SAFF soccer draws today!

Maldives will host the draw ceremony of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship today (Thursday) at Male.

The ceremony and the SAFF executive committee meeting will be attended by president Ganesh Thapa (Nepal) and secretary Sirajul Islam Bachchu besides secretaries of eight participating nations, Manzoor Hassain (Bangladesh), A. H. Abdul Ghafoor (Maldives), Lt Col (R) Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi (Pakistan), Albert Colaco (India), Ugyen Wanchuk (Bhuthan), Mukhtar Rustami (Afghanistan), Narendra Shrestha (Nepal) and Hafiz Marikar (Sri Lanka).

The national teams of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan will be in fray in the biennial soccer fiesta which is expected to explode into action in late May. The first SAFF Championship was staged in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1997 and won by India. The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal hosted SAARC Gold Cup in 1993 at Lahore and in 1995 at Colombo.

The SAFF Championship went to Goa (1999), Dhaka (2003), Karachi (2005) and 2008 marked the first time that the SAFF’s showpiece event will be co-hosted by two nations - Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Pakistan will go in pursuit of their third soccer gold at Colombo’s Sugathadasa Stadium which will host the final of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in June.

Pakistan have never won the SAFF title and their only medal was a bronze in Kathmandu 1997’s edition. Maldives is a country in the South Asian region that has taken great strides in promoting football. However, they are not capable of hosting all the matches and Sri Lanka, as a support, decided to jointly conduct this 15-match tourney.

The teams will be divided into two groups, with both nations hosting one semi-final each. The group matches that involve Maldives will be played in National Stadium, Male, and group matches involving Sri Lanka will be held in Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo.

Football requires rethink

Only the high-ups of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) would be able to tell how much impact its extravagant experiment of sending two different 'national' teams to India and Malaysia this month will have in the near future.

With the SAFF Championship due this December, the footballers will get just four months to prepare in a bid to regain the regional trophy they gave up to India in December 2005. Lack of preparation, however, was evident in Bangladesh's games in the Nehru Cup where they even failed to beat Cambodia, whose last-gasp equaliser forced a 1-1 draw -- the only point Bangladesh earned in the five-team round robin league.

While hosts India began their preparation months ago, and played five warm-up matches in Portugal, the Bangladeshi footballers did not even get the chance to know their teammates properly as they camped for less than two weeks after playing the inaugural professional league for six months.

The last time Bangladesh played in the SAFF Championship, under Argentine coach Diego Cruciani, they got four months to unite and reached the final. To be one of the final pairing again in Sri Lanka and Maldives, who host the eight-nation meet jointly, the BFF must start implementing its plans now. And football's governing body must only not concentrate on the only plan it had shown in the past: Long-term camp and no preparation matches.

Football requires rethink

Only the high-ups of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) would be able to tell how much impact its extravagant experiment of sending two different 'national' teams to India and Malaysia this month will have in the near future.

With the SAFF Championship due this December, the footballers will get just four months to prepare in a bid to regain the regional trophy they gave up to India in December 2005. Lack of preparation, however, was evident in Bangladesh's games in the Nehru Cup where they even failed to beat Cambodia, whose last-gasp equaliser forced a 1-1 draw -- the only point Bangladesh earned in the five-team round robin league.

While hosts India began their preparation months ago and played five warm-up matches in Portugal, the Bangladeshi footballers did not even get the chance to know their teammates properly as they camped for less than two weeks after playing the inaugural professional league for six months.

The last time Bangladesh played in the SAFF Championship, under Argentine coach Diego Cruciani, they got four months to unite and reached the final. To be one of the final pairing again in Sri Lanka and Maldives, who host the eight-nation meet jointly, the BFF must start implementing its plans now. And football's governing body must only not concentrate on the only plan it had shown in the past: Long-term camp and no preparation matches.

A great way to get you updated with latest Soccer Scores!

As a dedicated soccer fan I always watch TV to get the latest soccer news. However, with ever growing internet dominance I have found a much better way to get my favorite teams results online. Service provider ScommesseOnline is an excellent place to get the latest match results and updates.

With ScommesseOnline you can find all the odds of European bookmakers and take the bonus when you open a new account. With such added advantages I personally believe ScommesseOnline is the ultimate place for soccer score updates.

Akavar 20/50 Weight Loss Tablets - Ideal for Sports personals

Sports such as football, volleyball, soccer, etc. requires players to stay fit all the time. For those who had left the game after being rated overweight, there is good news for you. The new introduction of Akavar 20/50 by European scientists is the news many of the sports personals have been waiting for.

Akavar Weight Loss Pill is developed to help people lose weight in a safe and controlled manner. It is a small and easy to swallow tablet recommended to take daily. The good thing about Akavar is people can eat any food they want while taking the tablets. After seeing many positive reviews about the product I am convinced that this will be ideal for any person who wants to have a beautiful body free from excess fat.

England wins comfortably!

Buoyant England coach Steve McClaren has roared out a warning to the rest of Europe - there is more to come from us.

England backed up their three-goal triumph over Israel at the weekend by dismantling major group E rivals Russia at Wembley to take a massive stride towards Euro 2008. Michael Owen's first-half double, plus a late strike from Rio Ferdinand - his first England goal in over five years - secured a comfortable win which leaves McClaren's men requiring just five points from their remaining three games to qualify, providing one of them comes in Russia next month.

The result was more remarkable given England were without Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. And the absence of that illustrious quartet, plus veteran defender Gary Neville, is one of the major reasons why McClaren is so bullish about the improvement still to come

Source: Soccernet.com

Professional online golf clubs

Away from football, I will this time looking to the worlds fastest growing sport golf. As gold become more popular globally with many golf clubs, everyone is wondering how an online golf club can help the rest of the online community. Many such clubs do offer vital information about golf and the oppertunity to do wonderful online courses to their community. One other great advantage is the oppertunity to have your own Golf Handicap Calculator which gives members the oppertunity to manage thier own handicap online.

With many such communities growing globally it is vital to join a community that has excellent golf reward scheme for its members. It is true that many golf Clubs are looking for keen golfers that would be interested in adding information to the clubs listed on thier site and keeping them up-to-date.

Golf is one of the most popular sport in Europe and of course globally. The interest for the game has been growing rapidly. It is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed, standardised playing field or area which makes it unique from other ball games.

EPL Review - Tottenham Hotspurs

English Premier League is undoubtedly one of the best football league in the world. Great football clubs such as Tottenham Hotspurs, Chelsea, Man United, etc have contributed to the success of the league. This time I will provide more details about Tottenham Hotspurs.

Tottenham Hotspurs commonly known as Spurs is the first ever team in 20th century to win both the league and FA Cup double. It is also one of the oldest football club is English football. They are also the first ever English team to win the European Cup Winners Cup. Founded in 1882, Supers has won all the major titles in English football and is regarded as one of the greatest club in the world currently.

Tottenham has many supporters from around world. Most of their own fans refer the club as Lilywhites because of their traditional white shirts. Tottenham Forum is a place where fans discuss about the club, players, transfers, etc. I found the discussions very impressive. It is of course one way that you can show your loyalty to your favorite football club.

Premier League is interesting

I love football since I was a kid. Diego Maradona, Klinsmann, and Van Basten are my favorite players. Now football is one big industry, especially, Premier League. Football is popular everywhere, and no doubt football is the most popular sport in all around the world. However, in America, football is called soccer and it’s not very popular among them.

Football Transfer are very important for most football fans. They are searching everywhere, from newspapers to internet. I still remember when I was watching the game between Liverpool and Manchester United in Anfield, so many fanatics Liverpool fans there.

Speaking about Liverpool, now it is my favorite team (since 1998). I love them when they finally won the Champions League (in 2005). Now, they have brought Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun, just make me love them more than ever. One thing that attracted me to Premier League is WAGs (Footballer’s Wife and Girlfriends). Their movements in transfer market are awesome and when I am searching for any Football Transfer, I always found at least one news about Liverpool every 2 days.