see more blood, broken nose and pass on the rest. On the positive side, while Americans love your football, we love ours. I still need a partner that knows about football or at least played or something related because, to be honest, I can't stand watching baseball, American football or even basketball. I do ice hockey pretty well, but then again the best teams are Canadian teams hahaha. 
You know the sweet that you chew on for hours, the one you call "GUM", well Europeans even BRITISH people call it "chewing gum". No, you guys had to cut the word in half to be different! I was born in a country where chewing gum would be used, so I have a hard time just not say chewing gum. 
My point of view when it comes to love and life can be quite different, and misunderstood by many people. If I want to be friends or being in a relationship with someone, I need to either find someone open minded who traveled around, or a European so I can talk about everything without fighting or being judged. This one has some exceptions! I've got out with Americans before and it usually goes fine, but it's true, I have a harder time with them. Don't ask why, it's just a different culture, values, and point of views. 
Since I was on the topic of friends, let's talk about that for a little... I can count the real ones on my hand. Very few will be Americans... :( When you first come into a foreign country, you tend to shy away from everyone since you don't know how to act around them. That's what happened to me the first two years, first the language barrier, then I was "different". I would hang out with guys without any problems, then would come back to the girls, but it wasn't liked. They disagree on the fact that I could be friend with everyone and made me choose... That is not cool! Then you meet new people, nice and warm is the first impression you get. Most the time! Americans are quite warm people at the beginning, it's rather welcoming, I love it, it was the opposite back in my home country. In Europe, some countries, people are more on their guard, less warm or welcoming, they don't trust easily. Could be seen rude, I think French people hold that title... Anyways, Europeans tend to take their time in making friends because they want real friendships, the one that you can count on in any situation, while here, from what I've seen... They want friends, tons of them, they want to be acknowledged, will say 'Let's go out again soon' but then nothing, they disappear on you. That's just very odd for me, and that I ain't used to. Don't think I'm against Americans, far from it! My best friend is an American and I have an amazing friend who is also American!

The others are either European or have some European origins. 
The last point I want to make is me being brutally honest. I keep a lot to myself nowadays, though, it is sometimes hard to keep it in! I've always been honest, it started back when I was 3 or so years old. I had a grand-grandfather who smoked a lot and had tubes in his throat, he couldn't talk much, and for me, it was just disturbing. Whenever I would see someone with a cigarette in their hand or be smoking it, I would come up to them, stand tall (ok laugh, I wasn't tall, but I felt tall), and would finally tell them, "You are going to have a hole in your throat like my grand-grandfather." Imagine a little 3 years old going up to you, telling you that you will end up with a hole in your throat? Sounds funny, but people would look at me like  "What the ..." Pretty embarrassing time for my mother. I'm sorry she had to deal with me and still dealing with me. I feel bad for them, but hey, I was young and told the truth! When I came here, I realized that people would prefer to keep their mouth shut instead of saying what they have in their mind, they prefer to be hypocrites. They don't like to hear the truth! For some odd reason, I find it easier, to be honest in front of someone European. I ain't complaining and I comprehend why Americans are like that, but I wasn't raised around that. I'm getting used to it, though, keep things to myself, but if I don't like, you will either see it on my face or I'll just tell you directly... And I still don't care if you like it or not! Seems easier to make enemies here. It's like when we talk about politics, they want to hear my point of view, but they won't like it and tell me I'm wrong and that I shouldn't answer. First of all, I hate politics, the government sucks almost everywhere, it's corrupted. A bunch of lies is made up to make the citizens go vote for you, and I prefer to not even talk or mention it. Sometimes, people are curious, so I tag along, but I fail each time, being honest isn't appreciated, especially in politics. Well, at least I know I'll never make it as a president or senator hahaha... 

To conclude this answer, I do miss Europe in certain cases, but sometimes I don't. It's a love/hate relationship. In the future, if Europe is still standing, I'm planning on going back, but for now, I'm good where I am, unless something like Trump comes along and destroy my "ok second home", then I'm screwed! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, I'll be happy to answer, but don't expect my answers to be exactly what you are hoping for. 
On the bright side, America has lots to give, it's a pretty generous country that is open minded and "new" compare to Europe. Now I won't talk about that yet since it wasn't the question of the day, but I wanted to clear things up before I pack this post! America is great, no doubts, it's welcoming and amazingly nice. There will always be some pros and cons in each country so ... 

"Being a foreigner is not a disease." -Alden Nowlan
~Bella

What a goal...

I know, it's not Wednesday, but I declared that this post is important and you have to read why!

Football or soccer for people here in the U.S.A.

Being European watching or playing soccer is part of the culture, or at least it seems like it is. 

For one, I was born and raised around soccer. It's a sport that is very popular, and there's always a game playing on TV. You'll go to a bar, you'll see people coming in just to watch a game and have fun with friends. The audience can be extremely loud, and into the games, the atmosphere that surrounds soccer will become high and very pleasant, especially if people around you are on the same team which in my case is rare! 

After living in North America for a while now, I can tell you that soccer here and back in Europe is different! 

First, I saw that in the United States, major league soccer will rely on finding college stand-outs while in Europe, the clubs seek, sign and develop their own players at a young age. They will teach them how to play well, eat well, psychology... 

Second, football, as we call it in most of Europe, will be part of the culture being the number one sport and everyone is loyal to their team... Like me... I'm loyal! While in the U.S, it's not the number one sport that people would watch. It comes way after basketball, football, and baseball. 

Third, the time frame... European soccer leagues will be played at a different period of time than the Americans. It's slightly different and we have more leagues as we have more countries. 

Enough of the differences, and let's talk more about my team! 

For a long time now, I've been into the Italian leagues, Italian teams, and players. When the FIFA begins, I'm for the Italians and England (second favorite international team)! In Serie A Italy, I'm for JUVENTUS from Turin (Torino). Torino has two teams, Juventus, and Torino... I actually started loving Juventus after a soccer player, Claudio Marchisio. Ten years older than me, married, has two children, and I'm still in love with him. To top it all off, his jersey is number 8, my favorite number. Sadly, he injured himself and he is missing the European Championship 2016. My midfield player is missing, and I miss seeing him play.  I fell in love with the way he plays, and how he is as a person. I'm a fan... So I started loving Juventus, who happens to have an amazing French soccer player and beautiful people who play on the team... My "twin" from Turin actually hates me for loving Juventus as he is for Torino... So we don't get along when it comes to soccer. We fight over which one is best, usually I win, cause there's no doubt my Juventus are the best! Hehe

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), founded in 1904 in Paris. The World Cup is every four years, at different locations, so last time it was in Brasil and the next one in 2018 it will be in Russia. I'm not as excited about the location, but it will be interesting to watch. Each international soccer team needs to qualify to get into the FIFA. Sadly, not everyone makes it, but my Italians somehow manage to get up there! The best final that I was able to watch and enjoy with an ice cream was in 2006, back in Germany, France against Italy... A game that no one will ever forget! A French soccer player, Zinedine Zidane got caught in a middle of a fight with an Italian player. After insulting Zidane's mother, he got hit in the stomach. The fight was famous, a song broke out after that, and French people hated Italians. It went really far, and to make it worse, Italy won the cup. Deep inside me, I was happy, but I knew that my Italian cheated and were vicious in that game, which is not as common for them... Zidane actually played for Juventus for a while, and they won so much that today, Juventus holds plenty of cups. They became the best team out there. 

This is the time where the Euro 2016 is on, and trust me I have been watching and being aware of everything (tried). Of course, I'll be for Italy, but I'm also for three other teams, two more than the other... England and Republic of Ireland being the two others I really love and the Northern Ireland which I quite like. Now if you don't watch it or ain't a fan you won't know who is playing and who is good or awfully sucky! I've had so many people ask me why I ain't for France or Portugal or even Germany... I can't be for France, not even on the FIFA, they are arrogant, and I can't stand that! Portugal, there's nothing to say about their players, I don't like them at all! And Germany... Long story short, between the last FIFA, and how they are vicious players and the history of the country, I can't tell you how much I dislike the team! If they lose and disqualified, I'll be the happiest person in California! Anyways, Wednesday, Ireland is playing against Italy. Despite the fact that my favorite player isn't playing the Euro this year, I'm sure Italy will either win or tie to Ireland... And to be honest, I'm not ready to see either of my team lose or fight one another. It's going to be a depressing day, I'm warning you! 

After being into soccer for so long, I have this one rule that if I get in a relationship or even get married, the guy will either need to love soccer as much as me or to at least let me watch my games. I don't watch every single one, just the ones that interest me. Just let me be me and don't try to change the way I think about my team or about the sport! You want to be with someone European, you have to deal with soccer as I will deal with baseball or basketball or even football. 

"Becoming a Juventus icon has always been my dream. You achieve that status not for how long you stay at a club but for how much you give when you are there." - Claudio Marchisio.

~Bella

Even from far there's always an European by my side...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a friend/twin back in Italy who is like two years older than me, but that doesn't stop us from being amazing... I know it is far, an entire ocean separating us, and yet we find a way to stay close to each other, kind of, in our own ways. Thank you mostly for Whatsapp and Skype!

Being two hopeless romantics, who happens to help one another, smile even when mad at each other is what one may call a strong bond.
Let me tell you all about our friendship because how far as being funny, it's also sweet!

We've known each other for quite some time now, more than a year for sure, and still laugh at our stupidity. We both love soccer and yet we managed to hate each other on the fact that we love two different teams, I'm a Juventus fan and he's more a Torino fan... We ALL know that Juventus is way better than Torino, I mean they are both from Torino (Turin), but my team is better! And I don't miss an opportunity to tease him about it, deep down he loves it ;). I must say I really enjoy showing him my Juventus scarf, it's amazing and warm... And hurtful to his eyes. Ha-ha
Our bond is usually really strong when it comes to EVERYTHING! The sweet messages, and the truth being said, I don't think you can ask anything else. I mean, who wouldn't want to receive a message saying "Sei la cosa più dolce che mi sia mai capitata." Which roughly means, " You are the sweetest thing that ever happened to me." How can you stop talking to someone who is sweet and there for you? It's impossible! 

A few weeks ago, I managed to get worried about him, to the point where I got really angry, and still to this day want to slap him for making me worried sick! When two people are far from each other, it's easy to get worried, so if you are reading this, don't be mad... I just care! We even disappointed each other... Hey, we all make mistakes, I'm still an angel with a little devil inside, it won't be coming out soon, no worries.

What's funny about our friendship is that even from a long distance we know exactly how the other person is feeling. I know it's sounds odd, but let me tell you, he knows when something is wrong with me, but he won't push me to tell him what's up. Which somehow makes me smile quite big, I don't need to tell him much, he knows...
Yesterday, Sunday 22nd of May, we skyped for about an hour, laughing and talking about pretty much everything. It was passed two in the morning for him, oh but let me share how energetic he was! After telling me how many coffees he had during the day, I understood why he couldn't stay put.  Behind the Italian accent and the way he talks with his hands... I couldn't stop laughing! I'm used to hearing his very cute accent, but I love how he makes tiny mistakes when he speaks English. No matter how hard I try not to laugh, sometimes I can't hold it in, he will look for certain words forever, and if I don't figure it out, he will just drop the subject or just say it in Italian. Lucky him, I'm not too horrible when it comes to understanding it, reading is easier, though!
So, usually I eat something during our video chats, I'm not sure why, but I always have something in my mouth, either candy or just cookies, but yesterday beside my very tired face and my messy hair, nothing much happened. I was not such a great mood, mostly depressed, and didn't really feel like talking about myself, so he ended up making me laugh without doing anything. By the way, have you ever had trouble zipping a jacket? Because he did! Me, being sarcastic, offered a hand, I couldn't stop laughing, he couldn't zip his jacket, and even took two minutes to finally zip it up. What a great look, though! I really liked that jacket!
Friendships are easy, and you know you can count on certain ones to make you smile. Fights end quickly, and you may end up laughing at nothing. Even yesterday, I'm not sure if I was making a face or not, as he often says that I have millions of facial expressions, he was laughing and trying to imitate me. Apparently he has a new favorite face, the one I look mad, but not like crazy mad, just slightly frowning and looking at him like "What is wrong with you"... Santa Cleopatra, it's hard to imitate my facial expressions and I end up laughing at him if he does try. The best part is that no matter how bad you may look, he always says "You're beautiful". Honestly, it's a boost of confidence that rush in, and I cannot complain! 

To end this post, I want to thank him for everything that he has been doing for me, from being serious to stupid. Yes, he is blond, dirty blond, but he is far from stupid. I just love to tease him... Just like I love to be myself in front of him. I love how I pick up on his accent and end up saying his sayings like " Don't say baloney". It's part of my daily speech. I have come up with the weirdest expressions ever and if I say it in front of an American, they look at me like I'm an alien. Like the one he said yesterday, it's not the first time I heard it because I know I've used it before but " I have a fresh brain." I'm sure Americans have a similar expression, but this one, come on, it must be Italian expressions. It's funny, but I have to thank him for that! If you are still reading this post, you have all the credits!

Little side note... There's so much to talk about, that I highly think I'm going to have to post quite a lot about our strong bonds, and there'll be other post about my friend and myself. So don't think it's the end because it's not :). 

" ... Strong bonds are forged in high emotional temperatures. " -Dervla Murphy
~Bella