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

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