Garden Soccer

Soccer. Football. Calcio. These all refer to the same sport, albeit in different countries. However, within the sport of soccer, there are several variations that have been developed to appease people’s endlessly creative appetites.Futsal is a variant that’s very similar except for its arena. The game takes place in a smaller, indoor playing area. It differs from indoor soccer in that the court is defined by lines, not walls, and the ball is smaller. Continue Reading »

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The first FIFA video game was released in July 1993. Simply titled FIFA International Soccer, it was the first 16-bit soccer game to feature an isometric view (a perspective which simulated a three-dimensional view). The game featured national teams, although not real players, and had a famous bug in which a player can stand in front of the goalie and bounce the ball into the net. While the title seems dated now, it was groundbreaking at the time, and was later made available on the PS2 version of FIFA 06.FIFA Soccer 96 was the first game featuring 3D graphics and real player names (although some of the teams, such as the Brazilian ones, were outdated at the time of release). Two years later, FIFA Soccer 98 marked the first title with a licensed soundtrack. The game’s title song was Blur’s “Song 2,” which was apparently everywhere in the late ’90s (it’s the one with the “Woohoo” chorus). Continue Reading »

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A group of players in Halifax, Nova Scotia were out playing soccer for a few hours on October 16 when an unexpected rainstorm started. The group was understandably miffedafter all, who wouldn’t be?but their annoyance seemed a little greater than usual. You see, the group had been playing for 17 hours, and had been planning to stay out at least another 25 in order to beat the world-record for longest soccer game (42 hours, 5 minutes, 1 second).The team did give it their best shotfive players fell to injury before the players decided that the conditions were too dangerous. Some good did come out of the eventthe players were raising money for breast cancer, and their early estimates put the proceeds at over 20,000. The players should be able to hold their head high with that result, even if they didn’t meet their initial goal. After all, there’s always next weekend.

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American soccer fans can expect to be buying plane tickets for both of the next two World Cups. The 2014 tournament is already set for Brazil, and the United States announced last week that it was withdrawing from the bid for the 2018 game. England and Russia are both still in the mix, as are the alliance bids of Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal. Japan and Australia, who like America had also originally bid for both 2018 and 2022, have also withdrawn from the 2018 match. All are concentrating on the 2022 game now, which the rotation rules will now dictate must be held outside of Europe.The United States has hosted the World Cup once before, back in 1994. 18 venues were submitted as possible locations for the match, including the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, Cowboys Stadium, and Reliant Stadium. The 1994 World Cup was hosted at the Cotton Bowl. Continue Reading »

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